Roy Chubby Brown - Disconnecting Desolation (Seeking advice)

[Big Mclargehuge]

Hi all,

I'm here with a quite subjective request that requires a bit of set up, but if anyone is going to know the answer to this one it'll be you lot. Im a VHS collector, and quite recently I bought a major haul of Tapes, included in this lot was the very first Roy Chubby Brown standup show. As a snowflack cuck remainer liberal lefty I've always treated "Chubbers" with heavy scepticism, I'd never seen his act before but I was aaware of his style and I kind of just lumped him in with the Jim davison lot and kept on truckin. I feel I need to say Im not one who gets easily offended (As a film critic who specialises in cult and taboo cinema you build a fairly thick skin when your day to day diet includes films like "Nekromantik" and "Salo") I have no trouble with offensive or challenging comedy (I'll sit through Ted Chippington to Jerry Sadowitz and barely bat an eyelid) But I'd never seen a Roy Chubby brown show before...until yesterday.

Yesterday me, my partner and a couple of friends all sat down and watched "Inside the helmet" for the first time. We did it because I told them about the tape and we all decided this would be the best chance to see his show without having to pay for it and also as a means of not being massive hypocrites or snobs about comedy that we'd heard about but not seen...So we sat and watched it...and we didnt get it. we looked for jokes. we really did. but the entire show just seemed to hinge on the premise that "Swearing is inherently funny regardless of context" and that adding the word "Bollocks" or "C*nt" to a joke that wouldnt have got a titter in the 70's somehow transforms it into a hilarious work or comic genius. It wasnt that I couldnt handle the "Chubster" rather we were terrifically bored by him...But this raised some questions to me and in turn its led me to begin work on a small documentary about Roy Chubby brown, about my feelings towards his "Style" and about offense in comedy more broadly.

What Im looking for from you guys is any help that you can offer regarding these things:

*Are Royston Vasey and Roy Chubby brown one in the same personality wise? as in is he doing what Al Murry has done for years and played a right wing charicature on stage but off stage he's actually fairly left wing or at least mild mannered? If anyone has any personal experiences of meeting him I'd love to hear them because im finding it surprisingly difficult to find any conversations or interviews with him "Out of character".

*I'd also be curious (And Im probably clutching at straws here) to hear from anyone who's seen a good chunk of Chubbys repetoir, as i'd be curious to hear whether his routines has refined or developed over the last 30 or so years

Finally; I would ask what seperates comedians like Jim Davidson, Bernard Manning and Roy Chubby brown from the likes of Frankie Boyle, Jerry Sadowitz and Jimmy Carr? to me I think its audience trust. I think that the audience trust the likes of Boyle and Carr that when they say something offensive they dont actually mean it. they know it's ironically challenging and trying to purposfully cause offense so the audience are kind of "On side" with the ideology of the gig. With Davison or Manning the audience arnt so much on board in a knowing way. they're on board in a "ITS SO TRUE!!!" kind of way....which apart from the fact it isnt kind of isolates them to a degree...

Sorry for a lengthy post but any help would be much appreciated...as a Brucy bonus if anyone can think of a creative way to destroy a Roy Chubby Brown tape I'll make sure they get a special mention in the finished Documentary.

[ollyboro]

Roy Vasey is a bloke from Grangetown who is polite, well-mannered and will not tolerate bad language around women and children. Probably fair to call him a sexist. I doubt he's had too many political thoughts in his life.

[Famous Mortimer]

I've seen a fair amount of his VHS shows, and I never hated him particularly. Like ollyboro, I assume he's not got the greatest of attitudes, but...well, I just watched a bit of his on Youtube about Islam, presumably recorded at the height of the first Gulf War, and it could be an awful lot worse.

[An Actual Propeller]

There was a documentary called Roy Chubby Brown: Britain's Rudest Comedian that was on Channel 4 years ago that might help you in your quest.

[Danger Man]

Finally; I would ask what seperates comedians like Jim Davidson, Bernard Manning and Roy Chubby brown from the likes of Frankie Boyle, Jerry Sadowitz and Jimmy Carr? to me I think its audience trust.

The class system.

Though, as a snowflack cuck remainer liberal lefty, that's the last thing you'll want to talk about.

[Big Mclargehuge]

Roy Vasey is a bloke from Grangetown who is polite, well-mannered and will not tolerate bad language around women and children. Probably fair to call him a sexist. I doubt he's had too many political thoughts in his life.

Of what i've seen in interviews and the few out of character TV spots he's had I get the feeling that he's a perfectly mild mannered and understanding person...but at the same time...

There was a documentary called Roy Chubby Brown: Britain's Rudest Comedian that was on Channel 4 years ago that might help you in your quest.

Having just finished watching this (Thank you very much for the reccommendation) it does seem a bit like he suffers from what is politely known as "Growing up in a different time" in particular theres a few sections in this where he says things out of character that are definately sexist/racist but he tries to justify that by using an analogy of "If you eat beans on toast your whole life your gonna love eating beans on toast" when describing how he can casually slip into racial stereotyping...he almost describes it as subliminal...I suppose the arguement could be made that much like the older generation old people can be sweet as sugar but horrifically racist or homophobic or offensive without "knowing" it...but equally there are plenty of older people who arnt racist/sexist/homphobic...So I suppose its something that these people who are should be held accountable for..., it's a very strange juggling act but watching him sat in a hotel lobby with 2 of his mates who are basically english rectangles openly saying the "Pillarboxes" should  "Go home" being contrasted by him sat at his piano writing a ballad for his 3rd wife or being incredibly nice to passers by just seems uneven...It gives the impression that we may never know the real Roy or that we know him a bit too well...

I've seen a fair amount of his VHS shows, and I never hated him particularly. Like ollyboro, I assume he's not got the greatest of attitudes, but...well, I just watched a bit of his on Youtube about Islam, presumably recorded at the height of the first Gulf War, and it could be an awful lot worse.

I get the impression that he's perfectly plesent as long as he wants to be perfectly plesent...Put it this way, from the picture that im building up from seeing him on and off camera I wouldnt want to be in the same street as him when he's in a bad mood (At least from what I can see) Though I agree with you about his comedy in and of itself...what he's saying could be a lot more offensive...I mean, of everything i've seen he's yet to even come close to "Peak Chalkey white" the jokes are relatively tame on the scale...he just punctuates them with harsher swear words and that seems to set the audience off...In fact the closest stuff I've heard him say that I would consider offensive is his stuff on Asylum seekers...but even that stuffs relatively tame when compared to "Edgelord" humour that youtube and the greater internet seem to thrive on...

[Big Mclargehuge]

The class system.

Though, as a snowflack cuck remainer liberal lefty, that's the last thing you'll want to talk about.

No no! I think your probably quite spot on with that point in fairness, I'd be lying if I didnt ackowlege that it could be percieved that the likes of Carr and Boyle are effectively to the middle class what "Chubbers" and Davidson are to the working class. It could even be argued that the reason Carr and Boyle have done so well at what they do (I.e being on the telly) is because they sacrificed some of there edge and promoted there political affiliations in an attempt to somewhat sanitize there work and by proxy crowbar open the doors of television giving them a larger reach. I think if Jim davidson ran a full Frankie boyle routine (Assuming Davidson was still relevent) beat for beat it would be seen as offensive. but that same routine run by Frankie is applauded as subversive alternative comedy purely because of his politics and ideology. Class almost has to be at the root of why theres one set of rules for one set of comedians and another set for the other. because the arts have been heavily influenced by the left for decades...and a lefty telling racist jokes is subversive because Lefties cant be racist #Sarcasm

At least...thats what I'd take away from it...

[SavageHedgehog]

I think he got a lot dodgier around the time he (and the world) switched from VHS to DVD. There's one from the late 00s where he imitates the then BBC idents by jumping around and rolling his eyes to Indian music, then shouts "Fuck off! That's why it's not our country any more!" In the 90s I think his act/edge was mostly swearing.

The amazing thing about him is that at one point he was a pretty huge name. I remember adverts for his Clitoris Allsorts VHS (with the title censored) airing on afternoon TV.

I saw the start of his movie UFO once. It seemed mildly amusing and hinted at a smidgen of self-awareness

[darby o chill]

His best routine by far.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytleg9tidUs

[Mango Chimes]

Fair play to the Chubster and yourself, the reveal of the title of the video in the opening post of this thread made me laugh out loud.

we looked for jokes. we really did. but the entire show just seemed to hinge on the premise that "Swearing is inherently funny regardless of context" and that adding the word "Bollocks" or "C*nt" to a joke that wouldnt have got a titter in the 70's somehow transforms it into a hilarious work or comic genius.

That is what it was, I think. From a time when you couldn't swear on TV, Chubby and his ilk were semi-illicit vids akin to pornography. So I think there is something in the enjoyment of "holy shit he's swearing!" that won't make sense in 2018.

[Sherman Krank]

*Are Royston Vasey and Roy Chubby brown one in the same personality wise? as in is he doing what Al Murry has done for years and played a right wing charicature on stage but off stage he's actually fairly left wing or at least mild mannered?

I've heard rumors that Al Murray may not be the lefty luvvy he seems. To be fair to Murray he came up at a time  when the entire UK standup circuit was controlled by Ben Elton. If Ben didn't like your politics, you didn't work.

In fact it's only fairly recently that comedians like Simon Evans, Geoff Norcott and Ben Elton have felt able to come out of the closet and be openly right wing. 

[ollyboro]

The only thing I could say in defence of Chubby Brown's act would be an awful lot of it revolves around him talking about his own shortcomings. It's all factory floor work based crack from the 60's and 70's which should have been buried a long time ago. However, his hair on a sweetie joke will always make me laugh.

[Danger Man]

I've heard rumors that Al Murray may not be the lefty luvvy he seems.

People think the Pub Landlord stood against Farage because Murray hated UKIP.

I always thought it was because Murray hated UKIP stealing Tory votes. I have no proof of this but he's closer to Rees-Mogg in the posh boy stakes than he is to his audience.

And The Pub Landlord could be a modern take on Alf Garnet, or it could just be somebody sneering at a pleb who doesn't know his place.

[Sherman Krank]

^I just wanted to have a dig at Ben Elton.

I fucking hate Ben Elton.

But I fucking love Blackadder.

Sometimes my eternal internal struggle with that bubbles to the surface and I lash out.

Sorry Ben.

[Sherman Krank]

Fuck you Ben.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I fucking hate Ben Elton.

But I fucking love Blackadder.

It's usually tory supporters who say this.

[JCR]

I saw him live in Dundee, would have been in 2001 or 2, my main memory was there were people there who were so drunk they couldn't stand up there yelling at him non stop, and while Brown was off stage trying to get them kicked out a tape played of tv continuity announcer type voice berating the crowd for failing to shut up, suggesting this was a common problem he had. At the time I liked him in small doses as his timing can be great, but a full show was way too much.

[Terryfuckwit]

He has said in that Channel 4 documentary that until he saw a black man in person fairly late on in his life, he believed they had bones through their noses and were savages. A young Chubster surely cannot be blamed entirely for being fed this propaganda in his youth.

[Sherman Krank]

It's usually tory supporters who say this.

Thanks chum, good to know.

[hedgehog90]

There was a documentary called Roy Chubby Brown: Britain's Rudest Comedian that was on Channel 4 years ago that might help you in your quest.

For anyone else who wants to see it, here it is:

Roy Chubby Brown: Britain's Rudest Comedian

I have no interest whatsoever in Chubbers, but last week this popped up in my recommendations and I watched it out of curiosity.
I thought it was quite revealing of his true character without much interference from the filmmaker.
He wanted to know 'where Chubby ends and Roysten begins', mainly with regards his racist material, but it seemed pretty clear to me his whole MO from the beginning.
He's just a typical middle-aged racist. He doesn't think he is, and he doesn't like to be told he is, but he is.
That's it.
Otherwise, quite an enjoyable doc.

[ASFTSN]

(As a film critic who specialises in cult and taboo cinema you build a fairly thick skin when your day to day diet includes films like "Nekromantik" and "Salo")

Where can I read your work?

[Big Mclargehuge]

I think he got a lot dodgier around the time he (and the world) switched from VHS to DVD. There's one from the late 00s where he imitates the then BBC idents by jumping around and rolling his eyes to Indian music, then shouts "Fuck off! That's why it's not our country any more!" In the 90s I think his act/edge was mostly swearing.

The amazing thing about him is that at one point he was a pretty huge name. I remember adverts for his Clitoris Allsorts VHS (with the title censored) airing on afternoon TV.

I saw the start of his movie UFO once. It seemed mildly amusing and hinted at a smidgen of self-awareness

The more I think about it the more I start to think that his earlier stuff (the 90s and early 2000's) was just him running older jokes but with swearing, but after the events of 9/11 and the continued pressures that the media have put on Asylum seekers and illegal immigrants he discovered that he could make somewhat racist jokes and his audience would applaud him for it...in that documentary thats been shared on here he recounts the first time he did an Anti Asylum seeker joke in the same manner that an Actor might recount how he felt when he recieved a lifetime achievement award...its a bit unnerving really.

I do remember seeing a few "Chubby" and Jethro Tape adverts doing the rounds in the early 2000's I thought it was odd that they'd advertise that kind of theing pre watershed even back then...

As for UFO. I heard about that one a few years ago and i've been meaning to review it now for a very long time. I've just never really gotten round to it...though having now seen one of his standup shows I think im going to compile this documentary first and then maybe do UFO at a later date (Just because from the looks of things it seems a bit more of an involved feature)

Fair play to the Chubster and yourself, the reveal of the title of the video in the opening post of this thread made me laugh out loud.

That is what it was, I think. From a time when you couldn't swear on TV, Chubby and his ilk were semi-illicit vids akin to pornography. So I think there is something in the enjoyment of "holy shit he's swearing!" that won't make sense in 2018.

I hadnt really thought of it that way but I think you definately have a point...I tend to forget at times just how hard to come by some of this kind of content was back in the 90's...its a completely alien world comparitively these days. Millenials and under 15's have no idea of the struggle that came with trying to find Uncut films or uncensored VHS tapes...these days if it cant be streamed then some people think it might as well not exist!

I've heard rumors that Al Murray may not be the lefty luvvy he seems. To be fair to Murray he came up at a time  when the entire UK standup circuit was controlled by Ben Elton. If Ben didn't like your politics, you didn't work.

I hadnt heard that one before...I'd always assumed that Al was Center left with maybe just a twinge of the corbyns about him...Dont even get me started on Ben Elton though...Black adder and the Young Ones are astounding...and I frankly feel nausiaus at having to praise him for his involvement xD

The only thing I could say in defence of Chubby Brown's act would be an awful lot of it revolves around him talking about his own shortcomings. It's all factory floor work based crack from the 60's and 70's which should have been buried a long time ago. However, his hair on a sweetie joke will always make me laugh.

In many ways Im kind of happy that that style of humour has survived in british comedy. Admittedly its not my particular thing but much like the old music hall type of humour the fact that it clearly has an audience and can adapt and survive in modern times is pretty impressive...even if it is completely and totally out of date...I will look up his Sweetie joke though.

I saw him live in Dundee, would have been in 2001 or 2, my main memory was there were people there who were so drunk they couldn't stand up there yelling at him non stop, and while Brown was off stage trying to get them kicked out a tape played of tv continuity announcer type voice berating the crowd for failing to shut up, suggesting this was a common problem he had. At the time I liked him in small doses as his timing can be great, but a full show was way too much.

hey thanks for this!...in the documentary he was having problem with Hecklers and nearly walked off stage at one point. I could never understand the kind of person who pays money to go to a gig and gets paraletic at the same time...it just seems like you might as well have not spent the money int he first place...though its interesting to hear he must have got so fed up with it that he just had a pre-recorded "Sit down and shut up!" style announcement for his rowdier shows...Im sure he has good material collectively but a full shows just way too much...

[Big Mclargehuge]

He has said in that Channel 4 documentary that until he saw a black man in person fairly late on in his life, he believed they had bones through their noses and were savages. A young Chubster surely cannot be blamed entirely for being fed this propaganda in his youth.

Its one of those things really...in the same way that older people who are inherently racist/ homophobic arnt necissarily 100% culpable for there actions. They were raised in a different time with different standards and beliefs. And while they should still be held to account now (And im by no means excusing them for anything they say these days) at the same time I personally do have a little part of my brain that says "they just dont know any better, it was a different time" whenever I have to deal with active racism/sexism/homophobia these days...not that that excuses that kind of behaviour...

Where can I read your work?

Theres a couple of places really if your interested :) (And thank you so much for the interest)

I mainly review content over on my youtube channel which is here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDBjuD7YtbV5Sk2dMfxV85g

But im also currently in the process of building a website which has more written film reviews and blog type stuff which is here:
www.tytdreviews.com

[Suky]

Some belly laughs - far too much dodgy dross.

(from the doc) 'They met, they fell in love and then tragedy struck. They got married.'

'If you were the only girl in the world - you'd have a very sore mott.'

[ollyboro]

If you want to find out how much (or more likely - how little) Chubby's humour has evolved, try tracking down some of his old c90 tapes. Back in the late 80's there were loads of them getting passed around pubs and classrooms. I'm assuming they were all bootlegs from assorted club dates, but the audio quality was fine. I'm sure some will still exist, perhaps in CD form.

[Phoenix Lazarus]

The more I think about it the more I start to think that his earlier stuff (the 90s and early 2000's) was just him running older jokes but with swearing, but after the events of 9/11 and the continued pressures that the media have put on Asylum seekers and illegal immigrants he discovered that he could make somewhat racist jokes and his audience would applaud him for it.

It was just before that, at the 2001 election, that the BNP started a brief renaissance in significance.  You had the riots in northern England, which were seen as race riots, at that time too.  The far-right hadn't been relevant for twenty years prior, since the National Front vanished into obscurity at the end of the 70s.

[Shit Good Nose]

I know very very little Chubby Brown - I know OF him and his rep of course, and I've seen UFO (which, from memory, does have quite a few genuinely LOLable moments in it), but I've never seen any of his live vids or DVDs.

Just really only wanted to post in here to say that I was disappointed when League of Gentlemen gave his character the "punchline" of doing exactly what everyone expected him to do - turn into a foul mouthed bastard.  Much would have preferred if they just kept him meek, humble and vulnerable for his entire time on the show without ever giving a taste of the Chubby brown everyone knows.

[Hecate]

Finally; I would ask what seperates comedians like Jim Davidson, Bernard Manning and Roy Chubby brown from the likes of Frankie Boyle, Jerry Sadowitz and Jimmy Carr?

It's intent, innit? You can smell it. A comedian can't fake it.
Are you sure you have Jimmy Carr in the right column?

Sadowitz doesn't punch up or down, he punches 360 degrees and then punches himself for good measure.
It's a cathartic release for everyone in the audience.

I don't think I've ever seen Jimmy Carr do anything self deprecating, I've never seen him having a go at the middle class or the autistic. He always just stands there in his starchy suit and slicked back hair, going on about charvas and barking like the kings favourite seal, wet-eye and flabby on fish.

Chubby Brown is a northern working man's club comic. He writes some of his own material but he's mostly just telling you jokes you've already heard down the pub.

He had warmth and good delivery, that's how he became popular. The punchline to a sexist gag would often be how fat and sexually inept he was.

Unfortunately, he seems to be getting defiantly more racist as he gets older, maybe the instant-bonding you get from having a shared enemy is just too good to pass up when you're less than sure about your material. Playing to your uneducated audiences worst base instincts, singing a song about gollywogs and riding that wave of good will is easier than explaining to each person individually that you don't do refunds.

I feel like now might be the best time to mention that I'm from oop north and not that well educated myself.

I think it's safe to say that the league of gentlemen wouldn't dare name a town after him nowadays, let's put it that way.

[Shit Good Nose]

Are you sure you have Jimmy Carr in the right column?

As numerous other discussions on the forum prove, there's an awful lot of us that would say exactly the same thing about Sadowitz...

[saltysnacks]

The class system.

Though, as a snowflack cuck remainer liberal lefty, that's the last thing you'll want to talk about.

Deary me.