Royston Vasey (born 3 February 1945), better known professionally as Roy Chubby Brown, is an English comedian. His act consists of offensive humour, high profanity and outspoken disdain for political correctness.
Early life Roy Chubby Brown was born Royston Vasey on 3 February 1945 in Grangetown, Middlesbrough in the North Riding of Yorkshire He left school without any qualifications, leaving home at the age of fourteen, spent time living rough and moving from job to job, at one point joining the Merchant Navy. He became homeless and for some time slept in a fishing boat in Redcar. He was arrested and taken to a detention centre and then on to borstal, following which he went to prison.
Whilst in prison, Vasey read I Owe Russia $1200 by Bob Hope, which made him decide he wanted to be a stand-up comic. When he saw Ken Dodd perform live, he thought he was so good it inspired him to try comedy himself.
Vasey formed a comedy duo with a fellow ex-Pipelines band member. The duo named themselves Alcock and Brown, as they shared surnames with the pilots of the first transatlantic flight, wearing goggles during their performance. The group eventually disbanded, with Vasey continuing as a comedic act by himself; however the goggles stayed, and became a permanent part of his image.
In 1971, Vasey's manager at the time (George Forster), asked him whether he would try performing blue comedy, to which he agreed. He then took to the stage and said, "Good evening! My wife's got two cunts and I'm one of them." Vasey has said he was nearly beaten up, but that following that performance: "I knew I had something. I took the building site mentality and banter and took it to the stage. I was the first person ever to say the 'C' word on stage in the UK. To be honest, I never looked back."
Career Vasey appeared on the UK television talent show New Faces as Roy Chubby Brown in the 1970s, coming second to a country and western band. He failed the audition for another television talent show, Opportunity Knocks, after saying the word 'arse' during his interview.
Comedy Brown's image is characterised by a clown-like stage costume consisting of a leather flying helmet and goggles, a white shirt, a red bow tie and moccasin slippers, and a multi-coloured patchwork suit (previously made from beer mats because stag night crowds would shower him in beer).
His comedy is considered controversial: frequently making fun of racial and ethnic minorities, women, and homosexuals, and described as blue comedy, insult comedy, political satire, sarcasm, and self-deprecation. In 2023, he lamented "I remember when white people made fucking adverts on the TV".
He eventually began to perform at larger venues, reaching 500,000 people in the UK per year. His breakthrough came in 1990 when PolyGram Video signed him to a home video contract and the video release of From Inside the Helmet. He would release concerts annually every Christmas including The Helmet Rides Again and The Helmet's Last Stand which sold a combined 750,000 units, generating revenue of £9 million.
Film In 1993, Brown released U.F.O., a science fiction film in which he featured along with Roger Lloyd-Pack and Sara Stockbridge. It was reviewed poorly, with Empire magazine calling the film "a stand-up show, allowing the comedian to tell his sexist jokes to a race of aliens who charge him for being a misogynist" and rating it 1/5.
In 2012, Brown voiced a talking lamp post in Robin Sheppard's film adaptation of Richard Milward's novel Apples. He also played the Victorian Photographer in the feature film Unconditional (titled Unconditional Love in the USA) directed by Bryn Higgins.
Television Due to the controversial nature of his act, Brown's shows are rarely seen on television, however, a programme called Roy Chubby Brown: Britain's Rudest Comedian was broadcast on Channel 4 in May 2007.
Brown appeared in Series 2 of The League of Gentlemen as Larry Vaughn, mayor of the fictional town of Royston Vasey. The town's name comes from Brown's birth name. Vaughn's name, conversely, comes from the name of the mayor of the town in the American horror film Jaws.
Music One of his best-known songs is "Living Next Door to Alice (Who the Fuck is Alice?)", a cover version of "Living Next Door to Alice", recorded with Smokie. The record spent 27 weeks in the UK Singles Chart, selling 400,000 copies and peaking at number 3 in October 1995. He released a solo single in the winter of 1996 called "A Rocking Good Christmas", written by Ray Hedges; this reached number 51. Brown has also released two albums, Take Fat and Party (1995) and Fat Out of Hell (1996); they achieved positions 29 and 67 in the UK Albums Chart respectively.
Personal life Vasey has seven children from three marriages. He met his current wife Helen in Scarborough in the late 1990s, and lives with her and their two children in Tetney, Lincolnshire.
Vasey was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2002 and had a vocal cord removed.
In 2006, he released an autobiography titled Common as Muck: The Autobiography of Roy 'Chubby' Brown. In December 2011, he self-published a collection of memoirs from his life and career called It's Funny Being Me.
Vasey is a supporter of Middlesbrough Football Club. He is a co-owner of the racehorse Rasaman.
In 2003, Vasey was fined £200 in Blackpool for assaulting a heckler by pulling him from his seat, dragging him across the floor and proceeding to attack him with a golf umbrella. Brown later claimed, "I just wanted the man to stop swearing and being abusive in front of women and children who were on the pier."
In 2009, Vasey was charged with assaulting a 21-year-old pregnant woman in a supermarket car park, but acquitted after the judge ruled due to the "poor quality of the CCTV footage, we are not convinced beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Vasey is guilty of the offence".
Throughout 2014, Vasey was fined for traffic offences on several occasions, including reading The Sun newspaper whilst driving on the A19 road in North Yorkshire.
Live performance releases Brown's live shows have been distributed by Channel 5 Video (1990), PolyGram Video (1991–1998), Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd (1999–2017) and independently (2019–2025). Brown's live shows have been released on VHS (1990–2005), DVD (2000–2025) and Blu-ray (2010).Standing Room Only (2003) to Hangs Up the Helmet (2015) were released on CD, with Thunder Bollocks (2000) later being issued on CD as well. Some sporadic 1990s–2000s releases were released on cassette as well, up until Standing Room Only (2002).
The following titles were banned by the Irish film censor:
U.F.O.7 February 1994 (cinema)29 April 1994 (video) Jingle Bollocks30 September 1994 (video) Saturday Night Beaver15 November 1996 (video) Chubby Goes Down Under and Other Sticky Regions4 June 1999 (video) Stocking Filler7 September 2001 (video)
Releases Stand-up TitleFormatCatalog numberYear of releaseAdditional notesFrom Inside the HelmetVHS/DVD (2009)CFV 1141218 November 1990First overall titleFirst title to be released on VHS.Only title to be released by Channel 5 Video.The Helmet Rides AgainVHS/DVD (2001)083 622 318 September 1991First title to be released by PolyGram Video.The Helmet's Last StandVHS/Video CD (1995)/DVD (2004)086 416 316 November 1992Jingle BollocksVHS/DVD (2000)632 724 314 November 1994Clitoris AllsortsVHS/DVD (2001)635 936 36 November 1995Saturday Night BeaverVHS/DVD (2000)043 454 311 November 1996Chubby Goes Down Under and Other Sticky RegionsVHS/DVD (2000)057 068 3PG 120821 September 1998Last title to be released by PolyGram Video – this is due to Seagram (Universal's then-parent company) purchasing PolyGram Filmed Entertainment for £6.5 billion.You Fat Bastard! VHS/DVD (2000)061 611 911 November 1999First title to be released by Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd.Thunder BollocksVHS/DVD/CD (2006)902 101 3078 066 213 November 2000First title to be initially released on DVD.Only title to not receive a CD release until 2006.This title was originally going to be called Ginger Minge, but because the BBFC intervened due to "titles that may cause offence by their public display", the title had to be changed.Stocking Filler!VHS/DVD904 019 3078 405 211 November 2001Standing Room Only VHS/DVD/CD907 357 3903 131 911 November 2002First title to be released on CD.Bad Taste820 893 0820 893 110 November 2003Giggling Lips 822 609 1822 609 28 November 2004King Thong 823 602 4823 602 57 November 2005Last title to be released on VHS.Kick-Arse Chubbs DVD/CD824 497 96 November 2006The Good, The Bad And The Fat Bastard825 058 55 November 2007Dirty Weekend in Blackpool825 562 33 November 2008Too Fat To Be Gay827 207 09 November 2009Pussy & MeatballsDVD/Blu-ray/CD827 793 3828 086 722 November 2010Only title to be released on Blu-ray.Front Page Boobs DVD/CD829 032 712 November 2012Who Ate All The Pies?829 626 718 November 2013Don't Get Fit! Get Fat!830 124 724 November 2014Hangs Up the Helmet830 524 116 November 2015Last title to be released on CD.The Second Coming DVD831 272 920 November 2017Last title to be released by Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd.50 Shades of Brown N/A19 November 2019First title to be released independently.Harmless Vulgarity And Friendly Smut3 August 2022No Foul Language17 November 2023Last Orders19 January 2025It's Just A Laugh15 December 2025Final overall title.Last title to be released on DVD.Last title to be released independently.
Films
TitleFormatCatalog numberYear of releaseAdditional notesExposedVHS/DVD (2008)088 676 31 November 1993Only mockumentary.U.F.O.VHS/DVD (2002)630 050 3PG 101410 October 1994Only film.Up Close And PersonalDVDN/A24 November 2014Only documentary.
Compilations
TitleFormatCatalog numberYear of releaseAdditional notesObscene and Not HeardVHS/DVD (2001)047 618 327 October 1997Only compilation title to be released by PolyGram Video.Triple XXX DVD boxset907 012 111 November 2002First DVD BoxsetComedy Box824 511 16 November 200640 Years Of Fun And Filth825 297 25 November 2007Tasty Threesome825 911 03 November 2008Mucky Man Box827 394 59 November 2009Blue Christmas828 088 322 November 2010Big Fat Bastard Box830 203 024 November 2014Last DVD boxset.Great British Jerk Off DVD831 019 021 November 2016Only compilation title to be released by Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd.From The Vault BootlegN/A22 March 2021Only compilation title to be released independently.
References
External links
Official website