A gig by comedian Roy “Chubby” Brown has been pulled by a local council which thought his politically incorrect humour was not “appropriate” for the venue.
The comic was due to perform at the Festival Hall in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, which is owned by Ashfield District Council, but the council has now pulled the plug on the gig after deciding it was not “appropriate for a council venue”.
Roy “Chubby” Brown is well known for his risqué jokes on topics such as race and immigration. While the council has not said what they find objectionable to his humour, below by way of illustration is a video of an extract from a typical performance by the comedian.
Warning: Explicit Content
Despite the content some councillors have insisted he should be allowed to perform.
Tom Hollis, who leads the Ashfield Independent Group, said: “It’s not the council’s job to control what people can and cannot see.
“We want big events in Ashfield, and people wouldn’t buy tickets to a Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown gig if they didn’t want to see him.
“It’s an act, and I know it’s not what everyone finds funny but it’s ridiculous to stop him playing here.”
Ashfield District Council explained in a statement: “The council does not feel that the booking was appropriate for a council venue and not one that it wished to be associated with.
“Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown is quite able to perform in a non-council venue in Ashfield.”
Mr Brown’s agent, Steven Lloyd, told the Nottingham Post: “I got a phone call from the venue last week and they said one of the councillors had seen a poster for the event and gone mad and that they had had to cancel it.
“Everybody knows what Roy does, to me that’s him being discriminated against.
“I’m going to try and put him on in another venue in Nottingham. A lot of councils will say they don’t want him from day one, but to book and then cancel is not on.”