Roy "Chubby" Brown is one of Britain's best-loved stand-up comedians, yet he's largely unknown here in Australia. This self proclaimed "Fat Bastard" is one of the rudest, crudest comedians I have heard for some time, but also one of the funniest. He has been doing stand-up for almost thirty years and became a comedian by accident whilst drumming for a local band. A power failure at a gig threatened to turn nasty, but it was his handling of the situation, and his ability to make people laugh, that saw his comedy routine immediately worked into the band's show (despite his initial reluctance). The rest, as they say, is history.

Whilst Roy has toured Australia and enjoys a cult following, his low profile is due largely to his complete lack of interest in becoming a television comic. As he says himself, careers in television comedy are often short lived due to overexposure. Personally, I cannot see Roy "Chubby" Brown hosting his own variety show, or compering a game show every night at 5.30 anyway. He is a stand-up comic and as such works best in the interactive environment that a stage show encourages. Factor in the inspirations for his comedy routines, his observations about life, current affairs and high profile personalities, and television would be too restrictive and would date his material quickly. Similarly, he thrives on crowd interaction and heckling, not really television fodder is it? The spontaneity would be missing. A rare television performance was a one-off appearance as the mayor of fictitious town, Royston Vasey, which is the setting for The League of Gentleman, a wonderfully dark British comedy recently repeated on the ABC. Trivia-buffs please note, Roy "Chubby" Brown's real name is... Royston Vasey.

So, is he really any good? Yes. We have all seen stand-up comics and we all have our favourites. Roy “Chubby� Brown combines the bawdiness of Benny Hill, the smut of Kevin "Bloody" Wilson and the theatrical antics of Billy Connolly – by now, you should know what to expect.

Stocking Filler was filmed at Birmingham's Alexandra Theatre in June 2001. All three nights were filmed to piece together a great "performance", but the first night was so good that nothing from the other nights was needed, testimony to his ability to perform a great show. But, be warned, this is NOT a show for children, grandparents or anyone that has a problem with swearing and jokes about genitalia. Expletives are the order of the day. Nothing and no one is sacred. His jokes and one-liners are racist, homophobic and sexist - but I loved it. He is the type of comedian that can tell such jokes and get away with it without being truly offensive. He delivers them in such a way, that you know this is a 'performance' and he is also having a dig at racists, homophobes and the sexist among us. I am certain, however, that much of this goes unnoticed.

While there are plenty of laughs and some clever one-liners, the humour is very British and some jokes about personalities and current events are wasted on non-British audiences. Thankfully, most of this very fast paced show is generic and universally topical.

Get your mates, ditch the missus and the kids, grab some beers, leave your sensibilities at the door, and spend an hour with Roy "Chubby" Brown. This is a great quality disc, is very funny, and is guaranteed to get plenty of laughs. Just make sure the neighbours don't hear.

Stocking Filler is presented in 1.66:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. It is a very good transfer and is difficult to fault. Colours are vibrant and this is due in part to the well-balanced stage lighting. Shadow detail is not brilliant, but as this is only applicable to the quick shots of the audience, it is not important enough to cause concern. Chubby is mostly performing front and centre on stage, and every hand and facial expression is crystal clear.

There are no film artefacts to be seen. No glitches, no jumps, no specks, nothing. There is some very slight aliasing on Chubby's patchwork outfit, but it is so minor it's barely noticeable.

The audio transfer, likewise, is more than adequate for the show. There is only one audio track and that is in Dolby Digital 2.0. As such, the subwoofer, centre, and surround speakers are not used. Consisting mostly of monologue with a few piano numbers, a Dolby Digital 5.1 track would add nothing to the show.

Apart from the occasional accent problem (when I had to resort to subtitles), all dialogue is clear and there are no audio-sync problems. The subtitles are very faithful to the spoken word right down to the plethora of four letter words.

There are several extras all presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. There is a quick glimpse into the private world of Roy “Chubby� Brown in Behind The Helmet, which is 12:17 minutes of Chubby at home. It provides an insight into where he finds the inspiration for his material, how he transforms it into comedy, and includes a little bit of information about the creation of Roy "Chubby" Brown. Behind The Helmet is full frame and includes snippets from the show. The audio and video quality are of a much lower standard that the feature, but hey, it's an extra and quite an informative and interesting one at that.

Stocking Fillers is the chapter selection and is very handy when you want to find a particular joke. Chubby tells'em in rapid succession and pads them out with endless one liners.

Hooper is essentially a full band performance featuring Chubby on piano. There is no background information provided about Hooper, so I have to assume that it is Chubby's side interest. It would appear to have been filmed as a sound check for the show and the song is heard again over the closing credits.

Other Titles at first appears to be just an advert for other Roy "Chubby" Brown videos available, but each is pleasantly supplemented with a snippet from each video - bonus jokes as it were. A clever way to get punters to check out the whole "advert".

Website details is self-explanatory and gives details about how to keep up-to-date with Chubby's career, merchandise and upcoming performances.

Subtitles are helpful, not only for those hard of hearing, but also for us Aussies who have occasional trouble understanding Chubby's pretty strong accent. All of the swear words are there, so if you were hoping to turn the volume down, and 'read' Stocking Filler - forget it.