by Paul Lines

ARRIVING at tonight's venue, the intimate and rather tired looking Pier Theatre, makes you realise how mainstream comedy is not as popular as it once was.

Back in the late 1990s at his peak, Chubby Brown played a weekend of gigs at the BIC. Tonight's audience can't have reached 300.

The show started – well, he came on to his customary song with a little twist, and opened up with some strong material getting big laughs. We had jokes at his many ex-wives’ expense and his take on the Olympics. But after a while the jokes lost their punch, a number during the course of his 70-minute set fell flat. " Thats the last clean joke I tell yer," he said.

We had a few songs at the piano, some old, some new. One he even forgot the words to but the appreciative crowd soon helped him out with the chorus. I have seen him perform over a dozen times and this wasn't vintage Chubby. He finished his set with the famous Full Monty strip, sending the majority of the crowd home fulfilled. Sadly I wasn't one of them … Sorry, Chubbs.