Last night Manchester comedy club The Frog & Bucket held its 20th Annual ‘Beat the Frog’ World Series Final.
Beat the Frog is a weekly comedy night taking place at The Frog & Bucket every Monday featuring amateur comedians.
Each comedian has to convince the audience they’re good enough to keep around for a five minute set or else they are voted off.
Amateurs who can keep the laughs going are crowned the winner and compete in comedy ‘heats’ in October, all with the hope of securing a spot at the World Series Final.
So who was on the lineup last night?
We had Peter Jones, Blank Peng, Kevin Finn, Daniel McCreanor, Caryl Burke, Rheanon Lee, Adam Evans, Al Stevenson, Alex Bertulis-Fernandes and Qasim Akhtar.
And how did they do?
Given The Frog & Bucket has been home to Northern comedic legends such as Peter Kay, John Bishop, Jack Whitehall and dare we say it, Johnny Vegas, these 10 definitely offered something different.
The unifying theme was that – whether Welsh, Canadian, Irish, Chinese, Australian, British Pakistani or English – embarrassing things are funny when they’re happening to someone else.
Whether it’s Peter’s ‘definitely not receding pervert hair’, the man who matched Caryl on Tinder just to tell her she was boring, the reaction Qasim gets vs his white middle-class girlfriend, or any man in the audience getting the full ‘daddy’ experience from Al Stevenson.
Comedy was well and truly alive last night with each act exploring their own niche, and taking the crowd with them.
Also on the bill was 2015 winner Brennan Reece compering the evening – and doing an outstanding job, as well as last year’s World Series winner Dane Buckley.
While the audience got to vote for their winner at the end of the night, there was also an industry panel winner and a runner up announced.
The last three frogs in the bucket, after a year of Monday night competitions, were Qasim Akhtar, the panel’s choice; Daniel McCreanor, the runner up; and Peter Jones, the people’s winner.
Peter Jones’ victory secures him a paid spot on one of the comedy club’s lineups, a cash prize of £250, and is promised substantial press coverage.
Whether these comedians sound like your cup of tea or not, every Monday The Frog & Bucket hosts different comics so finding gems isn’t difficult.
Plus for £8 entry, you know the price isn’t a joke.
