The Frog and Bucket comedy club in Manchester recently celebrated its 30th birthday with a showcase of some of Manchester’s top acts.
It is Manchester’s longest running comedy club and the longest running in the country outside of London with famous names performing there over the years including Johnny Vegas, John Bishop and Jack Whitehall.
It opened in 1994 in humble origins in a room in a pub not far from its current venue at the top of Oldham Street on the edge of the Northern Quarter.
It was originally founded by David Perkin and is now run by his daughter Jessica Toomey who also runs a comedy management agency FAB comedy.
The comedy nights at the Frog and Bucket consist of weekend stand-up shows, the new act gong competition Beat the Frog on Mondays, many touring shows and one-off events throughout the year.
On the birthday night, which was held on 22 February, there was a special showcase of Manchester’s best comedy acts including Edinburgh Comedy Award Nominee Josh Jones, Leicester Mercury, Chortle Award and North West Comedian of the Year winner Nina Gilligan and Beat the Frog World Series and BBC Comedian of the Year winner Dan Tiernan.
Jason Manford performing at the Frog and Bucket
The club has a long tradition of nurturing talent in the city. Peter Kay and Johnny Vegas played many a weekend show when they were first starting out, as did Dave Gorman. John Bishop – an adopted Mancunian who lived in the city for 30 years – performed his first ever gig at the Frog and Bucket, and Jack Whitehall honed his early stand-up routine while he was a student at the university. John Bishop said: “Without the Frog and Bucket, I would not be a professional comedian today. It was a great place for me when I started out and remains just as good.”
Jessica Toomey and Jen McPherson
Other comedians who performed there in their early days included Sarah Millican, Lucy Porter and Lee Mack. Sally Lindsay performed there when she was dabbling in stand up before getting her Coronation Street break. Steve Coogan did warm up shows for the launch of BBC3. The Frog and Bucket has had famous punters in too as it was a favourite of the late Caroline Aherne and New Order’s Peter Hook.
Sarah Millican performing at the Frog and Bucket
Jessica Toomey, recalling her favourite memories of the club told Mancunian Matters: “Maybe Johnny Vegas stage diving?
“I like the physical comedy, when someone does something no one else would have thought to do.”
Talking about what makes the club unique, Toomey said: “We’ve always prioritised our Monday open-mic night which after 30 years is quite legendary so most people’s first gig were here.
“I think it’s so successful because it’s down to being Manchester, I think it was just at the right time when comedy was coming out of your working men’s clubs and there was an alternative comedy. I think being the largest university city in Europe helps because there’s so many young people and that’s when people start to dabble in comedy at that age. So I think just being in such a great city at a great time, it’s just been a perfect blend.”
Jack Whitehall performing at the Frog and Bucket
Toomey said Manchester offered a lot to the club: “Manchester offers a great audience. The audience were brilliant for people like Johnny Vegas because the audience would let the comics do what they want to do. I think it’s a really multicultural city, I think it’s always been a very left-leaning city which always tied in nicely with alternative comedy. And now it’s a city which people emigrate to from all over the world to do comedy. It has the best circuit in the UK.”
Describing what makes the club different from other clubs, Toomey said: “It’s the longest running comedy club out of London but I think we’ve always prioritised new acts. So with the open-mic night, there’s always been a clear route of progression with us so I’ve always believed if no other comedy club existed the Frog and Bucket would have been self-sufficient.
“Some clubs don’t invest at grassroots, they’re just booking established acts whereas with us they can go the full circle with us even to the point when they’re doing arenas they still need us to come back and do new material. Wherever you are in your comedy journey, you need clubs like this.”
Toomey also talked about the range of backgrounds the comedians who perform at the club com from. She said: “There’s been a massive rise in female comedians. There’s been a lot of things that have contributed to that. The women in comedy festival runs out of Manchester every year, it’s the only one in Europe, we’ve been running that for ten years now.
“I think when the Frog started 30 years ago 10% to 15% of acts were women – now it’s closer to 35%. We do desi shows, we do Muslim comedy, we have French-speaking comedy. Manchester is such a multicultural city there’s a demand for specialist comedy.”
Johnny Vegas at the Frog and Bucket
Derek from Leeds told Mancunian Matters why he liked the venue so much: “The atmosphere’s fantastic. It’s got a really nice home-like atmosphere, no pretence, everybody has a good giggle. For a place to survive 30 years, it’s just amazing, and not only is it surviving but it’s growing. It’s so great for Manchester.”
Michael from Manchester told Mancunian Matters: “It’s just really, really funny, great environment, feel safe, cheap drinks, good atmosphere. I quite like dark humour. It’s a really, really great place.”
Josh Jones, who performed on the birthday night, told Mancunian Matters: “I have been performing here for nine years, they’ve always been really lovely to me, it’s a great gig. The audience are always good.”
Josh Jones performing on the 30th birthday night
Toomey added: “We just saw a gap in the market, there wasn’t a dedicated comedy club in Manchester.
“We’re in a wave again of more stars so it’s about repeating the same success for the next 30 years.”
Colorful Modern Business Chronology Timeline Infographic by Jen McPhersonArchive images courtesy of the Frog and Bucket.
