Irish comic Rob Nother takes the panel prize

Madeleine Brettingham won the Beat The Frog World Series contest for new stand-ups at Manchester's Frog and Bucket comedy club last night. 

It follows her success in taking the So You Think You’re Funny title at the Edinburgh Fringe in August and coming runner-up at Funny Women in September.

Brettingham, who is also a playwright, said she turned to stand-up after Michael McIntyre came to her in a dream and told her to give it a whirl. 

Pictured above with contest organiser Aimee Perry, the comic made the final after triumphing at the venue’s Monday-night gong show, then getting through the semi-final.

Runner-up – and winner of a panel prize awarded by industry judges – was Dublin-based Rob Nother, pictured below with the night's host, Rob Mulholland, who won the competition ten years ago.

The other finalists were Laurie Brewster, Louis Etienne, Max Gill, Archit Goenka, Joe Gurski. Joe Hodgson, Ste Lomas and Molly Rob.

Previous winners of the Beat The Frog World Series include Dane Buckley, Dan Tiernan, Brennan Reece and 2024 title-holder Murph

A full review will follow later.

Published: 4 Nov 2025