Showdown at Manchester’s Frog and Bucket on Monday

Manchester’s Frog and Bucket Comedy Club has announced the ten finalists for its annual Beat the Frog World Series final.

Competing for the title on Monday are: 

Madeleine Brettingham: Writer from London. This year’s So You Think You’re Funny? winner who 'turned to stand up after Michael McIntyre came to her in a dream and told her to (true story).’

Laurie Brewster: ‘Sardonic Southerner now living in Newcastle’ and a So You Think You’re Funny? finalist with ‘big eyes and big punchlines’. 

Louis Etienne: This Bradford born stand up is ‘cool, calm and complicated. Oh and also a mechanical engineer’.

Max Gill is from London and likes watching football and comedy. His favourite chocolate bar is a Twix

Archit Goenka: Indian turned British So You Think You’re Funny? finalist and Komedia award winner, ‘who absolutely loves cricket and a good chai’.

Joe Gurski: Screenwriting graduate from the University of Manchester originally from Teeside. Likes Pokemon, gay pop music, and ‘mindlessly scrolling through Instagram until I hate myself’.

Joe Hodgson: Idiosyncratic stand-up from Oldham whose 'favourite pasta shape is farfalle’ and who ‘thinks it’s really funny when dogs have human names.’ He has a dog called Frank.

Ste Lomas: Stand-up from Liverpool, whose hobbies include, ‘getting divorced and injuring myself’. He adds: ‘I detest eggs unless they’ve been used to bake a cake or made of chocolate.’

Rob Nother: Irish comedian based in Dublin with political material. ‘I love Guinness and my mother.’

Molly Rob: Stand-up from Cockermouth with a ‘deceptively quiet demeanour’.

All triumphed in gong-style showdowns at the venue over the past few weeks.

The final will be hosted by Rob Mulholland who won the competition ten years ago. 

Other previous winners include Dane Buckley, Dan Tiernan, Brennan Reece and 2024 title-holder Murph, pictured above.

Published: 29 Oct 2025