Manchester comedy club where Peter Kay started out hits 30

A comedy club that hosted Peter Kay's first stand-up gig and John Bishop and Johnny Vegas as newcomers has celebrated its 30th birthday.

Manchester's Frog & Bucket has also welcomed stars including Sarah Millican and Jason Manford since opening in 1994.

Founder Dave Perkin said it had seen a "smorgasbord" of comedians who found stardom after performing there.

Vegas said it was "the best club".

The actor and comedian said he had so many great memories of the club, which he said gave him the "best start" in his career.

"I did an open spot and then I went away [to live in] Glasgow, and when I come back Dave [Perkin] thought I'd been touring so I got a paid gig as soon as I come back.

"I must have impressed him."

He told BBC Radio Manchester that for his "second or third gig" Caroline Aherne was in the audience.

"She sat in front row and I took the mickey out of her and she took me under her wing."

He added: "It was the best club. [Dave] ruined me for London because if you compered he would let you do 40 minutes."

"It was a brilliant time for Manchester comedy," he said.

"You had all this talent coming through this club and the best thing about there was it was everything that London wasn't.

"It was like do as long as you want, find what you want," Vegas added.

"It was the best comedy club to work at. I felt we were proper part of something."

Smug Roberts did his first stand-up gig there in 1995 and, like Vegas, said the late Royle Family co-creator Aherne was in the audience and took him under her wing.

"She basically became my mentor - and Peter [Hook], her [then] husband, was very supportive too - and she got me an agent."

Mr Perkin recalls "being skint" and setting up the club "on the wrong side of Manchester".

He said people were laughing at him at the time because the original venue, the old Britannia pub on Newton Street, was "the back end of nowhere".

Following the move to The "Big Frog" on Oldham Street two years later, the venue quickly became a platform for budding northern comedians.

He said comedians then "realised they didn't have to be in London".

Mr Perkin said he was really proud of the contribution the club has made to the entertainment industry.

"It is great to see a tiny club has made such a difference to British comedy," he said.

The club is celebrating its milestone with a 30th birthday show featuring emerging talent, as well as established stand-up comedians such as Phoenix Nights star Justin Moorhouse, Rachel Fairburn and Smug Roberts.

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