Tonight wasn't an extra show for the festival though there have been plenty of them across the fortnight but a trip to the Frog and Bucket was overdue and dropping in at their regular weekend show seemed like a good thing to me. Of course the Frog and Bucket alongside the Comedy Store are the city's only dedicated comedy venues and a regular night is every much a part of the festival as the special solo shows they've played host to from the likes of Brendon Burns and Richard Herring.

Tonight's was a fine and worthy line up too. Manchester's adopted Preston fella (what do you call someone from Preston anyway?) Phil Ellis was compering and clearly thoroughly enjoying chatting to and riffing off the crowd. Up first was a set from Paul Kerensa the Cornish comic now based in London with a love of algebraic equations. He's even had some slogan t-shirts made up with them on. Kerensa's also got an intriguing bodily secret but if you haven't seen him before we're not going to give it away, you'll just have to go and see.

Another adopted Manc, Sam Gore - this time from Yorkshire, he moved across the Pennines a couple of years ago - filled the second section. His is a solid set with some trademark close to the bone gags sprinkled amongst his regular observations providing some catch-your-breath/I-can't-believe-he-just-said-that moments.

And to round off the night a fine set of material from the one time Manchester based Canadian Jason John Whitehead (we really are that popular in this city). He's selling a DVD at the moment and you'd be recommended to buy it as over the years he's honed a brilliant style that is simultaneously laid-back and gently irritated as he tells of his previous, somewhat unfaithful girlfriend, the hazardous experience that is drinking in the UK and tripping a small child in Toys R Us.

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