25 years of The Frog And Bucket comedy club

This year sees Manchester's infamous Frog and Bucket comedy club celebrate its 25th birthday. Outside of London, it's the longest-running dedicated comedy venue in the country.

Over the last quarter of a century 'The Frog' has entertained over one million comedy fans, with more than 4,000 acts having graced its stage.

Across the years, a number of famous faces have made people laugh there, and it helped launch the careers of some of the country's most famous names. John Bishop's first gig was at the club and the likes of Johnny Vegas and Peter Kay were regulars on the bill in the late nineties. The club's played host to Steve Coogan warming up for TV, Jason Manford and friends prepped there for the Royal Variety Performance and Smug Roberts once took the entire crowd out for a trip on the tram. Even the audience members have been starry: comedy legend Caroline Aherne used to be a regular punter.

We've dug into the club's photo archives to pull out a few images of notable faces appearing at the venue:

Johnny Vegas and Steve Coogan both met the frog

Sarah Millican has worked at the club a number of times across her career

Johnny Vegas again, this time without a shirt. And The Royle Family's Ralf Little

Chris Ramsey, back when he had long hair

Al Murray found his packet of crisps in the club

Some of the young comedians who played the venue

(Chris Ramsey, Mike Newall, Carl Hutchinson, Phil Ellis, Andrew Ryan, Michael J Dolan)

North-west legend Peter Kay

The Frog and Bucket was founded by David Perkin. He says: "Over the last 25 years I've been honoured to witness such amazing talent emerge from Manchester. I'm excited for the next 25 and another one million customers, 4000 acts and a whole lot of laughs."

David's daughter Jessica Toomey took over the full running of the club last year, after a long stint managing it. She has big plans for the future and has already added a plethora of new shows, as well as redecorated. But one of her main aims is to encourage more women onto the Frog's stage.

She says: "The anniversary feels very poignant; thinking of how much Manchester has grown over that time, how much the comedy scene has changed and the sheer volume of talent that has graced our stage - some who, sadly, are no longer with us. I'm very excited to see where the next chapter will take us, how comedy will evolve and acts progress, but also to deliver the great people of Manchester another 25 years of laughs."

To celebrate the birthday, the club has big party planned for Sunday 24th February, the day of the actual anniversary of the club's first gig. Another party will take place in March, featuring "something very special", which will be revealed nearer the time. Aside from its normal nights, the club has also organised a number of special specials across the next few months. There'll be a Valentine's Day special at the club, an International Women's Day gig, and more.

The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club is on Oldham Street. For more information and to book tickets visit frogandbucket.com