"THERE was a time when you couldn't even get people to walk up to Oldham Street," Jessica Toomey, the owner of legendary comedy venue The Frog and Bucket, recalls to the M.E.N.
"In the early days, we'd ask the local hotels to recommend us but they would often refuse because they didn't think the area was safe.
"It would just be tumbleweeds all around. It would just be us, Sankey's and Band on the Wall. Now it's completely changed. It's incredible to see it all flourish around us." This week marks 30 years since the iconic comedy club first opened its doors in the Northern Quarter.
Originally based in a tiny room above the Britannia pub on Newton Street, the club has been situated at the top end of Oldham Street since 2006 and has served as a stomping ground for some of the country's biggest names in comedy, like Peter Kay, Johnny Vegas, Sarah Millican and Jack Whitehall.
Started by her father David Perkin back in 1994, Jessica took over the reins of the venue properly some 20 years ago.
With a 30th birthday party booked in and ready to take place tomorrow night, Jessica says she has been fondly looking back at memories of the venue over the last three decades.
"When my dad first got the keys to the place, I was only 14 so my job at the time was cleaning the venue on Saturday's. I'd be introduced to a few of the comedians, like Steve Coogan and Smug Roberts, but it wasn't really until 2004 when I started coming and watching the shows," she recalls.
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