Madeleine Brettingham is a writer-performer working across stage, page and screen.
After years of writing behind the scenes, she’s recently become one to watch on the stand-up circuit, scooping a string of competition wins including winning the prestigious So You Think You’re Funny 2025 and taking silver in Funny Women, a unique double.
In the same year, she also won Bath New Act of the Year, West End New Woman Comedian of the Year, Beat the Frog World Series and took silver in West End New Act of the Year, an unprecedented sweep.
She’s been praised for her “distinctive worldview” (Chortle), “tight and gag-packed” writing (Bruce Dessau), and “knack for blending offbeat observations with pacey, unexpected punchlines” (The List). Chortle says she has “a suffer-no-fools attitude that owns the stage, a formidable gag rate and a precision with language that conjures up the perfect images.”
Her solo work-in-progress has appeared at the Leicester, Machynlleth, Brighton, Camden and Edinburgh comedy festivals.
She’ll be debuting in Edinburgh in 2026.
Performance
On screen and radio, Madeleine’s credits are a who’s who of British comedy: Frankie Boyle’s New World Order, Would I Lie To You?, Have I Got News For You, That Mitchell and Webb Look, Horrible Histories, and more. She’s written solo, in rooms, as lead writer, and is currently developing multiple pilots for the BBC, Sky and independent production companies.
Broadcast
Her play, Dear Martin, premiered at the Arcola Theatre in 2025, earning an Offie Assessors’ Choice. Reviews called it “a surreal thought-provoking comedy” that “bristles with verbal and visual energy.” It’s now in TV development.
Theatre
Elsewhere, her writing’s appeared in The Times Literary Supplement, The Fence, and on Twitter, where viral posts have been picked up by The Sun, The Times, and The Washington Post. She’s been a BAFTA and Writers’ Guild judge, guest lectured at the National Film & Television School, and was a finalist for Best Comedy Writer at the Funny Women Awards.
Other
Selected links
So You Think You’re Funny set, YouTube
Funny Women set, YouTube
Frog-faced arse wipes: on satire post-Brexit, The Times Literary Supplement
Poison in jest: offence and free speech on the comedy circuit, The Times Literary Supplement
Funny Business: the inner lives of comedians, The Times Literary Supplement
That is what’s going to become of me Joan. That is what’s going to become of us, Substack
Army of Me: further reflections on our robot overlords, Substack
Fiction: The Adolescents, The Fence
Can’t go on. Go on, The Times Literary Supplement Podcast
Dirty Grandpa, Smersh Pod
Switching to stand-up, Be Funny or Die
Contact