Madeleine Brettingham is a comic writer-performer working across stage, page and screen.

Her debut 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

Recently, she’s become one to watch on the stand-up circuit, scooping a string of competition wins including the prestigious So You Think You’re Funny 2025. Promoters have called her “feisty” and “fearless” and her solo work-in-progress has appeared at the Leicester, Machnylleth, Brighton, Camden and Edinburgh comedy festivals. You can find selected gigs here,

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 writing’s also 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

“Writes like a novelist, performs like a delinquent.”
“Razor-sharp wit and hilarious anecdotes.”
“Blends dark humour with thought-provoking themes.”
“A feisty and fearless performer with a definite edge.”
“See her before she becomes rich and famous.”

Praise

Essays and reviews

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

Podcasts

Subscribe on Substack, follow on X, Bluesky and Instagram.

For writing work, contact Charlene McManus at Curtis Brown.

charlene.mcmanus@curtisbrown.co.uk +44 (0)20 7393 4260

For stand-up bookings, get in touch here.

Contact