Promising something for everyone, The Wave Comedy Festival will take place in Southend between July 19th and 21st.

Opening the line up will be Southend's long running  Joker Comedy Club, providing a fun filled evening of top acts from the country's talented comedy circuit. The club has played host to a huge range of comics over the last 25 years, including Harry Hill, Lee Evans, Eddie Izzard, Jo Brand, Lee Hurst and Rob Beckett, to name just a handful, so you can be assured that Friday's show will feature the very best new talent out there.

The Comedy Club will be followed on the 20th by local comedy hero Terry Alderton's award winning tour show at The Wave Charity Gala. Described at various points as 'an unusual mix of traditional club comic and experimentalist,' and 'manic and intense' Terry's award winning tour has drawn much praise from the critics for a show that 'creates a joyousness that raises the spirits of the whole crowd.'  Don't miss out on what promises to be a spectacular charity night complete with Champagne reception.

Saturday sees the Youth Comedy Workshop led by Sadie Hasler and Sarah Mayhew (from Russell Howard's Good News and Quirkish). Running from 1pm to 4pm this is the chance for budding 12 to 16 year olds to devise and perform their own sketches.

From 6pm on Saturday there will also be a performance from the South East's premier improvisation group Quirkish, Improvisation and sketches from Los Desperados at 7.30pm with the evening's merriment being completed with a 9.00pm show from Three Funny People (namely Eric Lampaert ‘delightfully weird', Chris Mayo 'a stick of charm who lights up the room' and Hils Barker 'infectious charm and a razor wit'). Sounds like a winning combination to me!

Sunday sees a Comedy Writing Workshop for anyone who fancies having a go at writing their own rib ticklers with the aid of some esteemed comedy names. 

For budding writers and performers a workshop will almost certainly push your enthusiasm and motivation to a new level, provide you with a whole host of new ideas and help you develop the skills you need to ensure that your work is as good as it can be, and swerves the classic clichés and mistakes that can turn a promising piece of work into the same old same old.

The evening offers the opportunity to perform your efforts at the Comedy Writing Showcase - although if you want to write but not perform, or vice versa, worry not, this can be arranged!

All in all it promises to be a cracking weekend of fun and silliness - some events are ticketed and some just come along.

Southend Cultural Centre

The Cultural Centre is already proving to be a fabulous addition to our record breaking landmark pier, and other events planned for the summer include a Jazz Festival on July 28th, a puppet festival in August and a barge memorabilia exhibition. Here at thebestof Southend we'll keep you updated on all new developments, as in addition to the already organised events there are likely to be other events people or organisations may want to do for themselves and the centre is adaptable for many uses, from performing arts, film showings and exhibitions. It will also be available for conferences and weddings.

A fresh jewel in Southend's crown, the cultural centre is already making its mark, and we urge you to join in the party next weekend!