BOSSES at venues in Southampton are set to help the city gear up for its biggest comedy festival with five days of events in the run-up to the showcase.

Venues within the city’s Business Improvement District have pledged to lay on a host of comedy shows in the days before the inaugural Comedy Central Live!

Stand-up shows, comedy film nights and a drag-hosted quiz night are just some of the evenings planned in a bid to get the city warmed up for the weekend of comedy.

Comedy Central Live! takes place from October 5 and will see many of the biggest names in comedy descend on the city for a new, three-day comedy festival in Hoglands Park.

Comedy stars Jimmy Carr, Russell Howard and Katherine Ryan are among those performing.

To celebrate the event and warm residents up for a week of laughter, GO! Southampton is running a fringe festival – Go Giggle – in the lead up to and during the event.

With an expectation that Go Giggle will grow in future years, it has arranged for venues within the city’s BID area to lay on their own comedy events, with many free to attend and others charging only a small entry fee.

There will also be street entertainers popping up at locations across the city and the event is being supported by Southampton City Council.

Heidi Isa, marketing director at GO! Southampton, said: “We are incredibly excited that our work to bring a major event to Southampton has resulted in Comedy Central holding its first ever three-day comedy festival in city.

“To celebrate, we’re pulling out all the stops to make it a huge success.

“Go Giggle will see popular venues across the city open their doors to comedy-goers and get people truly geared up for a weekend of laughter.”

Councillor Satvir Kaur, Southampton City Council’s cabinet member for homes and culture, added: “Southampton is a place where something is always happening.

“Having some of the biggest names in comedy coming to our city as part of this first Comedy Central Live event is fantastic news, and adds to an already packed calendar of diverse and vibrant activities throughout the year.

“We were keen for comedy to be enjoyed and celebrated by as many as possible during this time and are proud to have supported Go Southampton to bring Go Giggle.

“I hope local people and visitors alike take advantage of these amazing events.”