Phill Jupitus is hoping the force is with him when he guest stars at a charity event in aid of the New Empire Theatre.

The comedian and BBC Radio Six DJ has vivid memories of visiting the Southend venue in its former guise as an ABC cinema.

"I saw the Empire Strikes Back there. I used to go there when I was a kid," he says.

Phill is now returning to take part in the Comedy Store Players Present, an evening of laughter aimed at raising money for the New Empire Theatre Fund, on Friday.

Talking about the theatre, Phill, who compered a Little Haven Children's Hospice benefit concert there a few years ago, says: "The theatre isn't in competition with other local theatres, the people who run it are just trying to provide a space and they'd like there to be lots more places like that in Southend.

"The people down there are doing it for the love of the craft."

Direct from the Comedy Store's HQ in London and joining Phill on stage will be Jim Sweeney, Andy Smart, Lee Simpson and Richard Vranch from Whose Line is it Anyway?

Phill takes the title of guest comedian for the evening, which also doubles as a preview night for the show's national tour.

Phill, who lives in Leigh, says: "They don't often get out and about so to play a show like this is quite a rare opportunity for Southend comedy fans to see.

"I've played with them before. They have guest comedians who come along on a floating basis and I'm one of them. I've been doing it for six years now.

"I really like doing the improvisation because we really don't know what we're going to be doing as it's utterly dictated by the audience."

Taking part in these events is often the only chance Phill gets to be back on the stage and he's even more pleased to be treading the boards back home.

Phill, who is originally from Stanford le Hope, started out as a comedian back in 1984 after quitting the civil service. Until about four years ago he was still a regular face on the circuit.

However, something had to give when he took on the role of breakfast DJ for digital radio station BBC Radio Six.

"I just haven't got the time to do it really because I have to be in Broadcasting House for six in the morning," he says.

"The BBC approached me to do it and I kind of knew when I had the first meeting that the comedy would go by the by, but after doing standup for 12 years I welcomed the opportunity to try something different. But it's something you can always do.

"It's a question of just getting the material together really.

"It's nice to be playing Southend after such a long break."

Phill's morning show is becoming more and more popular as people start to invest in digital radios.

"The point of the station is just to provide an alternative. I'm allowed to play around with the tracks, I can put what I want on.

"I can break new acts. People send in demo stuff and I play that and at the same time you can play really old numbers.

"I describe myself as a grumpy iPod shuffle. There's always that song you skip through on your iPod but you can't fast forward me."

Phill lists John Peel and Terry Wogan as his radio heroes.

Talking about Terry, Phill says: "He's the best broadcaster effortless, a lovely old fellow. He could cure any headache, it's just so gentle."

As well as the early mornings, Phill can be heard and seen once a week in the evening on BBC2 as a team leader on the music quiz show Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

Surprisingly, the show has been going for ten years and Phil has been there from the start.

"Once I stopped doing the standup, Buzzcocks became my only comedy outlet," he says.

Phill says he's always surprised by the weird musical trivia uncovered by the researchers and likes the fact the show isn't too serious.

"Mark Lamarr used to say It's not a quiz, I know you think it is but nobody wins a speedboat'," says Phill, who also appears on Radio Four's News Quiz.

After Mark stepped down as quiz master, the programme enlisted the help of celebs to take on the role.

In the show's current series you can see the likes of Dale Winton, Jeremy Clarkson and Kaiser Chiefs lead singer Ricky Wilson firing off the questions.

But sitting behind a desk on a quiz show still doesn't beat getting up in front of an audience and sometimes that's what Phill misses.

"It's just because you get such a direct reaction, with TV and radio you could be doing it for months before you find out how you're doing," he says.

"With standup you're there, so the audience are going to let you know straight away, I miss that."

Tickets to The Comedy Store Players Present cost £10.