The life of comedian Dave Lee will be celebrated in a special
show at Canterbury's Marlowe Theatre tonight.

A host of the panto legend's friends from the
world of showbusiness, including Bradley Walsh and Joe Pasquale,
with star in the celebration.

Dave died in January after a short battle with cancer. He starred in
more than 1,000 performances at the Marlowe over 16 years.

Many were directed and produced by Paul Hendy, who thinks the
show will be a fitting tribute.

He said: "Dave was known as a comedian - he was one of the
funniest guys I knew.

“You could never top Dave. There's this thing when you’re in a
room with funny people - someone would say something funny and
someone would try and top that, but Dave would always have the last
word; he was the funniest person in the room.

“He would often do these types of shows and we wanted an element
of that.”

Dave’s annual comedy shows always proved so popular fans would
camp out at the theatre the night before, determined not to miss
out on tickets. He would then often turn up to provide drinks and
bacon butties.

Paul added: “He was Kent’s best mate, so many people would say
Dave Lee was my best mate because he made you feel like that and
that’s a very special thing.”

Dave Lee as Nellie in
Robin Hood at the Marlowe Theatre

Dave, 64, also set up the charity Dave Lee’s Happy Holidays,
which raised more than £2m to send sick or disabled children
on holiday.

Tickets for the show - which starts at 7pm tonight - cost £35,
with all proceeds going to Happy Holidays.