Lee Ridley (comedian)

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For the footballer, see Lee Ridley (footballer).

Lee Ridley
Stand-up, television
NationalityEnglish
Years active2012–present
GenresImprovisational comedy, observational comedy
Notable works and rolesBritain's Got Talent (2018)

America's Got Talent: The Champions (2019)

Britain's Got Talent: The Champions (2019)
WebsiteOfficial website

Lee Ridley (born 31 December 1980

12th series of Britain's Got Talent.[3]

Early life

Ridley is originally from Consett, County Durham.[1] At the age of six months he was diagnosed with a form of cerebral palsy, brought about by a brain infection that left him in a coma for two months, which affected his movement and rendered him unable to speak.[4][5] His disability in early life made it difficult for him to communicate with people, until the age of eight, when he received his first communication device.[citation needed]

Ridley attended

Percy Hedley School for disabled children,[6][7] in Newcastle, until 12, then, until 16, the Barbara Priestman Academy[8][9][10] for autistic children, and the mainstream school, Thornhill Academy, in Sunderland.[11][12]

Between 1999 and 2002, he studied journalism and online journalism at the University of Central Lancashire,[13] achieving an undergraduate degree in the former, and a master's degree in the latter.

Career

In 2006, he worked as a journalist with the BBC and local newspapers,

Sunderland in 2007.[15]

In 2011, he worked as an online journalist for the Sunderland City Council media team[16] and freelanced for dance and entertainment magazines and web sites.[17][18]

Ridley began performing comedy in 2012.[19]

His decision to perform standup himself came in the aftermath of a show by

Text to Speech app called Speak It!,[21] which he pre-programmed with sentences based on material he created.[22][23] Following his first show, Ridley adapted his routine by selecting material that had received favourable audience reaction, and adopting a style of improvisation in which he occasionally created new material onstage through his synthesiser in real time.[5] His first successful show was at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2013,[22] but he was forced to cut this short after he developed pneumonia.[24]

In 2014, Ridley won the

BBC Radio New Comedy Awards.[25]

In 2015, Ridley began to pursue a professional comedy career,[26] performing a new show titled Disability for Dunces as part of the Edinburgh Fringe that year. The following year, he performed a sequel of the show, titled "Volume 2", and in 2017 he launched a new show titled Inspiration Porn, which made fun of "inspirational" videos and memes about disability.[27]

By 2018, The Sequal Trust asked him to be a patron of their communication disability charity, a role he still plays.[28]

In 2018, Ridley starred in

12th series of Britain's Got Talent after successfully making it through the audition stages, and winning the show by the public vote.[34][3][35] In February 2019, Ridley appeared in one episode of the BBC Three television series, Jerk
.

In 2019, Ridley competed in America's Got Talent: The Champions,[36][37] where he was eliminated in the preliminaries. He also released his first book I'm Only In It For The Parking.[38][39]

In March 2021 he announced he would be working with a technology company, CereProc and the voice-artist Dan Pye to create a Consett accent similar to his family's.[40]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2018 Talent Recap Fan Choice Awards Favorite Talent Show Winner Britain's Got Talent Winner

References

  1. ^ a b Autograph – Lee Ridley, in Living North; retrieved 4 July 2015
  2. ^ Guide, British Comedy. "Lee Ridley". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  3. ^ a b Natasha Sporn (4 June 2018). "Britain's Got Talent winner: Lost Voice Guy crowned 2017 champion". Standard.co.uk. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  4. ^ Lost Voice Guy: Heard the one about the stand-up comedian who can't speak?, by Alice Jones, in the Independent; published 11 December 2014; retrieved 4 July 2015
  5. ^ a b c Lee Ridley: making comedy out of silence, by Gary Evans, in the Guardian; published 6 June 2012; retrieved 4 July 2015
  6. ChronicleLive
    . Evening Chronicle. 23 March 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  7. ^ Wollaston, Sam (25 February 2019). "Lee Ridley, Lost Voice Guy: 'It's quite ironic if I'm the voice of the disabled'". the Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  8. ^ "about-us". barbara-priestman-academy. ascenttrust.org. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Barbara Priestman Academy". GOV.UK. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Welcome". Barbara Priestman School. Archived from the original on 6 April 2001. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Lost Voice Guy – "We got up to our fair share of mischief"". Teachwire. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  12. ^ "Who is this guy really?". Lost Voice Guy. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  13. ^ "Former Preston student Lee Ridley through to the next round of Britain's Got Talent". Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  14. ^ CM Admin (20 November 2012), "Finding My Voice" – Lee Ridley, retrieved 23 April 2018
  15. ^ Lee Ridley: 'Disabled people are either inspirational, or benefit cheats', by Mary O'Hara, at the Guardian; published 15 April 2015; retrieved 4 July 2015
  16. Telegraph.co.uk
    . Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  17. ^ Ridley, Lee. "Who is this bloke?". On my radar. Archived from the original on 4 February 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  18. issuu.com
    . Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  19. ^ The stand-up comic who cannot speak, by Colin Paterson; at the BBC; published 13 April 2012; retrieved 4 July 2015; "two months ago he did his first show"
  20. ^ Ridley, Lee. "My Stephen Hawking is better than yours". On my radar. Archived from the original on 4 February 2011.
  21. App Store
    . Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  22. ^ a b Lee Ridley: Stand-up success for 'Lost Voice Guy' comic, by Phil Mawson, at the BBC; published 9 August 2012; retrieved 4 July 2015
  23. ^ "BBC – The Ouch! Blog: Lee Ridley aka Lost Voice Guy: the communication revolution (technology and disabled people series)". Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  24. ^ Voiceless comedian in hospital after contracting pneumonia during Edinburgh Fringe performances, by Jane O'Neill, in the Sunderland Echo; published 27 August 2013; retrieved 4 July 2015
  25. ^ Lost Voice Guy wins BBC New Comedy Award 2014, at British Comedy Guide; published 17 December 2014
  26. ^ BBC launches its 2015 New Comedy Award, by Andrew Dipper; at GiggleBeats; published 17 June 2015; retrieved 5 July 2015
  27. ^ a b Peacock, Robert (21 April 2018). "Interview: Lost Voice Guy". The Wee Review. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  28. ^ "Meet The Team". The Sequal Trust. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  29. ^ Lost Voice Guy (24 April 2017). "Lost Voice Guy chats to Steve Wright about his BBC Radio 4 sitcom". SoundCloud. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  30. ^ Lost Voice Guy (5 April 2018). "Lost Voice Guy talks about his new BBC Radio 4 sitcom, Ability". youtube. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  31. ^ "Ability". BBC Radio 4. BBC. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  32. ^ Hodgson, Barbara (6 January 2017). "Lost Voice Guy Lee Ridley stars in new BBC Radio 4 sitcom". nechronicle. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  33. ^ Guide, British Comedy. "Ability - Radio 4 Sitcom". British Comedy Guide.
  34. ^ Hegarty, Tasha (21 April 2018). "Britain's Got Talent's The Lost Voice Guy has everyone in stitches". Digital Spy. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  35. ^ "Revealed: Just how clear was Lost Voice Guy's victory". www.chortle.co.uk. Chortle. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  36. ^ "America's Got Talent: 9 comedians return for Champions season – ComedyNews.Org :: Comedy News Organization :: CN.O". Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  37. ^ "Lost Voice Guy honoured sharing stage with Susan Boyle on AGT: The Champions". Metro. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  38. ^ "Lee Ridley to release Lost Voice Guy book in 2019". British Comedy Guide. 28 July 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  39. ^ "Transworld wins Lost Voice Guy's first book | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  40. ^ "Whey aye, I'm gannin' to be propa Geordie". Lost Voice Guy. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.

External links

Preceded by Winner of
Britain's Got Talent
2018 		Succeeded by
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