Lost Voice Guy – “We got up to our fair share of mischief”
For stand-up comedian and Britain’s Got Talent winner Lee Ridley, AKA Lost Voice Guy, ‘slacking off’ academically was never an option. But there was still time for hijinks…
- by SENCo
Lee Ridley was born with cerebral palsy and has no speech, communicating for the most part via text-to-speech devices. He first began performing stand-up as ‘Lost Voice Guy’ in 2012, and proceeded to gig regularly thereafter, securing a support slot for Ross Noble early on in his career. In 2014 he won the BBC’s New Comedy Award and in 2018 was crowned the winner of Britain’s Got Talent.
Lee’s subsequent career has included numerous festival dates, appearances on Live at the Apollo and The Royal Variety Performance, and co-writing the Radio 4 sitcom Ability with Katherine Jakeways. This year saw Lee publish his first book, I’m Only In It for the Parking, and embark on a UK tour that concludes at the end of November.
“I attended Percy Hedley School in Newcastle until I was 12, then moved to Barbara Priestman School in Sunderland from 12 until 16. While there, I also went to a mainstream school next door for some of my lessons, Thornhill School, which gave me the chance to integrate with kids from the mainstream school and challenge myself academically. It was nice to have both the support network of Barbara Priestman School while at the same time pushing my limits over at Thornhill.
I was a bit of a geek at school. I always handed my homework in on time and always knew the answers to most questions. I’ve always been very creative and liked to write, so my favourite subject was English, but I also liked history and IT. My least favourite subjects were the sciences and art. I just couldn’t get my head around any science stuff, and I’ve always been rubbish at drawing. These hands just weren’t made to paint a masterpiece.
My English teacher, Mr Pod, had such a big influence on me, and I’ll always be grateful for that. He realised that I had real potential and didn’t let me hand in any work that was just ‘alright’. He knew that I could do better and really wanted to see me achieve my best. My form tutor, Mrs Fraser, was pretty much the same. She wouldn’t let me slack off and mess around too much because she believed in me. The faith they both showed in me meant a great deal, and still does to this day.
One of my favourite memories was appearing in the end-of-year school show. Mr Pod was always the director and it was hard work. He expected every performance to be perfect, so he made us rehearse for weeks beforehand. It was always so much fun on the night though. He gave me some great roles, such as a robot and a dog. I didn’t realise it then, but it’s probably what give me a taste for performing on stage.
The only career that ever interested me was becoming a journalist. I had my heart set on it, and luckily my English teacher was more than happy to encourage me. I wanted to learn how to use English correctly, and he loved teaching me. I don’t think there was any doubt for either of us that I was going to be a journalist. And he helped me eventually achieve that goal. I studied journalism at university and I’ve been one ever since – well, until I decided that I could be funny too!
I’ve visited Percy Hedley since, and it’s always nice to go back. I’m also still in touch with a few of my friends from there – the Paralympic athlete, Stephen Miller, was in my class at school (so it was a pretty successful year group!) and we catch up when we can. I also see Mr Pod and Mrs Fraser from time to time, too. Both came to my post-BGT celebration party at my family home. It was nice to have them there celebrating with me, after everything they’d done for me.
My time learning English made me into a great storyteller, which has helped in my comedy a lot. There’s also so much funny stuff that happened during my school years, which has given me plenty of material.
Like most groups of good friends, we got up to our fair share of mischief. Such as the time I went to the zoo with my mate, who had one arm, visited the lion enclosure and asked him to point out ‘Which one of the lions had taken the other arm’ in front of loads of children. And we used to love sending my blind friend really erotic letters from a pretend girlfriend, because we knew his mother would have to read them out to him…
Less Ridley’s book, I’m Only In It for the Parking (£14.99, Bantam Press), is on sale now.
