Lost Voice Guy is the funniest comedian I’ve seen on the Fringe so far. Lee Ridley may not be able to speak but he is more than able to make people laugh. This is Ridley’s first show but it doesn’t look like it, as he gets the audience laughing from the moment he gets on stage and all the way until the end. He brings something new to the comedy scene and this is definitely one of the shows people will be talking about in this year’s festival.
Ridley may not have chosen the easiest career path. Being a stand-up comedian is hard enough for most people – but when you’ve been without speech since childhood, have cerebral palsy and restricted movement in your body it seems like an almost impossible feat. Not for Ridley however. The entire show is done through the monotonous voices of an ipad but still Ridley manages to do impressions and even have banter with the audience. The material of the show is mainly to do with Ridley’s disabilities and is quite autobiographical. In addition we see a fight with the iPad, problems with auto-correct and an X-Factor audition involved, to name but a few.
At times, Ridley gives quite an emotional speech, providing insight into a life with disability – although his smile never leaves his face. He makes fun of his own disabilities in such a way that the audience doesn’t have to worry about what is politically correct. They will on the other hand without a doubt learn something new and gain massive respect for Ridley. Being somewhat limited to simply make expressions he makes the most of what he has, using various voice modes of the ipad for example. His banter with the audience is one of the best I have witnessed, not just on the Fringe, and not just for handicapped comics.
