Lost Voice Guy: A Success Story of a Dumb Comedian!
Let’s imagine a scene. The audience burst into laughter when they heard the joke. And after every joke, countless applause echoes throughout the hall room. But he who is joking cannot speak for himself. In other words, with a speech-impaired person occupying the stage, the gallery filled the audience with the juice of all the great jokes.
Dear reader, the scene can be hard to imagine. And if I say, not in imagination, but in reality, that someone is doing this, then maybe it will be hard to believe. But unbelievable but true; Kalpana has also been defeated by a speech-impaired comedian named ‘Lost Voice Guy. It is basically his pseudonym, the name he has become known worldwide as a comedian. The real name of this comedian is Lee Ridley, a native of Great Britain. Despite being deaf for six months after birth, he won the title of the UK’s most popular talent hunt reality show, Britain’s Got Talent, with the help of a text-to-voice composer app on the iPad, using only his own concentration and faith. Besides, he is constantly doing comedy shows. Getting invitations from various live shows. The comedian is even doing a sitcom on the radio.
Ridley was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at just six months old. As a result, he lost the ability to speak. And the right part of his body is weaker than the left part. Epilepsy is associated with adolescence. Lee’s family, who had been in a coma for two weeks with a brain infection, never imagined it would be possible for him to survive. Her 91-year-old grandmother, Ethel Foster, told The Sun in an interview.
“The doctors gave up the possibility of his survival. Even then, she survived, and her parents had to stay with her day and night to take care of her. It was a terrible time. “
Lee didn’t have many friends as a child due to his speechlessness. He could not go to a normal school like ten other children. He studied in a special school for the disabled. And he saw it as a blessing, not a disappointment. In an interview with Sun, he said,
“I went to a school for the disabled. There I received considerable support from the teachers. But normal children are not getting enough support from the teachers in their school at present. It’s a bad sign for them. “
Although there weren’t as many friends as the usual eight or ten children, Lee had a couple of close friends. He also acknowledged that his friends had contributed to his success in becoming a comedian. According to his commentary:
“The contribution of my friends to the success of my life is immense. Without their cooperation, I could not have come so far. I never imagined that I would make a name for myself as a comedian. Although I would love to hear a joke, I thought that if I could talk, I might as well enjoy a couple of jokes. Encouraged by my friends, I took the first step to joke.”
However, his main weapon to become a comedian is two iOS apps. He found two apps called Proloquo2Go and Proloquo4 Text. This app can convert various signals and symbols and text into words. This app was created to help people who can’t speak or have a speech impediment. This app is called AAC app or augmentative and alternative communication app. Before the app was created, people with speech impairments used sign language to communicate. In addition, the devices or apps that were used to translate text or symbols into words also cost a lot more, about 3000.
On the other hand, Prolaktugo and ProlakForText apps are priced at 250 and 120$, respectively. At present, about 1 lakh 70 thousand are speech impaired. Continue talking and communicating using this app.
Lee records his humorous jokes through this app and presents those recorded jokes to the public through a voice synthesizer. He uses these two apps for communication as well as for communication in daily life.
His success was due to the cooperation of his family, friends and teachers, and he had to overcome many obstacles and hindrances. This is the first time in the history that a reality show called Britain Got Talent has won a speech impaired title. And as a reality show prize money, he got 250,000 dollars. When asked what he would do with the money, Lee jokingly replied,
“First of all, I will change the accent of my voice synthesizer and buy Jordi Accent. The current voice sounds like a smart Robocop! Robocop’s voice doesn’t go well with a comedian!”
Lee did not stop at winning the Britain Got Talent title. He also appeared on the BBC’s regular sitcom. He had the opportunity to do a comedy show for two consecutive weeks on Radio for Comedy Ability, the BBC Radio Times’ most respected magazine show. Since then, he has performed there regularly. In this show, he plays a character who has lost his speech due to cerebral palsy.
By capitalizing on his physical disability, he gives birth to new jokes. Strong willpower and indomitable self-confidence have brought him to this state today. Even after winning the Britain Got Talent Show semifinals, he fell into a bar and was injured the day before the final. Her nose was broken. However, he won by taking part in the final. He did not stop joking about it. He is constantly laughing at his own disability. He jokingly said,
“Before the semifinals, I was just Lost Voice Guy. I got drunk celebrating the joy of winning the semifinals and became Lost Balance Guy.”
Some jokes from Lost Voice Guy
Lee Ridley is constantly giving birth to new jokes about his disability. He joked about his inability to speak and his popularity,
“My disability is older than my popularity.”
In Britain Got Talent, He was asked how long can you not talk?
He joked there too,
“I haven’t spoken in 36 years. When I first found out, I could never speak again. I was really speechless that day!”
He told the disabled people about their abilities through jokes.
“Separate arrangements for the disabled at all times. Such as special schools, special bus, special hospitals. I just don’t understand what is so special about people with disabilities like me! So when it is said that a group of Special Forces is going to war, I am a little hesitant about their war!”