CLASS OF 2026

Lost Voice Guy

Lee Ridley, better known as Lost Voice Guy, is the first stand-up comedian to use a communication aid.

That would already make him an important figure in British comedy. Then he went and won Britain's Got Talent as well.

Born in County Durham and based in the North East, Lee began performing stand-up in 2012. In 2014 he won the BBC New Comedy Award, and in 2018 he became the first comedian to win Britain's Got Talent. Since then he's appeared on Live at the Apollo, The Last Leg, Comic Relief, The Royal Variety Performance and plenty more, while touring his own shows around the country.

He also co-wrote and starred in the BBC Radio 4 sitcom Ability, proving that the voice coming out of the machine is only the delivery system. The jokes are very much his.

Lee's career has been groundbreaking without ever needing to announce itself as a public information film. He made a space for himself in stand-up that largely hadn't existed before, then filled it with proper jokes and won over enormous audiences.

Which is considerably more effective than asking politely to be included.

Into the Hall he goes.