LEE Ridley, the stand up comic who can’t talk, is singing the praises of his perfect Christmas gift – his new Geordie voice.
“It’s the best Christmas present ever,” said the former winner of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent show.
“I’ve wanted to sound more like my family and friends for most of my life.”
Lee, aka Lost Voice Guy, has relied on a standard voice synthesiser to deliver his jokes.
Now, thanks to some amazing voice cloning technology, Lee can at last use phrases like “Wye Aye, Man” and even sing in his Geordie accent – which he did last night on ITV’s The Comic Show.
“This seemed like the ideal time to introduce my new voice to everybody,” he said. “I can’t thank CereProc enough for all the hard work they’ve put into making this a reality for me.”
Paul Welham, CEO of CereProc, said: “Regional accents are an important part of a person’s personality. When I first met Lee at an event at the National Star College he was using a southern-accented voice and it wasn’t how he wanted to sound.
“We are now excited to be producing more regional accented voices.”
Lee lost his speech as a baby, due to cerebral palsy.
He said: “I’m not sure why people get so awkward around disabled people but they definitely do!
“Some people even ask if I can have sex . . . as an opening question! For the record, I definitely can. All of these questions are embarrassing for both of us. When I was asked some of them for the first time I was speechless.
“Thanks to the current Government and some of the media, many people just see disabled people as being stupid or as a burden to the country.
“Believe it or not, we’re not all benefit cheats and, yes, we are allowed a sense of humour as well.
“It’s almost as if we’re normal human beings. It is the people who portray this evil image of us and those who choose to believe it that are the problem.
“There may be a serious message behind it, but my shows poke fun at the awkwardness that exists and let’s everyone have a laugh about it.”
- CereProc was the world’s first company to offer people the ability to bank and clone their voice from the comfort of their own home. The company is also working with the Scott Morgan Foundation to make cloning and Augmented & Alternative Communication (AAC) devices affordable for anyone who is going to lose the power of speech.
