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Lost Voice Guy: Transcending Barriers of Disability through Technology in Live Comedy Performance

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Abstract

This paper will explore the intersection of live comedy and interactive technology through the work of UK stand-up comedian, Lost Voice Guy.  Lost Voice Guy, real name Lee Ridley, has cerebral palsy and is unable to speak. Ridley delivers his comic material through an iPad using Speakit!, a text to voice app developed by John Stefanopoulos at Future Apps. The paper will consider Lost Voice Guy’s live performance and his use of interactive voice technology as a tool to provide a mechanism through which he can perform live stand-up comedy illustrating that the technology has the ability to both allow individuals to transcend physical barriers and bring a new dimension to the form.

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© 2014 ICST Institute for Computer Science, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering

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Fairclough-Isaacs, K. (2014). Lost Voice Guy: Transcending Barriers of Disability through Technology in Live Comedy Performance. In: Reidsma, D., Choi, I., Bargar, R. (eds) Intelligent Technologies for Interactive Entertainment. INTETAIN 2014. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 136. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08189-2_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08189-2_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-08188-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08189-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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