It’s a beautiful summer evening, absolutely perfect for the opening night of the annual Hever Festival. Five weeks of concerts, plays, family shows, speakers, jazz, blues, opera, musical entertainment and, tonight, comedy.
Winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2018, award winning comedian Lee Ridley – better known as the Lost Voice Guy – is the headline act who will officially open the festival but, before he takes to the stage, Britain’s Got Talent Semi-Finalist Jonny Awsum has the, sometimes difficult, task of warming up the audience.
Of course, when the daytime temperature has been in the mid 30’s, very little warming up is necessary and, just a few minutes into his set, Awsum is congratulating the crowd on their enthusiasm and willingness to join in with his quirky act. Musical comedy can be so difficult if the audience don’t get on board, but Awsum’s huge stage presence and infectious likeability soon has everyone clapping, waving, singing – and even high-kicking like the Tiller Girls! Special thanks also need to go to Cllr Nicholas Busvine OBE, Mayor of Sevenoaks, for being such a fabulous sport when suddenly thrust into the limelight.
After the interval Lost Voice Guy gets an amazingly enthusiastic welcome as he takes his seat behind the desk that supports all the electronic equipment that helps him do what he does so very well. In no time at all he has the huge crowd quite willingly “laughing at the disabled guy”, to use his words.
His observations of life as someone with Cerebral Palsy are as funny as they are poignant. When he launches into a routine about “Things not to say to a disabled person” there are some very sheepish looks from people who have, unwittingly, found themselves uttering the very sentences that he is highlighting and, as well as making us all crease up with laughter, Ridley also takes the opportunity to remind everyone that taking just a few seconds to think about what you are saying can make a huge difference.
As the sun sets over the beautiful grounds of Hever Castle, and the undercover open air theatre, Lost Voice Guy keeps everyone laughing with his many different observations about his life, his time on Britain’s Got Talent, winning the quarter of a million pounds prize and, mostly, about the trials and tribulations of living each day without the ability to speak.
It is quite amazing to see how the audience reaction to his hour-long set really affects Lee. The joy that he gets from making people laugh is unbounded and, as he stands to take the applause at the end of his act, his beaming smile just goes to show that it is not only the Hever Festival audience that have had a brilliant evening out.
***** Five Stars