How groundbreaking disabled-led arts festival is going out with a bang

In 2018, Sam Judd sat in front of his television and watched Lost Voice Guy win Britain's Got Talent.

- by Benjamin Jackson

The Final You Can Laugh You Know team. From left, Sam Judd, one of the organisers promoting the event with performer, Adam Bang.

For Sam, who uses a wheelchair and an electronic communication aid (AAC) like the comedian, it was a lightning-bolt moment.

"I felt this tremendous sense of pride," Sam recalls. "Seeing his performance showed me just what I could achieve."

Fast forward to 2026, and Sam is the producer behind You Can Laugh You Know, a Leeds-based organisation that has spent the last three years proving that disability is not a limitation, but a lens for world-class creativity.

On April 4, the team will take over Archive in Kirkstall for their 20th and final festival, a star-studded farewell headlined by the very man who inspired it all: Lost Voice Guy.