DOUGLAS RIDLOFF
ASL artist

“Watch These Hands” written by Sean Forbes.

He’s a comedian, a storyteller, and an actor who hosts a monthly “open-mic” event in New York City called “ASL Slam”. He just recently finished filming a short-film called “Transients” with talented deaf filmmaker Rhianon Gutierrez. In the film he plays Sal, a deaf drummer. At the end of the day the multi-talented Douglas Ridloff is an ASL artist who aims to entertain the masses.

Born and raised in Queens, New York, Douglas was born profoundly deaf to hearing parents who are both educators. Growing up he loved to perform stories for his family, and his friends at school. This is where he developed his craft, which lead him and a friend to create a live show called “ASL in the Raw,” which had a successful 3 year run and helped Douglas further develop his craft. Since 2007 he has been performing solo everywhere from Michigan, New Orleans, onto California doing things his way.

Not only is Douglas a performer, he is an educator like his parents. He teaches storytelling to high school students at a public school in New York City where he is inspired everyday. He credits twelve of his students for helping him craft his latest ABC story called “ASL KO” which he aims to literally knock you out. Watch the “ASL KO” trailer here. Plans to release “ASL KO” in its entirety are in the works. He is working with two Chicago based musicians to add music and sounds into the video that he feels will help make this a well-rounded ABC story. There are plans in place to release “ASL KO” through iTunes as a podcast. Douglas has also formed his own production company called S4nses, which he aims to create videos by and for people who use ASL.

Douglas Riddlof is a man on a mission, and we look forward to seeing more of his work.

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