His appeal transcends the boundaries of age, language and culture, drawing on a heritage that includes silent film, mime, magic, puppetry, Motown and the films of Patrick Swayze. Through simple, clever and charming humour, Tape Face has created one of the most accessible and enjoyable shows the world has ever seen Through simple, clever and charming humour, aimed at satisfying that hunger, this America’s Got Talent Finalist gives a performance which is delightful, wry, and hilarious. He accesses an inner child in us all that must be fed. Tape Face is a character created by performer Sam Wills delightful, wry, many-layered, hilarious and with universal appeal. Viral sensation Tape Face has to be seen to be believed. Great fun, although I have to say I think I preferred it when it was much simpler.Mime with noise, stand-up with no talking – drama with no acting. If you don’t know him there are plenty of videos on YouTube and I would certainly recommend seeing the live show. There are elements of Mr Bean as well as Buster Keaton and all the rest but Tape Face has hit upon a winning formula which has sustained him for nigh-on fifteen years. He claims his on stage persona is that of a nine-year-old child, that it is the innocence and sense of wonder that fuel his act. There are a series of mysterious and dramatic phone calls after which he tries in vain to fly a kite and there is a prolonged, maybe too prolonged, sketch in which he tries to catch a tennis ball shot at him while blindfolded. It’s all done in the best possible taste, like the guy who was asked to sit on a whoopee cushion followed inevitably by a good couple of minutes of full-bellied farts only for it to be revealed that Tape Face had removed the cushion before he sat down. And, most importantly, the stooges are not humiliated or made to look stupid. He gets unsuspecting – no, suspecting and willing audience members up on stage to assist him in the various pranks – and very funny they are to. His act consists of what amounts to a series of practical jokes. Whereas before all his props used to be in his shoulder bag, now he has a stage full of them, plus a lot of big lighting and smoke effects. But there are lots of unofficial ones too, imposter performers going round claiming to be Tape Face.īut the universal success and acclaim is not all that has changed. They learn to perform an exact scripted copy of the act and on they go. The Tape Face “industry” employs other guys who don the costume and the tape. How can he be in three places at once? Simple, there are more than one of them, rather like Father Christmas and, I suspect, Nana Mouskouri. Apart from the TV shows he has a show running permanently in Las Vegas and another in Australia and is currently on tour in Holland and Belgium. Hence the name – Tape Face.Ī lot has happened since I first became aware of him. But what makes you remember, what makes him stand out is that he has greased spikey hair, a lot of heavy black eye make-up and, rather conspicuously, a strip of black gaffer tape across his mouth. Slung around his neck is a leather shoulder bag. The guy comes on wearing an ordinary jacket, jeans and striped t-shirt. Original, clever, funny and, most of all, simple. I first saw the act on television in the UK four or five years ago. We have been trying to review/interview Tape Face in the UK for the past four or five years but I only managed to catch up with him on his recent tour of Holland and Belgium.
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