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In this day and age of sensory overload, it’s a brave person who offers a non-talking show, relying instead purely on physical comedy. The Boy With Tape On His Face, aka New Zealander Sam Wills, combines mime, puppetry, clowning and plenty of audience participation to create a surreal collection of visual sketches. In striped t-shirt, baggy jeans, duffel bag slung across one shoulder and gaffer tape across his mouth, Wills looks the part of a mime artist. His eyes convey his emotions as well as invite members of the compliant audience to be the centre of his visual gags. He shuffles from segment to segment, across a stage filled with various props and toys with a slightly melancholic air – his face lighting up and his hands outstretched at key moments to probe his viewers into applause.

There are some great segments, many of which rely on pop music to make their joke. Three males provide some hand gestures for the chorus of the Jackson Five’s Blame It On The Boogie. Another man is left alone on stage to perform a strip tease to Joe Cocker’s You Can Leave Your Hat On (this guy’s impromptu performance was the best bit of the whole show!). Wills sets up the scenarios by gesturing and posturing and then lets the participants and music create the joke. He also uses music to accompany simple but effective puppetry, creating puppets out of odds and ends – a shoe, a wig, an envelope and pencil.

Without giving too much away, there is plenty of amusement within the mix and much of it depends on what sort of audience Wills has on the night. Luckily for him, Thursday night’s crowd was not huge, but they were certainly willing to give things a go.

Individually the segments are clever and surprising, and, to his credit, Wills does attempt to transition different ideas. What could take this silent movie/vaudevillian-inspired show to another level is some deeper cohesion - a way to create an overarching visual or dynamic theme, without losing its wonderfully random and playful feel.

Later in the night, Wills performed some of the same sketches from The Boy With Tape On His Face as a guest in Yana Alana’s cabaret show. As little mini acts, they worked a treat. As a viewing experience, it was a very different, and, in some ways, a more impacting way of seeing the skillful vignettes than in the hour-long show.

Regardless, The Boy With Tape On His Face has a refreshing sense of old-fashioned theatrical comedy and provides a platform for Wills to combine his varied circus and physically-based skills. You would have to be extremely hard-hearted not to appreciate his innocent, child-like whimsy and his relentless quest to make his audience smile.


The Boy With Tape On His Face
Sam Wills

Venue: Trades Hall, New Ballroom
Dates: 19 March - 12 April
Time: 8:30pm
Tickets: $22/18
Bookings: www.comedyattrades.com.au