The Boy With Tape On His Face

You know that weird realisation in discovering a radio presenter looks nothing like what you imagined from their voice? Sam Wills, better known as his silent alter ego The Boy With Tape On His Face, sparks this same feeling in people; but for the opposite reason. When off stage and sans gaffer, he can't keep words in. “The original mime character didn't have any tape at all, but I wandered out on stage and ruined it by speaking to the front row. The tape was probably more out of necessity then any sort of character development,” Wills laughs.

Wills took a scenic route on his way into comedy. Starting off as a clown's apprentice in his early teens, he went from circus school to street performing, and landed in the funny business after helping out in a friend's comedy night. “I used to do a lot of talking. But after being in the comedy industry for a number of years, I got bored doing that and decided to give myself a challenge. I came up with a show that had no talking and no tricks.”

The Boy has had crowds across the world compensating for his deadpan silence with fits of laughter. Wills deliberately gears his comedy to an international audience: “Originally I developed the show because I wanted to travel to Japan and it was too late to learn the language, so I developed it as a silent show.” The resulting mishmash of slapstick routines based around iconic '80s and '90s pop, mundane props and audience participation encourages everybody to remember the fun of play: “I want to make it accessible for my audience, I want to create that nostalgic sort of feeling.”

But The Boy still has to deal with some adult problems: he can't grow any as the tape will rip it out, and he must never shave with soap. “Once at a comedy festival, I forgot my shaving cream and used soap, but I didn't know that when you use soap you sweat. I spent the next 40 minutes trying to put the tape back on. It was horrible.” Ready to take his second show More Tape to Melbourne, Wills assures us that we will see TBWTOHF in full effect. If he forgets the shaving cream this time: “I'll stick it out and put the tape on the stubble.”