Q+A: New Flamingo headliner Tape Face isn’t keeping his mouth shut
He doesn’t say one word while he’s onstage, yet he has audiences from around the world doubled over in laughter at his antics. Inspired by legendary old-time movie star Buster Keaton, 38-year-old New Zealand mime Sam Wills, aka Tape Face, reached the finals of the most recent “America’s Got Talent,” but even persuading Spice Girl Mel B to hang a toilet seat over her head didn’t land him the title. He was defeated by 13-year-old singer Grace VanderWaal.
However, Tape Face, formerly The Boy Who Has Tape on His Face, has landed a Las Vegas residency, which he dreamed of as a kid — as a juggler, not a mime. In a sense, he’s a silent Carrot Top using the craziest set of props ever hauled out of a crass off-Strip souvenir shop. His humor is deviously simple but really clever and appealing to kids, parents and grandparents.
Tape Face had his audience volunteers at Bugsy’s Cabaret Theater at The Flamingo almost fighting to get onstage with him as he conjured up the most outrageous stunts for them to join in with him. The site of visitors wearing fuzzy wigs to dance Michael Jackson-type moves is absolutely hilarious, and that’s only the beginning.
Do not be tempted to punch the red button marked with the words “Do Not Touch” because it sets off a 60-minute countdown that leads to the volunteer becoming the centerpiece of a ridiculous blown-up balloon finale. And LOL danger lurks if you wind up dancing to castanets as another volunteer in Monty Python-esque bull ears and tail lunges at you to avoid the fake sword plunging into its neck.
For 10 years, Tape Face has been touring the world as a mime, but it wasn’t always that way as I discovered when he taped up my face backstage for our Q+A. Here’s what we discussed through the mumbling:
Where on Earth did this act originate?
I used to do another show where I talked too much. That’s genuinely the answer. I used to do normal standup comedy. A local clown taught me how to juggle, and I told my parents that I wanted to leave school to become a juggler — and they were very understanding.
So I learned juggling and street performing, and from there I evolved to do standup comedy and just talked doing comedy shows and sketch comedy. People told me to stop talking so much! I was already touring New Zealand and Australia, and everybody expected me to keep talking. So I like to do what people don’t expect. I decided to do a silent character.
Were you a fan of Charlie Chaplin?
I’m not so much a Charlie Chaplin fan. I’m more Buster Keaton — he was more physical, he had that quizzical expression, and for me Keaton was always the underdog. Chaplin always that knew he was going to win. Chaplin always got the girl. He always got the prize.
Buster Keaton could start the film at the bottom, go through the whole process and start right back at the bottom all over again. I don’t consider myself a mime. There are some very good mimes out there.
You wound up on Season 11 of “America’s Got Talent.” Were you surprised at the result?
The journey was good fun. I was surprised that the audience in America took to the character so much. It’s a time when audiences want comedy where there’s no message, no social commentary. This is just pure, silly fun. A lot of time, adults forget how to play, how to remain childish to a degree. That’s important. Your imagination still has to be running — you’ve got to treat it like a muscle. You’ve got to keep it working.
You have no shortage of audience volunteers. Do you choose them on the spot or when you sit in the theater for a half hour before the show as they come in to take their seats without saying a word but happily posing for selfies?
I’m choosing them throughout, but there’s always a few moments where I see someone and there’s that little spark. And sometimes I’ll see somebody and they look terrified, and I’ll just go, “Well, this is going to be a great experience.”
I think a fun thing to do is to sit there because I like the idea of when the theater door opens, you go into the venue and the show should start. I feel as though that’s when the performance is already happening. From the moment you sit down, you’re already part of the process.
What do you do if it turns out that the volunteer is stiff onstage?
With this show, there’s no wrong. But I’ll swap out a couple of volunteers and move them on very quickly. They fulfilled their role, got a round of applause, but once they’ve had their moment, I give it to somebody else and move it around.
Is it physically or mentally difficult to do 80 minutes without speaking?
It’s genuinely quite nice. I think more people should try it. There’s too much talk nowadays. People should be quiet — it’s more enjoyable.
To me it’s a workout. To entertain 300 people without saying a word, that’s a skill.
It is. When I first developed the character, I never intended it to be to this level. It was just a little in joke for my friends going, “I’m going to do a silent character.” And they’re going, “Oh, you won’t be able to be quiet.” So I wrote a minute sketch, then I wrote many minutes, then it grew to this. So the idea was always could I entertain an audience for an hour? Just how long can we go? How long will people watch the show?
All the choreography, the music, the lighting was my direction in planning, plotting and writing. We sit down very carefully with the music and plot it. It’s choreographed to a degree because the same show is going to happen every night, and I’m always going to make sure that the role the volunteer has is a simple task because I want them to succeed. I want them to get a round of applause. I’m going to make it so that they will win.
Most comics use four-letter obscenities to get laughs. You don’t. Well, you don’t even speak, so you’re as clean as the driven snow.
But I have to look like this. There is a hankering for innocence. It’s important that people remember there are moments of play in our imagination. I haven’t grown up in the slightest.
I’ll never grow up. I’ve turned it into a job. I just had a bullfight and fought Darth Vader onstage. The bullfight’s a joy! This is not work; this is fun. I don’t think there are that many shows where you can cross over that many ages and still have an entertaining time.
Where did the mascara originate?
It was a natural evolution of the character. I think that’s where I’ve always wanted the character to be a wee bit more cartoonish. When you make something extra weird, it becomes even more accessible. People associate to weirdness. One of the characteristics of the show is to stay weird.
What occupation do you have on your passport?
I write “entertainer.” Not lunatic because you can be anything in the entertainer bracket.
Is there anything you can’t do with anything you find on the side of the street?
I look at it in a different way. I think that’s the key. If you pick up a bottle, it can be anything else. The first thing is to spark that imagination of what can this be. Carrot Top is a talky props comic. I’ve never seen him, but he’s on my list of shows to check out. But my inspiration is The Muppets. It’s that kind of chaos. There’s a certain chaos in the show, as well. At the start of the show, everything is nice and neat in cardboard boxes, but, by the end of it, it’s just one big mess.
To me, though, they are brilliant cardboard boxes. I’ve had them for years. I’m always reluctant to replace props, as well. I become very attached to these props, but I also like that in Las Vegas, you have these stereotypical shows with all the bells and whistles, and here I am with a couple of cardboard boxes. I think it’s great. It should be low rent.
What’s next for the man who doesn’t speak onstage?
We have to finish May 7 because I’m back to London to open my full show in The West End. It’s a much more theatrical show with full seats and more lighting and bigger routines. It’s just me for two hours with the tape. I’ve gotten used to it now. A lot of people ask, “Does it hurt when it comes off?” If it hurt the first time, I wouldn’t be doing it. I’ve gotten used to it. I have to shave, though, every day.
Is there anybody else in the world doing an act like this?
Probably millions of children in their bedrooms. I would like to think there isn’t, but in truth it’s clowning. It’s a clown show that I’ve toured through England and Europe for 10 years. But “America’s Got Talent” was my big break. I wanted to come and start touring in America and working shows over here .When I moved from New Zealand to Britain, I had to start all over again.
I had to go through the ranks of the comedy clubs. Over here, this country is huge, it’s massive, so to get seen and spotted would’ve taken me about eight or nine years to rise through the ranks. I didn’t have time for that. I wanted to get seen faster, so “America’s Got Talent” looked like the ideal platform. The video went out very quickly, and as they say, the rest is history. It’s a delight to be here.
