Today’s guest was Sam Wills, AKA Tape Face AKA The Boy with Tape on His Face (he’s fond of nicknames). He rarely gives interviews, preferring to maintain an air of mystery (and I’m guessing ripping off the tape hurts real bad).

Sam performs as Tape Face, a silent character with tape over his mouth who performs bizarre clown-like absurdities. Our host Danny Lobell has done comedy for 15 years, and isn’t blown away by much, but after seeing Tape Face at the Edinburgh Fringe festival, he had to interview him. Would Sam show up with the tape!?

Not many get to hear Sam speak, and they definitely don’t expect a New Zealand accent. He had a fairly normal upbringing considering his weirdness. At the age of 12, his family moved and a friend goodbye-gifted him a magic kit, beginning his lifelong obsession. When Sam was kicked out of primary school for insubordination, he was homeschooled and developed an interest in clowning. Danny loves this, as he was sent to the principal so many times they became friends. “How you been, Danny?” “You know, yelling at squirrels mid-math-class.”

Wills wasted no time and performed magic at 13, while maintaining his studies (they let him back in). After begging the town clown for an apprenticeship (I have so many questions about the role of town clown), Sam made a deal with his parents: they’d let him drop out of school if he seriously pursued circus arts. Good deal, as juggling is more fun than cyber-bullying. He eventually graduated from Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology’s Circus School, where he currently teaches juggling.

As his nightclub act evolved, a fan told him she admired how Sam knew exactly what he was doing yet looked like he barely knew. From this pithy review, Sam fully realized his performance style: purposeful chaos. Sam rebelled against straightforward performing so much he fell fully silent and Tape Face was born. The tape was originally a rebellious act, to prove he could pull off a show without talking. But now, it’s the hook, baby!

Alexis de Tocqueville

(July 29 1805 – April 16 1859)

Alexis de Tocqueville, a French political philosopher, studied the American Revolution and concluded its promising democracy was always on the verge of authoritarianism. When the majority unifies behind an idea, the minority can be persecuted and shamed. As Ben Franklin once said, America is “A republic, if you can keep it.” This leads to censorship and danger for those who step out of line. Outliers soon “[take] great care to avoid a dangerous and futile contest.”

Kind of like being a silent character in a world of chaos. Get it?

The government won’t protect dissidents because it has already gathered popular opinion. There is a tendency to think bad ideas will always lose in the court of public opinion. However the majority is often wrong, especially due to misinformation or longstanding precedent, where a policy “afterward persists by itself, needing no effort to maintain it since no one attacks it.”

As Tocqueville says, “The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic paint, but from time to time one can see the old aristocratic colours breaking through.”

Sam does not see putting tape over his mouth as censorship, rather the finishing touch his controlled chaos. By removing the only potentially reassuring voice in the room, Sam is in complete control of what the audience can know, making him the real authority on information. “It took you being quiet to be heard,” Danny says.

If there’s any tyranny involved, it’s from the character itself. Sam sometimes feels so tied to Tape Face that he doesn’t know how to progress as an artist. When you’re known for absolute insanity, how do you subvert that? Get more sane? Can you rebel against rebellion?

Who knows. Just enjoy the juggling.

Press for Tape Face

“If you see one comedian…this is the one!” – Adelaide Sunday Mail

“Wills demonstrates trust in his audience and an expansive imagination that soars into the absurd. Grab your ticket now!” – The Age

“Charming, mischievous and engaging… an agreeable series of well-executed set pieces with a touch of vaudeville and a neat gimmick tying them together” -Chortle