Silence is golden when Tape Face appears inside Harrah’s Cabaret. On Wednesdays through Sundays at 6 p.m., the character formerly known as The Boy with Tape on His Face, his eyes wide open and hair spiked like a post-punk frontman, repurposes ordinary objects with a level of comedic ingenuity that led to fame and fortune via performing on America’s Got Talent. An adhesive strip covering his mouth causes him to communicate silently but intensely as he directs audience members to unravel complex prop gags alongside him that succeed with devastatingly hilarious effect.
Tape Face’s greatest appeal was originally to fans of fringe festivals, where his appearances during creator Sam Wills’ sets gradually took on a life of their own and began winning awards. Tape Face’s roots begin with Wills’ early interest in clowns as a boy growing up in New Zealand, and later fascination with the works of Tim Burton and performance style of silent film stars such as Buster Keaton. Tape Face would transcend limitations of verbal communication. Tape Face would take on a life of his own.
Tape Face became a finalist during Season 11 of America’s Got Talent, turning oven mitts into avatars for Lionel Richie and Diana Ross, and had audience members swaying to “Endless Love.” Within a minute, host Nick Cannon had tape over his mouth. “Tape Face, always making something out of nothing,” Cannon would later say.
Judge Mel B would later have the Spice Girl scared out of her when he pulled her onstage for a race with handheld toy horses. A Tape Face audience participation experience can be more intimidating than an average Las Vegas audience participation experience, but not by too much, unless the idea of a toilet seat as a multipurpose accoutrement is potentially trauma-inducing. It helps to have some punk rock chromosomes in one’s genetic makeup—and a lack of fear.
Tape Face appears on stages from Dubuque to Dubai, but he gives audiences the silent treatment most often on the Las Vegas Strip. At heart, he’s a “stand-up comedian that doesn’t talk” with a CV that includes enthusiastically received appearances in Australia’s Adelaide Fringe Festival, and the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival. His jokes are puzzles that audience members help him figure out. He’s reminiscent of Cesare from silent classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, but more fun than frightening. He’s a borderline out-of-control outcast with secrets he wants to share in a most entertaining way.
The Jim Rose Circus Sideshow, silent Swiss performance troupe Mummenschanz, vaudeville and Grand Guignol theater are all in Tape Face’s DNA. His modus operandi is innovative prop humor without annoying banter—think Joy Division’s Ian Curtis as Charlie Chaplin sticking forks into buns and turning them into dancing shoes. It’s putting audience members into sticky situations and unfurling visual jokes with surprise twists. It’s a different realm of entertainment only a Boy with Tape on his Face could deliver.
Harrah’s, 800.745.3000 Ticketmaster
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