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| Sam Wills | |
|---|---|
 Wills performing inDublin, Ireland, in 2010 | |
| Pseudonym | Tape Face, The Boy With Tape On His Face, Sam Wills |
| Born | (1978-08-28)28 August 1978 (age 46) Timaru, New Zealand |
| Medium | Laughter, surprise |
| Education | Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology’s Circus School, earned a Diploma in New Circus, majoring in Juggling and Acrobatics. |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Genres | prop-comic, comedian |
| Spouse | Felicity Redman (m. 2009–2017) |
| Children | 1 son |
| Notable works and roles | Most viewed comedian on YouTube, his performances for America’s Got Talent being viewed over 220 million times worldwide. |
| Website | tapeface |
Sam Wills (born 28 August 1978) is a New Zealandprop comic,busker,clown, andmime artist residing in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. He performs under the nameThe Boy With Tape On His Face[1] and, more recently, asTape Face.[2] He was also half of the two-person actSpitroast and sometimes performed under his own name, Sam Wills.[3] He has been featured in theNew Zealand International Comedy Festival,[4] theWorld Buskers Festival,[5] and was a finalist onSeason 11 ofAmerica's Got Talent.[6]
Wills began his performing career inTimaru at the age of thirteen while he trained as a clown. He uses a diverse range of performance styles and skills. He holds a diploma in New Circus fromChristchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology's Circus School where he has taught juggling for two years. His interest in the phenomenon of traditional circus freak shows and influences such as theJim Rose Circus and theTokyo Shock Boys led to experiments with shock comedy, earning him his first Pulp Comedy appearance, the Best New Face award for the 2001 season, and he was called ‘Prince of Cringe’ fromTruth andTV Extra magazine.[citation needed]
Until 2001, Wills was active in theChristchurch entertainment scene, appearing at balls, private functions and corporate events; running weekly comedy nights and appearing on local television.[citation needed] In 2002, he moved to Auckland to become a resident comedian at the casino inSkyCity Auckland, where he had a weekly show, theNCB Comedy Hour, blending circus andvaudeville styles.[citation needed] In 2008, Wills took his showThe Boy With Tape On His Face to the Melbourne Comedy Festival, where it received critical acclaim.[7][8] After Melbourne and later in 2008, he moved to London, appearing as a modern mime and wearing the traditional striped shirt.[9]
Wills met his future wife, English burlesque performer Felicity Redman (also known as Lili La Scala), in 2007.[10] They had a "symbolic wedding" on 9 January 2009, in Christchurch as a start to that year'sWorld Buskers Festival in the same spot on the banks of theAvon River where they got engaged a year earlier. This was followed by a legal wedding later that year in England.[11] Their son was born in January 2013.[10]
Wills rarely gives interviews to maintain the impression of not speaking, which was created by taping his mouth for performances. His media strategy is modelled on that ofKate Moss, of whom he has said "She doesn't do any public speaking at all. That makes her even cooler. She just does her job. That is the approach we are taking with this. We want the show to just sell itself."[12]
Wills performed as the MC of the Late Club at the Auckland Festival in 2005 (AK05) and forFirst Night at theAotea Centre.[citation needed] He also performed at the World Buskers' Festival in 2004, 2005 and 2008.[5][11] He was a regular performer onPulp Comedy, during its three seasons onTV2.[13] He performed on thered carpet for the World Premier ofThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King inWellington.[14] He was the support act forDavid Strassman's 2003 tour of New Zealand.[citation needed] He has also performed at private functions for the former New Zealand Prime MinisterHelen Clark and the King of TongaGeorge Tupou V.[citation needed] In the UK, he made an ITV appearance on Comedy Rocks hosted byJason Manford (2011), and also appeared at the firstBBC Comedy Prom at London's Royal Albert Hall on 13 August 2011 (broadcast on BBC 2 on 27 August 2011).[15][16] On 5 December 2011 he performed at the 83rd annualRoyal Variety Performance, alongsideTim Minchin and others.[17][18]
In the Season 11 premiere ofAmerica's Got Talent (AGT) on 31 May 2016, shortening his stage name to Tape Face, Wills auditioned and got through to the next round.[9] In Week 8 of AGT, during the Judges' cuts round, Wills successfully auditioned through to the live shows.[19] In Week 1 of the AGT quarterfinals, he advanced to the semifinals.[20] He advanced to the finals on 31 August 2016 by getting the most audience votes in the Dunkin' save, but was later eliminated on 14 September when he did not reach a top five spot.[citation needed] Maria Karvouni ofForbes magazine wrote that Tape Face revives silent film acting, using his facial expressions and body movements to captivate his audience: "His simplicity creates a complexity which results in a lot of laughter."[21] He appeared in a show withAmerica's Got Talent Season 11 winnerGrace VanderWaal and runner-upThe Clairvoyants in a three-night concert series atPlanet Hollywood Resort & Casino inLas Vegas, Nevada, in October 2016.[22] He also appeared in 2019 on Week 4 of America's Got Talent: Champions, on Monday, 28 January, where he placed in the top 4 of that night's acts.
Wills made an appearance inYouTube Rewind 2016.[23]
When Sam Wills is on tour, his doppelganger T2 performs in his place at House of Tape Theater in Harrah's Las Vegas.[24]
In 2020, Wills appeared on the15th season ofLa France a un incroyable talent, the "Battle of the Judges." He was a member of teamSugar Sammy.[25] In the first round of the competition, Tape Face competed in a duel against pole acrobat Rémi Martin from teamMarianne James. The audience and judgesÉric Antoine andHélène Ségara all voted for Rémi Martin to move on to the next round, eliminating Wills from the competition.
He is slated to appear in thefifth season ofCanada's Got Talent in 2025.[26]
