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Sam Wills Covent Garden May 2009.jpg Photo by Me –

Top 10 Remarquable Facts about Sam Wills

He was born on August 28, 1978, in Timaru, New Zealand prop comic, busker, and clown residing in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. 

Wills began his performing career in Timaru at the age of thirteen while he trained as a clown.

He performs under the name The Boy With Tape On His Face and, more recently, as Tape FaceHe was also half of the two-person act Spitroast and sometimes performed under his own name, Sam Wills. 

He has been featured in the New Zealand International Comedy Festival, and the World Buskers Festival, and was a finalist on Season 11 of America’s Got Talent.

He uses a diverse range of performance styles and skills. He holds a diploma in New Circus from Christchurch 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 the Jim Rose Circus and the Tokyo 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’ from Truth and TV Extra magazine.

1. His Involvement in Church

Until 2001, Wills was active in the Christchurch entertainment scene, appearing at balls, private functions, and corporate events; running weekly comedy nights, and appearing on local television.

2. Remarkable Shows in Auckland

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In 2002, he make a remarkable move by migrating to Auckland to become a resident comedian at the casino in SkyCity Auckland.

His shows were interesting and loved by locals, hence, he was hosting them on a weekly bases during the weekly show, the NCB Comedy Hour, blending circus and vaudeville styles.

He took his show known as The Boy With Tape On His Face to the Melbourne Comedy Festival in 2008. The show received significant acclaim. He later moved to London, appearing as a modern mime and wearing the traditional striped shirt.

3. He had a memorable Wedding

Wills met his future wife, English burlesque performer Felicity Redman (also known as Lili La Scala), in 2007.

They had a “symbolic wedding” on 9 January 2009, in Christchurch as a start to that year’s World Buskers Festival in the same spot on the banks of the Avon River where they got engaged a year earlier.

This was followed by a legal wedding later that year in England. Their first son, Rafferty Basil Danger Wills, was born in January 2013.

4. His Unique way to Impress People

Wills rarely gives interviews to maintain the impression of not speaking, which was created by tapping his mouth for performances. His media strategy is modeled on that of Kate 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.

5. His Great Highlights in Auckland

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His performance as the MC of the Late Club at the Auckland Festival in 2005 (AK05) and for First Night at the Aotea Centre was the remarkable highlight of his career.

Nevertheless, he also performed at the World Buskers’ Festival in 2004, 2005, and 2008. He was a regular performer on Pulp Comedy, during its three seasons on TV2. He performed on the red carpet for the World Premier of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in Wellington.

In addition, he was the support act for David Strassman’s 2003 tour of New Zealand.He has also performed at private functions for the former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and the King of Tonga George Tupou V.

6. He was Hosted by Jason Manford in the UK

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In the UK he made an ITV appearance on Comedy Rocks hosted by Jason Manford in 2011. He also appeared at the first BBC Comedy Prom at London’s Royal Albert Hall on August 13, 2011, broadcast on BBC 2 on August 27, 2011. 

Additionally, on December 5, 2011, he performed at the 83rd annual Royal Variety Performance, alongside Tim Minchin and others.

7. His Performances were out of the world

In the Season 11 premiere of America’s Got Talent (AGT) on May 31, 2016, shortening his stage name to Tape Face, Wills auditioned and got through to the next round. In Week 8 of AGT, during the Judges’ cuts round.

Wills successfully auditioned through to the live shows. In Week 1 of the AGT quarterfinals, he advanced to the semifinals.

He advanced to the finals on August 31, 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.

8. He appears in high-profile shows

Grace VanderWaal at the Grammy Museum Photo by Justin Higuchi –

Maria Karvouni of Forbes 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.” 

He appeared in a show with America’s Got Talent Season 11 winner Grace VanderWaal and runner-up The Clairvoyants in a three-night concert series at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, in October 2016.

In most cases when Sam Wills is on tour, his doppelganger T2 performs in his place at House of Tape Theater in Harrah’s Las Vegas. 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.

9. He made a YouTube Rewind Vibe

In 2016, Wills made an appearance on YouTube Rewind which became a great vibe for young people.

In 2020, Wills appeared on the 15th season of La France a un incroyable talent, the “Battle of the Judges.” He was a member of team Sugar Sammy. In the first round of the competition, Tape Face competed in a duel against pole acrobat Rémi Martin from team Marianne James.

The audience and judges Ã‰ric Antoine and Hélène Ségara all voted for Rémi Martin to move on to the next round, eliminating Wills from the competition.

10. The Remarkable Rewards

Among the many rewards Wills received was the Pulp comedy’s Best New Face Award in 2001. The following year in 2002, he again received the Best Marketing award from the New Zealand International Comedy Festival.

Again in 2005, he received New Zealand’s highest comedy honors, the Billy T Award for his show Dance Monkey Dance: The Evolution of Sam Wills, and the “Best Show” award from the New Zealand Comedy Guild.

More importantly, in 2006, he received the “Best Show” and “Best Show Concept” awards from the New Zealand Comedy Guild which was very remarkable in his career.

In addition, he received the “Best Show” and “Best Show Concept” awards from the New Zealand Comedy Guild as well as the “Best Poster” and “Best Show Auckland” awards at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival in 2007.

Wills was blessed in his career area because, in 2008, he received the “Peoples Choice” award at the World Buskers Festival and the Groggy Squirrel Readers Award at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.

Consequently, Wills was also nominated for the ‘Best Newcomer at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. Also in 2011, he won the best breakthrough act at the chortle lives comedy awards 2011 as ‘The Boy With Tape On His Face.

He was also on the Royal Variety Performance 2011. In 2012, he was nominated for the prestigious Fred Award at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival as ‘The Boy With Tape On His Face.

Of importance to note is his nomination for Barry Ward in 2014 and eventually, an America’s Got Talent finalist in 2007, and later the  Variety Artists Club of New Zealand presented him with the International Achievement Award in 2016.