The comedy festival was in full swing and we had bagged tickets to see the award winning "Boy With Tape On His Face". Very popular at the Edinburgh Fringe, he is quite rare in comedic circles as he does not say a single word all show, hence the tape. I must admit many of us were sceptical - just how good could this be if he is mute?
Turns out we did not need to worry; despite a rather lame opening "gag" leaving some of us fearing the worst!
His act relies on audience participation, whether voluntary or not! Using mime and some very expressive eyebrows he instructs his volunteers / victims and in doing so acts out some often bizzare yet also hilarious constucts.
In fact my own scepticism was well and truly squashed as I almost got stitches from some of the skits. I even got to take part, being hauled on to stage for one of them.
Here's a few examples of the skits, words do not do the them justice though!
Wild West Shoot Out
The Boy and the volunteer face off to the music from The Good, The Bad & The Ugly - using staplers!
Lion Ballon Popping
A man with a lion paws on his hands, has his head covered with a hood. Each audience then inflates a red balloon. 99 Red balloons then plays over the tannoy and as the hood is removed the audience throw their balloons on to the stage as glitter falls from the ceiling and the "lion" prances around trying to pop the balloons.
Star Wars LightSaber Fight
The volunteer, myself, is dressed in a bin sack, beanie hat and a painters dust mask to play the role of Darth Vader and proceeds to reenact the famous scene from Star Wars with the Boy playing Obi Wan Kenobi. The light sabers however are retractable tape measures. After this tomfoolery they have a "mines bigger than yours" contest at the front of the stage - where unfortunately, my "member" could not quite remain erect...
Rich as Vader @ The Boy With Tape On His Face from Rich & Amanda on Vimeo.
