Fringe review: TAPE FACE: 20, Pleasance Courtyard

A stage covered in cardboard boxes and various open ones with dates, together with a man in black with tape across his mouth seated stage right greets us as we take our seats. Is there any more bizarre set up for a Fringe show than Tape Face: 20?

For a show billed as including audience participation, it creates an anxious feel as he stares out through darkened eyes at the faces in front of him. When he dives into the audience early on to the back of the venue, we know that no one is safe from his gaze!

In a whispered voiceover, it is announced that this is a 20th anniversary celebration and requests that if invited onto the stage, please do not refuse. Remarkably, no one refuses, gracefully accepting gentle humiliation .

It is a unique act; a sort of cross between Tommy Cooper and Marcel Marceau for those old enough to remember these masters of their craft. It is a succession of short visual gags, each contained in the dated boxes and requiring some form of audience involvement which he requests in mime and raised eyebrows. We counted twenty routines, one for each year.

It's hard to describe them as they look ridiculous on paper but in a live setting, it creates a brilliant creative experience, which is simply a joy to watch .

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Nick Wayne