Tape Face: 20 | Adelaide Fringe 2026 | Review
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 Stars for being silly, chaotic, clever and packed with audience interaction – all the ingredients for a fun family show.
Review by Danielle Parker
For 20 years, Tape Face has proven you don’t need words to make people laugh. Tape Face: 20, at Umbrella Revolution in the Garden of Unearthly Delights, celebrates two decades of the iconic character, delivering a wildly unpredictable mix of physical comedy, mime and silent stand-up in a one-hour show. It’s silly, chaotic, clever and packed with audience interaction – all the ingredients for a fun family show.
Created in 2005 by New Zealand performer Sam Wills, Tape Face has become a global sensation. After debuting at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010 and earning multiple awards, including Best Comedy at the Adelaide Fringe in 2014, Wills has gone on to perform on America’s Got Talent, Las Vegas, London’s West End and around the world, with over 45 million YouTube views.
It’s easy to see why the show appeals to such a wide audience. From kids to grandparents, and everyone in between, the crowd on the night we attended varied greatly, a clear reflection of Tape Face’s broad appeal and 20-year legacy. The show is rated PG and advertised as suitable for audiences aged eight years and over. Kids will particularly love the slapstick humour, plentiful audience participation and catchy soundtrack. While there is some PG content woven throughout the show, much of it seemed to go straight over the kids’ heads.
Audience participation is at the heart of the experience. It’s a long-known fact that you don’t sit in the front row at a show like this unless you want to be pulled on stage, but as it turns out, nobody is safe – not even those hiding towards the back. In fact, the show begins before you even enter, with Tape Face seated on stage quietly observing each audience member as they arrive. It’s a clever tactic, because each performance would depend on who is chosen, as the audience quickly becomes the co-star alongside Tape Face.
Strangers are coaxed into an on-stage “wedding”, complete with a cheeky kiss, another acts as a puppet to deliver commentary at the end of the show, while another participant is asked to dress up in a hard hat and overalls, only to discover he’s about to perform a surprise strip tease for the crowd. Luckily, the good-natured audience members are more than happy to play along.
Watching how he guides his participants is endlessly entertaining. With nothing more than exaggerated expressions, a wide-eyed stare or an approving nod, he somehow “trains” his participants – rewarding the right moves and delivering a mock look of annoyance when they get it wrong. The talent required to communicate so clearly, with a hilarious dose of lunacy, is impressive – all perfectly timed to a soundtrack that sets the mood for each segment.
A random thought to leave you with though – with tape covering his mouth, what happens if Tape Face has a blocked nose? I guess that will remain a mystery!
Tape Face: 20 is performing at the 2026 Adelaide Fringe with plenty of opportunities to catch the show before the end of the season.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO & TO BOOK TICKETS
For more information and all enquiries please visit the Adelaide Fringe website.
At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.
As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post. The Play & Go team review via media accreditation and when kindly invited.
All photos by Play & Go Adelaide (unless specified)
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