One man, a bag of humble props and a reel of duct tape. In the wrong hands, the potential for comedy disaster is huge. But Sam Wills is a clever man who does things very well.
Silenced by thick, black tape stuck crookedly across his mouth, the show was a happy mix of unaffected mime and guileless crowd participation, but the delightfully homespun effect belied a highly sophisticated act.
Using exaggerated gesticulation and facial expressions to extract performances, Wills was more ambitious, loving parent than abusive task master, whose playfully strict tutelage enabled his little darlings to turn a Sugar Plum Fairy, become a toreador, or even kiss a stranger.
OK, that last ruse was a tad painful but still, the intention was only ever good-hearted.
Peppered with spot-on pop tunes and classic scores, Wills’s show hit home – most memor-ably when he mimed his hand, clad in a mop for hair, to Imagine. Uncannily, inexplicably but without a doubt, it was John Lennon.
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