The Boy With Tape On His Face, Hull, Lancaster
It's amazing what a short length of gaffer tape can allow you to achieve. For Sam Wills, it's helped to bring mime back into contemporary comedy. These days we tend to associate physical humour with the cutesy excesses of Mr Bean or the Brothers Chuckle, but New Zealander Wills is ready to show us that silent slapstick can be inventive and modern. Always appearing with his mouth taped shut, Wills offers a show that includes broad silliness as well as intricately staged movie parodies and an original use of audience interaction (he won't bully you, but those of a timid disposition may be wise to stay out of his eyeline). What's perhaps most remarkable about the Boy is his willingness to take this unorthodox act out into the unforgiving world of the comedy circuit, although it will win over even the most sceptical of audiences.
Hull Truck Theatre, Sat; The Borough, Lancaster, Sun
Lint The Movie
If there was some kind of fantasy football-style score for the hip comedy names attached to your project, then science-fiction novelist turned film director Steve Aylett would be doing very well. Lint, his debut feature, includes key figures on the cutting-edge of stand-up including Stewart Lee, Josie Long, Robin Ince and Andrew O'Neill, plus a turn from Watchmen author Alan Moore ? an honorary member of the alternative comedy fraternity thanks to his collaborations with Ince and Lee. The movie tells the story of sci-fi writer Jeff Lint and his disastrous but highly principled career. Featuring details of Lint's non-classic comic The Caterer and novels including Nose Furnace, it's a richly funny portrait of a life lived without success. You're unlikely to see Lint in the multiplexes but further screenings are planned after this week's London premiere.
Idler Academy, W2, Fri
Tom Stade, On tour
As co-writer of Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights, Tom Stade can claim a share in creating one of the most controversial jokes transmitted on TV: the one about Jordan, cage-fighting and her disabled son (if you don't know it, it's probably better to look it up). When you see Stade, you can see why he and Boyle hit it off: both delight in pushing the boundaries of taste while aiming to keep the laughs coming. However, it doesn't feel like he's trying to shock for the sake of it. Instead, like Boyle, he's venting his cynicism and disgust at the state of the world. A Canadian who has made his home in Scotland, he's well known north of the border. Now, we can all share in the bile.
Huntingdon Hall, Worcester, Sat; Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Sun; XS Malarkey, Manchester, Tue; Comedy Store, Manchester, Wed & Thu; Laughterhouse, Manchester (Slug And Lettuce & Slaughterhouse), Fri
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2011/sep/10/boy-with-tape-his-face
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