The Prince of Cringe

Tom Hackett says...

Kiwi clown Sam Wills is currently wowing adult audiences and critics with his excellent late-evening show The Boy With Tape On His Face. How he finds the energy, not to mention the stomach, for this equally enjoyable children’s act at midday is truly a marvel.

Essentially a street theatre-style stunt show that’s too good to just be performed on the street, Prince of Cringe tells a very tenuous fairytale story about a Prince attempting to reclaim his land, each improbable turn in the plot being an excuse for an impressive and often disgusting stunt. The nail-through-the-nose picture on the poster is a promise and a warning of the kind of thing you can expect here, and some children found it hard to watch. But Wills’ charming, self-deprecating audience interaction helps to take the edge off, and any child or grown-up with a healthy enough interest in all things nasty will be absolutely rapt.

Ewan Robertson says...

Prince of Cringe is a comedy stunt show that doesn’t take itself seriously. It is hilarious in lots of ways and many of the stunts are sick and amazing. Sam Wills, aka “the Prince” is a clown school graduate who has created a one-man show with a simple set, the only thing on the stage is a stool that says "LOG"!  

The show involves the audience in three ways: first he gets them on the stage to help; second he talks to the audience in one-to-one conversation and lastly he climbs over them, feeding a string of deflated balloons through his nose and out of his mouth. The stunts are what it’s all about, with nails and noses, gloves, chickens and balloons. Then there are more noses – see it and you will find out what I mean. Although it’s too funny for words, it’s a bit gross and if you don’t do snot, don’t go!