Mump and Smoot are a Canadian

clown A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms. History The most ancient clowns have been found in ...

duo created by Michael Kennard and John Turner, and directed by

Karen Hines Karen Hines is a Canadian actor, writer and director. She is the artistic director and producer of "Keep Frozen: Pochsy Productions." Born in Chicago, raised in Toronto, she now lives in Calgary where she was playwright in Residence at Alberta Th ...

. Also referred to as 'clowns of horror', they've produced interactive, improvisational plays aimed squarely at adult audiences."After an Ummo eon, Mump and Smoot reunite". ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunningham — as ...

'', July 17, 2004.

History

Kennard and Turner met in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

in 1986 in Second City workshops, where they discovered a mutual talent for improvising with

gibberish Gibberish, also called jibber-jabber or gobbledygook, is speech that is (or appears to be) nonsense. It may include speech sounds that are not actual words, pseudowords, or language games and specialized jargon that seems nonsensical to outsider ...

dialogue."Real terrors influence the clowns of horror". ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

'', January 20, 2015. While at Second City, they met

, who has directed all their shows. Kennard and Turner also studied under

Richard Pochinko Richard Pochinko (1946–1989) was a notable Canadian clown trainer who developed a new style of mask/clown performance training, known as the "Pochinko technique". Originally from Selkirk, Manitoba, he was based primarily in Toronto, Ontario an ...

in a new field of what he called

Canadian clowning The Canadian Clowning technique is a mask-based style of performance created by Richard Pochinko."Canadian clown theatre goes to a whole new level". ''Victoria Times-Colonist'', March 13, 2005. Also known as the "Pochinko Method" or "Clown Through ...

. On May 13, 1988, Mump and Smoot presented their first show, ''Jump the Gun''. Since then they have played

fringe theatre Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fre ...

s throughout Canada, regional theatres and festivals, the

American Repertory Theater The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to ne ...

, associate artist positions at the

Yale Repertory Theater Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of Yale School of Drama, in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented student ...

, and Israeli and Palestinian festivals culminating with a joint workshop for Israelis and Palestinians together. In addition to theatre, Mump and Smoot have made numerous television appearances and two short films, including

Laurie Lynd Laurie Lynd (born May 19, 1959, in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian film and television director and screenwriter, best known as the director of the feature film ''Breakfast with Scot''. In his early career, Lynd made the short films ''Together and ...

's ''

The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore ''The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore'' is a Canadian musical comedy-drama short film directed by Laurie Lynd, which premiered at the 1992 Toronto International Film Festival before going into wider release in 1993. Made as an academ ...

''. Their early press defined them as horror clowns, a title they appreciated. Turner and Kennard had been horror fans before they had met, and used that genre's techniques to make their clowning more exciting. In their writer's credo of the beliefs which informed their work, the strongest concept was fear, which they've tried to explore throughout their partnership. This visceral excitement is balanced with comedy and ''naiveté'', so that audiences are repeatedly moved from laughter to disgust to sorrow. Their early shows often featured Debbie Tidy as Wog, an evil

stage manager Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including the overseeing of the rehearsal p ...

who served as a foil for the duo,"Caged with Wog". ''

'', August 23, 1990. while later shows replaced Wog with Zug, a ringmaster figure played by Rick Kunst."Mump & Smoot live by clowns' laws ; Pair return to the stage with a new show drawn from their genre's traditions". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', January 14, 1999. Outside their Mump and Smoot personae, Kennard and Turner ran ''The SPACE'' (Studio for Physical and Clown Exploration) in Toronto from 1997 through 2002, where they not only worked on their shows, but also taught clown and presented workshops, student theater, and other productions. Along with Hines, they continue to present workshops and courses in clown, movement, and

physical comedy Physical comedy is a form of comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any ...

. Following the successful tour of ''Flux'' in 2002, the duo retired the act for several years. They each taught clown, Turner at his "Clown Farm" on

Manitoulin Island Manitoulin Island is an island in Lake Huron, located within the borders of the Canadian province of Ontario, in the bioregion known as Laurentia. With an area of , it is the largest lake island in the world, large enough that it has over 100 ...

in northern Ontario, and Kennard at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. They began working on ''Cracked'' with Hines and Morrison around 2007, collaborating during vacations and through long-distance phone calls. Turner's home was destroyed by a fire on January 4, 2014, which also destroyed his clown costumes, props, and records of past performances.

Background

Mump and Smoot live on the planet Ummo and worship the deity Ummo, as long as he might be responsive to their prayers. Their dialogue is in their native language of Ummonian, which is nevertheless clear to the audience (who often play a part in the performance). They combine influences from sources including

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...

, the

Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...

, ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with ...

'',

Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry (; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French symbolist writer who is best known for his play ''Ubu Roi'' (1896). He also coined the term and philosophical concept of 'pataphysics. Jarry was born in Laval, Mayenne, France, ...

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

, and

Antonin Artaud Antoine Marie Joseph Paul Artaud, better known as Antonin Artaud (; 4 September 1896 – 4 March 1948), was a French writer, poet, dramatist, visual artist, essayist, actor and theatre director. He is widely recognized as a major figure of the E ...

to elicit in their audience the peculiar mix of sympathy, empathy,

schadenfreude Schadenfreude (; ; 'harm-joy') is the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another. It is a borrowed word from German, with no direct translation ...

, and horror that stem from watching flawed individuals alternately fail and succeed at their petty but all too human schemes. Mump and Smoot shows are said to seem so spontaneous that people sometimes forget that they are scripted. To obtain this effect, Kennard and Turner use an improvisational technique rooted in an art called Canadian clown, developed by

in the 1980s. Pochinko's style borrowed from many traditions including

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

, American and European clowning. Kennard and Turner have also trained with movement coach Fiona Griffiths and clown teacher Ian Wallace. Workshops with Philippe Gaulier in Bouffon and John Towsen in physical comedy have also been influential. Mump (the

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horac ...

), played by Kennard, is the natural leader; authoritative, pompous, bullying, scheming and manipulative, alternately erupting in towering violent rages and completely collapsing from terror. Smoot (the Auguste), played by Turner, is the perpetual innocent; playful, childlike, silly, bullied by Mump but occasionally standing up to him. The plays occur in a world of surrealistic set design, with simple props combined with haunting and evocative music (by Greg Morrison) and sound effects providing an overall impression of a vast and uncaring universe inhabited by powers beyond the scale of mere Ummonians. The characters draw the audience in by directly interacting with them in a responsive manner, which may underline their haplessness at the whims of social pressure.

Productions

*''Jump the Gun'' (1988) *''The Dentist'' (1989) *''Something'' (1989) *''Caged'' (1990) *''Ferno'' (1992) *''Pitooey'' (1995) *''Tense'' (1997) *''Something Else'' (1998) *''Mump and Smoot in Flux'' (2002)"Kareda's Tarragon is the star at the Dora awards with 13 wins". ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', June 24, 2003. *''Cracked'' (2010) *''Anything'' (2014)

Awards

At the

1st Canadian Comedy Awards The 1st Canadian Comedy Awards honoured the best Canadian comedy of 1999 in live performances, television and film. The awards ceremony was presented by the Canadian Comedy Foundation for Excellence (CCFE), and was held on 6 April 2000 at ...

in 2000, Mump and Smoot won the award for Best Live Performance for ''Inferno''. Their 2002 production ''Mump and Smoot in Flux'' won two Dora Mavor Moore Awards in 2003, for Outstanding Production and Best Direction (Hines) in the independent theatre division, and was nominated for a

Canadian Comedy Award The Canadian Comedy Awards (CCA) is an annual ceremony that awards the Beaver for achievements in Canadian comedy in live performance, radio, film, television, and Internet media. The awards were founded and produced by Tim Progosh in 2000. The ...

for Best Comedic Play. Mump and Smoot won for Best Variety Act at the 2015 Canadian Comedy Awards, where ''Anything'' was nominated for Best Comedic Play."Mump and Smoot Win Comedy Award"
''Curious Arts'', September 21, 2015.

References

External links