The Umbilical Brothers are an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

duo formed in 1988, consisting of David Collins and Shane Dundas. Their performances heavily feature

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 ...

and

surreal Surreal may refer to: *Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art * "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki * ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze *Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor ...

elements. Stage shows by the Umbilical Brothers include ''Heaven by Storm'' (1996), ''Thwack'' (1999), ''

SpeedMouse ''SpeedMouse'' is a performance stage show by the Australian comic duo The Umbilical Brothers that initially ran from 2004 to 2006. The duo revived the stage show in 2016 in celebration of their 25 years performing as The Umbilical Brothers. The s ...

'' (2001), '' Don't Explain'' (2007), and ''Kidshow: Not Suitable For Children'' (2015). In 2006, Collins and Dundas created and starred in a children's comedy series called ''

The Upside Down Show ''The Upside Down Show'' is a children's television series produced by Blink Films and Sesame Workshop. It was made for the Noggin channel. The series is set in a strange apartment building where the doors lead to a variety of unusual rooms. It is ...

'', which won a

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

and a Logie Award for Most Outstanding Children's Program. The series was inspired by the Umbilical Brothers' adult-oriented comedy act ''SpeedMouse''. The duo's other television appearances include regular skits on '' The Sideshow'' and guest performances on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

'', ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

'', ''

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Spartina Productions and CBS Studios, it is the second it ...

'', and ''

Rove Rove may refer to: Places * Le Rove, a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France * Rove, Honiara, a suburb of Honiara, Solomon Islands * Rove, Vojnik, a settlement in the hills east of Frankolovo in the Municipality of Vojnik ...

''.

Beginnings

The Umbilical Brothers — nicknamed "Umbies" — started performing professionally in the early 1990s. Their collaborations began when Collins and Dundas were both studying at Theatre Nepean's three-year acting course at the

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network u ...

. A year later, in a jazz class, Collins broke Dundas' nose during a dance move. Their tutors, perhaps believing a burgeoning comedy partnership should wait until after graduation, put Dundas and Collins in separate classes. The pair defied this, sneaking into the auditorium afterhours to play with the PA system and invent moves to match.

Style

The Umbilical Brothers' performances combine mime with ordinary dialogue and vocal sound effects. They use

puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a perform ...

, pantomiming,

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

, mimicry and audience participation, and make scant use of props and lighting. After having performed for years, their routines are highly scripted. Their style can be described as simply "microphonic mime".

Performances

They have performed on the ''

'', ''

'', Broadway, ''

'', ''

Sarvo ''Sarvo'' was an after-school show for kids on Nickelodeon (New Zealand), it was hosted by Maude Garrett and Kyle Linahan, until it was cancelled in 2008. It acted as a wrapper program (a show which features other shows within it) to the most p ...

'', '' Good News Week'' (expressly for the 'So You Think You Can Mime' segment) and '' The Sideshow''. They have also performed at the

Cat Laughs The ''Cat Laughs Comedy Festival'' is a comedy festival held over the first weekend in June each year in Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1994. History Cat Laughs was envisioned in 1994 by Lynn Cahill who ran Bi ...

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typicall ...

, Just for Laughs,

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

, Adelaide Fringe Festival,

Tampere Theatre Festival The Tampere Theatre Festival, or Tampereen Teatterikesä, takes place in Tampere, Finland, at the beginning of August and is the oldest annual theatre festival in the Nordic countries. The festival was founded in 1968 and the first festival was ...

and

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

, and also at

Woodstock 1999 Woodstock '99 (also called Woodstock 1999) was a music festival held from July 22 to July 25, 1999, in Rome, New York. After Woodstock '94, it was the second large-scale music festival that attempted to emulate the original 1969 Woodstock fes ...

. The Umbilical Brothers also guest-starred on ''

Double the Fist ''Double the Fist'' is an Australian satire, satirical television show which airs on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It follows the misadventures of four men and their pursuit of "fistworthiness": Television presenter, host Steve Foxx (C ...

''. In the episode "Ultimate Weapon", Shane played a pair of mystical guards to the TimeSaw, one who lies and one who tells the truth. Both characters explode when The Womp tricks them into doing the opposite of their role. David won best actor at the world's biggest short film competition, Tropfest with ''Silencer'', which he also co-wrote, co-directed and starred in. He also co-wrote and starred in ''The Luck Child'' for the

Sydney Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Thea ...

, which won best production at

Sydney Theatre Awards The Sydney Theatre Awards are annual awards to recognise the strength, quality and diversity of professional theatre in Sydney, Australia. They were established in 2005 by a group of major Sydney theatre critics. The awards recognise mainstage and ...

and

Adelaide Fringe The Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between mid-February and mid-March each year, i ...

. He has also starred in the feature ''Red Christmas'', as well as the TV shows ''Drop Dead Weird'', ''Oh Yuck!'', ''True Murder'', ''The Let Down'' and Disney's ''Book Of Once Upon A Time''. Short films include ''Puppets Versus People: Asylum'' (which has over a million views), ''Tay Man'', ''Emissary'','' The Detectives Of Noir Town'' and ''The Kiss''. His voice over work includes ''Helmut'', ''King Dino: Journey To Fire Mountain'' and ''Cat Go''d. In August 2006, the Umbilical Brothers began appearing as the main characters on the Logie Award winning children's television program ''

''. The show, developed by

Sesame Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-know ...

for the Noggin channel, makes extensive use of their particular style of mime and humour. In December 2006, in a ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' interview, Shane Dundas expressed doubts about the return of the show for a second season. On 1 June 2007, the Umbilical Brothers announced on their website that the series would not be renewed for a second season, and that Noggin USA had decided to end ''The Upside Down Show'' after a single season. In 2017, the Umbilical Brothers became the storytellers on the Disney mini series ''The Book of Once Upon a Time'' for season 3. In 2021, the Umbilical Brothers took their new live show "The Distraction" across Australia, including Brisbane (at QPAC), Western Australia and Sydney. The show features David and Shane using props and green screens, whilst using special effects to create the show.

Shows

The Umbilical Brothers have performed seven shows, five of which appear as DVDs: *''

'': Taking advantage of the latest advances in performance technology, the boys have upgraded their acting to digital. Using this technology they are able to immediately jump to any routine or fast-forward through the boring bits. Unfortunately, the remote control has gone missing. Tensions arise when their newly hired roadie clashes with David — he points out that there is no need for a roadie as there are no props or scenery to move. The situation gets worse when their show controller, Tina, starts playing mind games with Shane. The conflict continues throughout the show. *''

'': A series of 13 comedic episodes first appearing on Noggin, starring Shane and David as two brothers living in an apartment with many doors. The show was released through five DVD volumes in Australia, each including two-three episodes each. *'' Don't Explain'': a selection of tangent skits that contain no overall plot; the title is a reference to this. There are, however, continuing themes throughout the show, one of which is Dave's attempt to get the hand-held microphone off Shane; this leads to a climax in which they both have microphones and have a Face, Race and Chase Off. There is also a dog, which is first seen in their first skit of their show, and is the main focus of the second. Another is the performance of European Visual comedy by Hans and Klaus. Conflict again is one of the main factors keeping the show entertaining. *''Thwak!'': a modified version of ''Don't Explain'' (not available on DVD) *''Heaven by Storm'': a more plot-based show by the duo. After dying pre-show, Shane and David meet with God, who tells them that only one of them can enter Heaven. Due to their being unable to agree (and other issues), God sends them back to perform the show and resolve their differences. This culminates in Dave having a slight mental breakdown, shortly after which Shane tells Dave that there is a new character in the show, which Dave then finds out is a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

which he had accidentally killed beforehand. Shane then chases Dave throughout the show trying to get money "or just 20c" from Dave to help pay for the cricket's funeral. *''The Rehearsal'': A new show with video effects including "shadow". *''Not Suitable For Children'': Shavid and Dane attempt to make a show for kids, with horrifying results. *''The Distraction'': With the help of live special effects, The Umbies appear on stage and screen simultaneously.

Other appearances

In 2022, Dundas and Collins appeared in '' The Tourist'' as helicopter pilots who help Jamie Dornan's character find his way in the country.

Video albums

Singles

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. ! , - ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, , "Don't Dance to This" , , Best Comedy Release , , , , rowspan="3", , - ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, , ''The Umbilical Brothers'' , , Best Comedy Release , , , - ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, , ''Don't Explain'' , , Best Comedy Release , , , -

Mo Awards

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. The Umbilical Brothers won seven awards in that time. (wins only) , - , 1993 , The Umbilical Brothers , Comedy Group of the Year , , - , 1994 , The Umbilical Brothers , Comedy Group of the Year , , - , 1995 , The Umbilical Brothers , Comedy Group of the Year , , - , 1996 , The Umbilical Brothers , Comedy Group of the Year , , - , 1997 , The Umbilical Brothers , Comedy Group of the Year , , - , 2001 , The Umbilical Brothers , Comedy Group of the Year , , - , 2002 , The Umbilical Brothers , Comedy Group of the Year , , -

References

External links

*
Transcript of ABC interview with George Negus

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Umbilical Brothers Australian comedy duos Helpmann Award winners Living people Australian comedy troupes Western Sydney University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)