The Umbilical Brothers are an Australian comedy duo, David Collins and Shane Dundas. They met in 1988, in a jazz class at the University of Western Sydney (as part of an acting course called Theatre Nepean), where David swung around and broke Shane's nose. Although their instructors tried to keep Shane and David apart after the incident, they got together on their own and began writing routines. Their performances combine mime with ordinary dialogue and vocal sound effects. They use puppetry, slapstick, mimicry and audience participation, and make scant use of props and lighting. After having performed for seven years, their routines are highly scripted. They have performed on The Late Show with David Letterman , The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Broadway and The Sideshow. They have also performed at the Cat Laughs, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Just for Laughs, Sydney Opera House, Adelaide Fringe Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and also at Woodstock 1999. They are also credited with the vocalizations on the animated children's show Maisy (with the exception of the show's narrator). Shane has also appeared on Double the Fist in the episode Ultimate Weapon, playing 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 (accidentally) into doing the opposite of their role (how many fingers am I holding up?) In October 2006, the Brothers (as Shane and David) began appearing as the main characters on a Logie Award winning children's television program called The Upside Down Show, broadcast in the US by Noggin and in Australia on NickJr. The show, developed by Sesame Workshop, makes extensive use of their particular style of mime and humor. Nickelodeon is not renewing it for a second season.

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Birth

Dave was born on January 19, 1969 and Shane was born on March 30, 1969 in Sydney, Australia.

Shows

The Umbies have performed two shows which appear as DVD's:

• SpeedMouse: 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’s 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.
• Don't Explain: Don't Explain is 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 to keeping the show entertaining.
• thwak!: a modified version of dont explain currently being performed

DVD releases

• SpeedMouse - Live from the Sydney Opera House.
• Don't Explain - Live from the United States.

References