The Umbilical Brothers


Shane Dundas and David Collins known as The Umbilical Brothers are an Australian comic duo.

History

The Umbilical Brothers — or "Umbies" as they're fondly known — have been kicking around since the early 1990s, a creative partnership born of a friendship that began when Collins and Dundas were both studying at Theatre Nepean's three-year acting course at the University of Western Sydney, where their partnership began with a spontaneous Jackie Chan-style fight scene together. A year later, in a jazz class, Collins famously broke Dundas's 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 after-hours to play with the PA system and invent moves to match.
Their performances combine mime with ordinary dialogue and vocal sound effects. They use puppetry, pantomiming, 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, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Broadway, Rove, Sarvo, Good News Week and The Sideshow. They have also performed at the Cat Laughs, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Just for Laughs, Sydney Opera House, Adelaide Fringe Festival, Tampere Theatre Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and also at Woodstock 1999.
They are also credited with the vocalizations on the animated children's show Maisy. 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 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, which won best production at Sydney Theatre Awards and Adelaide Fringe. 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, 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 God.
In August 2006, the Umbilical Brothers began appearing as the main characters on the Logie Award winning children's television program The Upside Down Show, that airs in the United States on Nick Jr., and in Australia on Nick Jr. and the ABC. The show, developed by Sesame Workshop, makes extensive use of their particular style of mime and humour. In December 2006, in a New York Post interview, Shane Dundas expressed doubts about the return of the show for a second season. In June 2007, Nickelodeon announced that they would not renew it for a second season. Collins stated that the reason for the cancellation was the 2007-2008 recession, which meant that the company could not afford to produce another season.
The two had voice roles in Maya the Bee as dim-witted ant soldiers, with Collins voicing Arnie and Dundas voicing Barney.

Shows

The Umbilical Brothers have performed six shows, four of which appear as DVDs: