Umbilical Brothers at Rotunda

3 March 2012, 8pm

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, that airs in the US on Nick Jr. and in Australia on Nick Jr. 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.

tickets: PLN 110/90