Umbilical Brothers
O Umbilical Brothers, where art thou? Oh yeah, at the Opera House from next week
By Millie Stein
There's something odd about interviewing only one half of the visual comedy duo The Umbilical Brothers over the phone. "Our show is mostly visual, that's true, but it's more about the ideas than the tools," says Shane Dundas, the one with hair, "so theoretically I could say something really amusing to you now, if only I could think of it."
There have been countless deadpan moments such as this, as well as nearly 20 years and several world tours, since Dundas met his partner-in-mime David Collins at acting school. But did they ever think that they'd be performing in front of the Queen?
"I don't think we thought anything - in fact, it was more of a lack of brainpower that was involved there," Dundas says. "We thought it would last six months when we started. We were both just enjoying making each other laugh. That's where our show came from, a game."
While it may not have been a cerebral union, Dundas and Collins quickly discovered that two comedic heads worked better than one; and that it wasn't all to do with what's below the neck.
"It's complete [telepathy] and I think we had it from the beginning. And that's why we call ourselves the Umbilical Brothers. Occasionally you meet someone who's completely on your wavelength, and that's what happened with us in acting school. We'd take an idea and hit it back and forth like in a tennis match, and the idea would get bigger and bigger."
This month, the Umbies are back to share the 30-love with audiences at their new show, Don't Explain, promising plenty of their classic slapstick with some bloody-and-screaming newborn material. As always, no props are used except the minds, bodies, souls and voices of the frenetic fellows, and some marvellously coherent improvisation means that the results are impossible to predict.
"Don't Explain is really like a theatre show, we just have a lot more leeway to take it apart and stretch it and bounce it around the room," Dundas explains. "We're so familiar with some of the material that we muck around with it a lot these days.
"It's an acting performance fused with slapstick and stand-up. As stand-ups look at the world and comment on it, we're looking at slapstick and commenting on it. We are at the point where, as actors, we're appreciating it more."
And they're not the only ones. "It's actually freaky," Dundas says. "We made a TV series, The Upside Down Show, with the Sesame Street people, so we've got this whole new fan base of American mums - some of whom are willing to fly from America to see our live shows in regional Australia. The support is fantastic, but personally I'd spend my money on other things."
So Dundas wouldn't spend his hard earned clams on an Umbilical Brothers show?
"Well," he laughs, "I guess I've seen it! No, really, part of the joy for me is playing around with it each night. We play with sound, with image, with what you expect from a theatre show, and we're playing with your minds. But we won't smash them – we'll just stretch them slightly."
The Umbilical Brothers perform Don't Explain at the Sydney Opera House from Tuesday 25 Nov–Sat 6 Dec.