The Umbilical Brothers

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. A year later, in a jazz class, Collins 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 years, their routines are highly scripted.

They have performed on the Late Show with David Letterman,[2] The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,[3] The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,[4] Broadway, Rove, Sarvo, Good News Week (expressly for the 'So You Think You Can Mime' segment) 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.[5]

The Umbilical Brothers also guest-starred on Double the Fist.[6] 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, 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 (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 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, which aired in the United States on Nickelodeon's Noggin channel, and on Nick Jr. Australia. The show, co-developed by Sesame Workshop and Nickelodeon, 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.[7] On 1 June 2007, the Umbilical Brothers announced on their website that the series would not be renewed for a second season, and that Nickelodeon USA had decided to end The Upside Down Show after a single season.[8] 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.

In 2017, the Umbilical Brothers became the storytellers on the Disney mini series The Book of Once Upon a Time for season 3.

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

• 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 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.[9]
• The Upside Down 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.[10]
• 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 keeping the show entertaining.[11]
• Thwak!: a modified version of Don't Explain (not available on DVD)
• Heaven by Storm: Heaven by Storm is a more plot based show by the Umbilical Brothers. 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 difference. 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 which he had accidentally killed beforehand. Shane then chases Dave throughout the show trying to get money, or just 20c as Shane says, off Dave to help pay for the cricket's funeral.[12]
• The Rehearsal: A new show with video effects including "shadow".[13]

• SpeedMouse – Live from the Sydney Opera House (2004)
• Don't Explain – Live from the Athenaeum theatre in Melbourne (2007)
• Heaven By Storm – Live from Regal Theatre, Subiaco (18 September 2010)
• The Rehearsal (3 November 2014)
• Not Suitable For Children (16 August 2017)

• Official website
• Transcript of ABC interview with George Negus
• Transcript of Radio Ha Ha (Episode 37) with Shane Dundas
• The Umbilical Brothers at IMDb