By Luke Voogt
The Umbilical Brothers have starred on The Late Show and performed worldwide – now they return to Geelong with their favourite roadie, Speedmouse.
“It was fun in New York but it was kind of a hard slog for us,” said David Collins, one half of the pantomime icons.
“We don’t have a following as much there. We much prefer Geelong.”
Collins said touring Australia was much more fun than the US, despite the country being a comedy heartland thanks to President Trump.
“There are little tiny gags that only Australians get – Americans don’t understand the concept of making fun of yourselves but it’s in our DNA.
“I love putting s**t on myself, when my kids aren’t doing it. It’s my favourite thing to do.”
The Umbilical Brothers grabbed “Trump by the pantomime” in a gag on The Late Show a day after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s heated conversation with the President last year.
“We were there because of that guy who’s in charge but Trump’s not funny anymore – it’s hard to make a joke of a joke.
“I thought, ’What are we doing in America?’”
Collins and ‘brother’ Shane Dundas come to Geelong with their creepy clownesque roadie Speedmouse on 6 April.
“I don’t know why people keep calling him a clown,” Collins said.
“That’s the uniform roadies wear – people never see them so they wouldn’t know … ”
Speedmouse became a part of their act more than a decade ago – by accident – after Collins and Dundas dressed him up to help out with a show.
“He just came on, put the microphone down and walked off – he didn’t look very happy,” Collins said.
“The audience were just laughing at it.”
Collins looked forward to getting back on stage, which he said offered much more opportunity for creativity than the TV screen.
But more than anything the Umbilical Brothers love getting to the end of a show.
The duo let audiences suggest sketches in an improv free-for-all after each show, Collins explained.
“I prefer when people ask for something that’s really absurd,” he said.
The Umbilical Brothers have performed together for more than 20 years, which Collins credits to them living in different cities.
“If you want a relationship to last just get the hell away from each other.”
Collins reckoned his partner in crime might be responsible for a Wikipedia entry stating they met when “Collins swung around and broke Dundas’ nose” at a Western Sydney salsa club on a hot summer’s night in 1988.
“I actually broke his nose in acting class,” he said.
A mime task in that same class set the duo on their comedy path.
“We didn’t like mime,” Collins said.
“But we started adding sound to it and it was just so much more interesting.“
