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Industry News
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The Umbilical Brothers
2000 Thwak opens on April 7th at the Tiffany Theatres in Los Angeles. David and Shane go to Disneyland. 1999 The Umbilical Brothers create and perform their American Stage debut, THWAK, starting at New York's Westbeth Theatre Center at the beginning of the year before moving to the Minetta Lane Theatre, where they play through the end of the millenium. TV appearances during the year include the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The American Comedy Awards and Late Night with David Letterman. Capping the year, the boys were selected as two of the '100 Most Creative People in Entertainment' on Entertainment Weekly's 'IT' list. 1998 David & Shane capture the Australian Entertainment Industry's 'MO' Award for Best Comedy Group for the fifth year in a row. HEAVEN BY STORM sells out before it arrives in Singapore and at the Hong Kong International Festival. The Umbilicals perform at the Koln Comedy Festival, and travel to Frankfurt to win Germany's 'United Slapstick Award'. Back to London to create and record the character voices and sound effects for the new Nickelodeon animated series MAISY 1997 The Umbilical Brothers introduce a new generation of DON'T EXPLAIN to sold-out audiences in Australia, Spain, New Zealand and Edinburgh. 1996 HEAVEN BY STORM appears at the Sydney Festival and the Melbourne Comedy Festival. It is also enjoyed by thousands during a season in London's West End. While in London the Umbilical Brothers work with Academy Award-winning Aardman Animations. They take DON'T EXPLAIN to South Africa and Singapore. The Umbilicals are highly unconventional presenters at the 1996 Australian Film Institute Awards. 1995 DON'T EXPLAIN goes on the road, evolving with each performance. The show successfully travels to the London International Mime Festival, The Sydney Festival, The Melbourne Comedy Festival and Montreal's Just for Laughs Festival. Their next creation HEAVEN BY STORM premieres at the Edinburgh Festival, winning the Critics' Choice Award and a coveted Perrier nomination. 1994 For their first international foray they create DON'T EXPLAIN, and premiere it at Edinburgh's Fringe Festival to rave reviews and sell-out houses. A tour of the United Kingdom follows. 1991-1993 The Umbies embark on a series of 'stand up' gigs, TV appearances and comedy tours around Australia. One of their highlights: a misguided booking at a local Bar Mitzvah, where they perform in front of a life-sized replica of Jerusalem's Wailing Wall. They start to question their theatrical agent. 1991 On a whim, the Brothers appear on Australia's 'Star Search' and capture the grand prize. David & Shane create and perform TWO COATS AND A HATSTAND FROM HELL, The Umbilical Brothers' first professional theatre experience. 1990 During their graduation year Shane & Dave start appearing at comedy venues, with a view to 'supplementing their acting careers'. While attending an international theatre training festival in the U.S.A., they try their unconventional routine out on a host of international theatre students. The result laughter. Encouraged by the multicultural response, they decide to give their act a name: 'Elbow Soup'. Five minutes later they rename themselves 'The Umbilical Brothers'. The Umbi Bros. enter a major Sydney stand-up comedy competition, winning the coveted first prize - a single ticket to LA. 1988 Sydney Australia. David and Shane meet in first year of acting school. The following two years result in Shakespeare, Chekhov, a broken nose and their unique fusion of wild imagination with comic and theatrical tradition.
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