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Heaven By Storm | The Umbilical Brothers |
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Written by Paul Kooperman
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Thursday, 03 April 2008 |
 The
Umbilical Brothers,
Shane and Dave, are physical comedy specialists, who use nothing other
than their bodies and voices to transport the audience to a variety of
locations and situations.
The
opening is spectacular, when they’re introduced, but don’t appear. The
stage remains empty. We hear the phone ring, one of them answers and
they just happen to be in another country. They jump out of bed, into a
taxi, head to the airport, get on a plane and leap from it, but fall to
their deaths. They then appear on stage in a white light and address
‘god’, who makes it clear only one of them is getting into heaven. They
are thrust back to Earth and the show essentially begins with ‘getting
into heaven’ as the stakes.
One
of the funniest scenes was when Dave (or was it Shane) stood in front
of a mirror in an ordinary (imaginary) bathroom, while Shane (or was it
Dave) stood in the wings doing all the sound effects – hair dryers,
water running, hair combing, nose plucking and so on and when they drew
attention to the sounds not quite matching, it was even funnier.
The
plot then seemed to meander aimlessly. There was something about a
cricket called Andrew, the cricket being squashed and one brother
wanting twenty cents from the other brother for its funeral, refusing
to give up until they got the twenty cents (which I don’t think they
ever did). I was never really sure what this had to do with getting
into heaven, but the bulk of the audience didn’t seem to mind.
Ultimately, the plot did return to God and the question of who would get into heaven, but by this stage, no one really cared.
The
Umbilical Brothers are fast, physical and fun, entertaining at the very
least and sometimes brilliant. There were certainly a few unforgettable
moments, but without a strong story or context for their physi-comedy,
the show had a sense of one physical sketch after another. As funny as
most of them were, I did wonder how it all connected to the theme.
They
have a strong fan-base and understandably so. The Umbilical Brothers
are two of the funniest physical comedians Australia has ever produced
and the show currently at the Athenaeum Theatre certainly underlines
why. Go check it out.
A-List Entertainment
Heaven By Storm
The Umbilical Brothers
Venue: Athenaeum Theatre | 188 Collins St, Melbourne
Dates: 1st Apr - 13th Apr
Times: Tue-Sat 8.20pm, Sun 7.20pm
Duration: 70 minutes
Tickets: Full $31.90, Conc $24.90 | Full Fri & Sat $34.90, Conc Fri & Sat $31.90
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 660 013 | 9650 1500 & at the door
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