By Jessica Taurins
Since 1988, or so Wikipedia tells me, The Umbilical Brothers have been confident mainstays of Australian comedy. The Umbilicals (Shane Dundas and David Collins, not actually brothers) are weird, wacky, and incredibly funny, seamlessly blending silly sounds and ridiculous mime with the all-too-perfect timing that only comes from 40ish years of experience.
Over time they’ve performed various live shows, created multiple recorded specials, and devised at least one TV show, all of which has led up to this: a 2026 performance of a comedy special created in the late 90s.
Speedmouse has been around almost as long as The Umbilicals have – this MICF showing is for its 25th anniversary. Since its inception, Speedmouse has remained the pair’s most well-known special, an impressive feat given their long history. But is it really their best?
Yes. Yes, it probably is.
For a few weeks beforehand, up until the lights went down in the theatre, my partner has been passionately yapping into my ear about his favourite Speedmouse bits, thrilled to finally see them live. People all around me were just as excited, snapping photos of the stage and chatting about the upcoming show.
And my gosh, was it a show.
There’s something special about performers so in sync with each other and the performance that you can’t tell if an onstage fourth-wall-breaking chuckle is real or just part of the flow. I won’t spoil the Speedmouse story here – if you know you know – but I will say that it lives up to its name.
The Umbilicals have a catty witticism about them that I believe is completely unmatched in the comedic duo world. Neither of them is solely the straight man or the fall guy, they both have their moments in the sun, their time to cackle in each other’s faces as someone takes an invisible javelin to the skull.
Dundas is USUALLY the guy on the mic, creating a soundscape for Collins’ physical humour. And Collins is USUALLY the guy drowning in Dundas’ soundscape, sometimes literally as one sketch ends with the audience awash in a mimecrafted ocean. But they know they’re bloody good at their jobs, so subtle and not-so-subtle shifts in their defined roles make the performance all the stronger.
There are elements of audience interaction – if you sit in the centre you might need to stretch [REDACTED] out along the crowd – which are skilfully woven into the performance. The Umbilicals are great at taking suggestions when desired and discarding them otherwise, sometimes ignoring shouts from the crowd, and sometimes weaving heckles seamlessly into the stories they build.
If I was held at mime-javelin point and asked to give one single criticism, it’s that, occasionally, some bits overstay their welcome. Aside from its surreal moments, Speedmouse is based around a remote control that alters reality for The Umbilicals, fast-forwarding and rewinding them through time. A couple of jokes – and I really do mean a couple, out of the entire performance – fell flat after a few rewinds and repeat references.
Still, a couple of minutes of unfunny out of an hour of funny don’t take away from an incredible experience. Could I personally do with less 6-7 references? Sure, but I bet it exploded the heads of some kids in the audience when two 50-year-olds said they killed the 6-7 guy.
If you like… well, any form of comedy, Speedmouse has it all. Sights, sounds, sometimes things you can’t see that make sounds, sometimes things you can’t hear that look like stuff, occasionally there’s a roadie. It’s pretty fantastic, and well worth a watch.
