Mump and Smoot
Encyclopedia
Mump & Smoot are a Canadian clown duo created by Michael Kennard and John Turner, directed by Karen Hines
. Also referred to as 'clowns of horror' they've produced interactive, improvisational plays aimed squarely at adult audiences.
, the Three Stooges
, I Love Lucy
, Alfred Jarry
, Samuel Beckett
, and Antonin Artaud
to elicit in their audience the peculiar mix of sympathy, empathy, schadenfreude
, and horror that stem from watching flawed individuals alternately fail and succeed at their petty but all too human schemes. Mump and Smoot shows are said to seem so spontaneous that people sometimes forget that they are scripted. To obtain this effect, Michael Kennard and John Turner use an improvisational technique rooted in an art called 'Canadian Clown' developed by late Canadian Richard Pochinko
in the 1980s. It has a similar effect to the audience-interactive improvisation practiced by the Blue Man Group
.
Mump, (The Joey) played by Kennard, is the natural leader; authoritative, pompous, bullying, scheming and manipulative, alternately erupting in towering violent rages and completely collapsing from terror. Smoot, (The Auguste) played by Turner, is the perpetual innocent; playful, childlike, silly, bullied by Mump but occasionally standing up to him.
The plays occur in a world of surrealistic set design, with simple props combined with haunting and evocative music (by Greg Morrison
) and sound effects providing an overall impression of a vast and uncaring universe inhabited by powers beyond the scale of mere Ummonians.
in 1986 in Second City
workshops, where they discovered a mutual talent for improvising with gibberish
dialogue. While at Second City, they met Karen Hines
, an integral part of the team who has directed all their shows. The final piece fell into place when they attended an innovative, highly acclaimed clown course taught by the man who would become their mentor, the late Richard Pochinko
in a new field of what he called Canadian Clowning. On May 13, 1988, fittingly, Friday the 13, Mump and Smoot presented their first show, Jump the Gun. Since then they have played fringe theater throughout Canada, regional theaters and festivals, the American Repertory Theater, associate artist positions at the Yale Repertory Theater, and Israeli and Palestinian festivals culminating with a joint workshop for Israelis and Palestinians together. In addition to theater, Mump and Smoot have made numerous television appearances and two short films, including Laurie Lynd
's The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore.
Outside their Mump and Smoot persona, Kennard and Turner ran The SPACE (Studio for Physical and Clown Exploration) in Toronto from 1997 through 2002, where they not only worked on their shows, but also taught clown and presented workshops, student theater, and other productions. Along with Hines, they continue to present workshops and courses in Clown
, movement, and physical comedy
.
(and also her own solo works as Pochsy) are responsible for popularizing Canadian Clown in a practical, theatrical form. Michael Kennard and John Turner are also at the root of a renaissance in the art of clowning as they have been teaching Pochinko's techniques for over ten years coast to coast to coast in Canada and the United States.
The improvisational nature of their shows keeps Mump and Smoot fresh, something they would not likely experience in more traditional theater pieces[3]. Their distinctive style of clowning finds its roots deep within their work with Pochinko who borrowed from many traditions including AmerIndian, American and European to create a unique form of training he called Canadian Clowning. They have also trained extensively with their movement coach Fiona Griffiths and clown teacher Ian Wallace. Workshops with Philippe Gaulier in Bouffon and John Towsen in physical comedy have also been influential.[1]
2003 Dora Mavor Moore award - Direction (Karen Hines)
Nomination for Canadian Comedy Award for Comedic Play (Mump & Smoot in Flux)
Canadian Comedy Award for Outstanding Performance in a Comedic Play.
Karen Hines
Karen Hines is a Canadian actress, writer and director. She is the artistic director and producer of "Keep Frozen: Pochsy Productions."Hines has appeared in several television series, including many of Ken Finkleman's satires such as The Newsroom, Foreign Objects, and Married Life for which she was...
. Also referred to as 'clowns of horror' they've produced interactive, improvisational plays aimed squarely at adult audiences.
Background
Mump and Smoot live on the planet Ummo and worship the deity Ummo, as long as he might be responsive to their prayers. Their dialogue is in their native language of Ummonian, which is nevertheless clear to the audience (who often play a part in the performance). They combine influences from sources as diverse as Monty PythonMonty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
, the Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
, I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
, Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France, not far from the border of Brittany; he was of Breton descent on his mother's side....
, Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
, and Antonin Artaud
Antonin Artaud
Antoine Marie Joseph Artaud, more well-known as Antonin Artaud was a French playwright, poet, actor and theatre director...
to elicit in their audience the peculiar mix of sympathy, empathy, schadenfreude
Schadenfreude
Schadenfreude is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others. This German word is used as a loanword in English and some other languages, and has been calqued in Danish and Norwegian as skadefryd and Swedish as skadeglädje....
, and horror that stem from watching flawed individuals alternately fail and succeed at their petty but all too human schemes. Mump and Smoot shows are said to seem so spontaneous that people sometimes forget that they are scripted. To obtain this effect, Michael Kennard and John Turner use an improvisational technique rooted in an art called 'Canadian Clown' developed by late Canadian Richard Pochinko
Richard Pochinko
thumb|right|alt=Pochinko 1980|Richard Pochinko 1980Richard Pochinko was a notable Canadian clown trainer who developed a new style of mask/Clown performance training, known as the "Pochinko technique".-History:...
in the 1980s. It has a similar effect to the audience-interactive improvisation practiced by the Blue Man Group
Blue Man Group
Blue Man Group is an organization founded by Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton. The organization produces theatrical shows and concerts featuring popular music, comedy and multimedia; recorded music and scores for film and television; television appearances for shows such as The Tonight...
.
Mump, (The Joey) played by Kennard, is the natural leader; authoritative, pompous, bullying, scheming and manipulative, alternately erupting in towering violent rages and completely collapsing from terror. Smoot, (The Auguste) played by Turner, is the perpetual innocent; playful, childlike, silly, bullied by Mump but occasionally standing up to him.
The plays occur in a world of surrealistic set design, with simple props combined with haunting and evocative music (by Greg Morrison
Greg Morrison
Greg Morrison is an Tony Award–winning and Drama Desk Award–winning Canadian writer and composer best known for his work on the music and lyrics of The Drowsy Chaperone, which he wrote with Lisa Lambert. He also has extensive credits directing and musical directing shows across the United States,...
) and sound effects providing an overall impression of a vast and uncaring universe inhabited by powers beyond the scale of mere Ummonians.
History
Kennard and Turner met in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
in 1986 in Second City
The Second City
The Second City is a improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles...
workshops, where they discovered a mutual talent for improvising with gibberish
Gibberish
Gibberish is a generic term in English for talking that sounds like speech, but carries no actual meaning. This meaning has also been extended to meaningless text or gobbledygook. The common theme in gibberish statements is a lack of literal sense, which can be described as a presence of nonsense...
dialogue. While at Second City, they met Karen Hines
Karen Hines
Karen Hines is a Canadian actress, writer and director. She is the artistic director and producer of "Keep Frozen: Pochsy Productions."Hines has appeared in several television series, including many of Ken Finkleman's satires such as The Newsroom, Foreign Objects, and Married Life for which she was...
, an integral part of the team who has directed all their shows. The final piece fell into place when they attended an innovative, highly acclaimed clown course taught by the man who would become their mentor, the late Richard Pochinko
Richard Pochinko
thumb|right|alt=Pochinko 1980|Richard Pochinko 1980Richard Pochinko was a notable Canadian clown trainer who developed a new style of mask/Clown performance training, known as the "Pochinko technique".-History:...
in a new field of what he called Canadian Clowning. On May 13, 1988, fittingly, Friday the 13, Mump and Smoot presented their first show, Jump the Gun. Since then they have played fringe theater throughout Canada, regional theaters and festivals, the American Repertory Theater, associate artist positions at the Yale Repertory Theater, and Israeli and Palestinian festivals culminating with a joint workshop for Israelis and Palestinians together. In addition to theater, Mump and Smoot have made numerous television appearances and two short films, including Laurie Lynd
Laurie Lynd
Laurie Lynd is a Canadian film and television director, best known as the director of the feature film Breakfast with Scot.He also directed the feature film House, the short film The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore, and the television films Sibs, Open Heart and Virtual Mom, as well as...
's The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore.
Outside their Mump and Smoot persona, Kennard and Turner ran The SPACE (Studio for Physical and Clown Exploration) in Toronto from 1997 through 2002, where they not only worked on their shows, but also taught clown and presented workshops, student theater, and other productions. Along with Hines, they continue to present workshops and courses in Clown
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
, movement, and physical comedy
Physical comedy
Physical comedy, also known as slapstick, is a comedic performance relying mostly on the use of the body to convey humour.Physical comedy, whether conveyed by a pratfall , a silly face, or the action of walking into walls, is a common and rarely subtle form of comedy...
.
Notability
Mump and Smoot along with Karen HinesKaren Hines
Karen Hines is a Canadian actress, writer and director. She is the artistic director and producer of "Keep Frozen: Pochsy Productions."Hines has appeared in several television series, including many of Ken Finkleman's satires such as The Newsroom, Foreign Objects, and Married Life for which she was...
(and also her own solo works as Pochsy) are responsible for popularizing Canadian Clown in a practical, theatrical form. Michael Kennard and John Turner are also at the root of a renaissance in the art of clowning as they have been teaching Pochinko's techniques for over ten years coast to coast to coast in Canada and the United States.
The improvisational nature of their shows keeps Mump and Smoot fresh, something they would not likely experience in more traditional theater pieces[3]. Their distinctive style of clowning finds its roots deep within their work with Pochinko who borrowed from many traditions including AmerIndian, American and European to create a unique form of training he called Canadian Clowning. They have also trained extensively with their movement coach Fiona Griffiths and clown teacher Ian Wallace. Workshops with Philippe Gaulier in Bouffon and John Towsen in physical comedy have also been influential.[1]
Productions
- Something Else
- Something
- Ferno
- Caged
- Flux
- The Dentist
- Pitooey
- Cracked
Awards
2003 Dora Mavor Moore award - Outstanding Production2003 Dora Mavor Moore award - Direction (Karen Hines)
Nomination for Canadian Comedy Award for Comedic Play (Mump & Smoot in Flux)
Canadian Comedy Award for Outstanding Performance in a Comedic Play.
External links
- Adrienne Clarkson Presents (CBC Television)
- THEATER; Silly World, Dark Underpinnings