Mump and Smoot Cracked by Michael Kennard and John Turner

Michael Kennard received his BA in Drama from the University of Guelph, after which he studied Clown and Mask at the Theatre Resource Centre in Toronto. His remarkable professional career as co-creator of the clown duo Mump & Smoot has included touring to international acclaim for over 30 years. Awards for MUMP & SMOOT include Dora Awards (Best Production, Best Director), 2 Canadian Comedy Awards (Best New Comedy Play), L.A. Drama-Logue Awards (Best Actors), Boston Theatre Awards (Outstanding Production by a Small Visiting Company). Besides his work with Mump & Smoot, Michael is an Associate Professor and researcher in physical theater at University of Alberta. He is also a solo performer, director and collaborator of new theatrical productions.

John is the co-creator (with Michael Kennard) of Mump & Smoot. He attended three universities but was never inspired to finish. In his twenties he had jobs as a roughneck, orderly, painter, construction worker, frying pan salesman and bartender. Richard Pochinko, Ian Wallace, and Fiona Griffiths introduced him to clown, mask and movement. He also studied bouffon with Philippe Gaulier, physical comedy with John Towsen and improv at Second City. With Mump & Smoot he has co-written and performed in Something, Caged, Ferno, Tense, Something Else and Flux. His directing includes Karen Hines’ Citizen Pochsy, Michael Kennard’s Puzzle Me Red, Miriam Cusson and Mélissa Rockburn’s Stuff, Diana Kolpak’s Lionheart, and De-ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre’s A Trickster Tale (Tomson Highway), and The Gultch. John also works extensively as a clown coach, director, and teacher across Canada, but primarily on his farm on Manitoulin Island – The Clown Farm (www.theclownfarm.com). Other teaching gigs include Yale School of Drama, Laurentian University, California State University, University of Tel Aviv, University of Calgary, The SPACE (the studio he shared with Mike in Toronto), Equity Showcase, the Workman Theatre Project, the Centre For Indigenous Theater, and as part of the De-ba-jeh-mu-jig outreach program. John has been recognized for his work with a Dora award, a Canadian Comedy award, a Boston Theatre award and a Drama Logue award (California).

Karen is a writer, performer and director in theatre, television and film. Her award-winning black comedies for the stage, Hello…Hello (A Romantic Satire) and The Pochsy Plays trilogy have been presented internationally. She has also written several short plays presented by the Tarragon, Volcano, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Karen directed the original production of Linda Griffiths’ Age of Arousal (ATP) and is the Dora Award-winning director of Horror Clowns Mump & Smoot,  having directed all of their productions to date. A Second City alumna, she has acted extensively in film and television, including three seasons on Ken Finkleman’’s Emmy Award-winning The Newsroom and Married Life for which she was nominated for Gemini and CableACE awards. Karen has recently made the first two in a series of short films featuring the character Pochsy, which are touring an international film festival circuit. She is currently playwright in residence at Alberta Theatre Projects and is writing a black comedy, Drama, as well as a feature-length neo-noir, Deadly is the Female. Her newest Pochsy show will premiere in Munich next fall.  www.pochsy.org

Karen is a writer, performer and director in theatre, television and film. Her award-winning black comedies for the stage, Hello…Hello (A Romantic Satire) and The Pochsy Plays trilogy have been presented internationally. She has also written several short plays presented by the Tarragon, Volcano, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Karen directed the original production of Linda Griffiths’ Age of Arousal (ATP) and is the Dora Award-winning director of Horror Clowns Mump & Smoot,  having directed all of their productions to date. A Second City alumna, she has acted extensively in film and television, including three seasons on Ken Finkleman’’s Emmy Award-winning The Newsroom and Married Life for which she was nominated for Gemini and CableACE awards. Karen has recently made the first two in a series of short films featuring the character Pochsy, which are touring an international film festival circuit. She is currently playwright in residence at Alberta Theatre Projects and is writing a black comedy, Drama, as well as a feature-length neo-noir, Deadly is the Female. Her newest Pochsy show will premiere in Munich next fall.  www.pochsy.org

Katherine was born in Halifax and raised mostly in Ottawa. She has recently completed her first year in the MFA Theatrical Design Program at the University of Alberta. She earned her BA in technical theatre at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and in her final year, she represented the school at the 2007 Prague Quadrennial. She attended the Freie Universitat in Berlin to study the History of Contemporary Architecture and also has an interest in props construction. She began to work professionally as a designer in 2005 for Ship’s Company Theatre and has gone on to work for Acadia University, Opera Nova Scotia, Neptune Theatre School, Dalhousie Theatre, DMV Co-Op and 2B Theatre. In her recent move to Edmonton, Katherine seeks to round out her skills as a designer, and to become aquatinted with Western Canada.

After 8 happy seasons as the Technical Director for Theatre Network at the (pre-fire) Roxy theatre Paul felt a need to do some touring and so, when the opportunity to Stage Manage for The Old Trout Puppet Workshop’s arose Paul jumped at it. Having now toured 2 shows across Canada, the US and throughout 5 countries in Europe the need to tour is really being satisfied. Theatre Network isn’t completely out of Paul’s blood stream however, so whenever the opportunity arises to come back he does. “It has been an enormous pleasure to work with this team again! Thanks Theatre Network!”

Received 2006 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards and Grammy nomination for his work on The Drowsy Chaperone.  Theatre credits: composer/musical director for Hello…Hello (Tarragon Theatre, The Space), Pochsy’s Lips, Oh, Baby, Citizen Pochsy and Pochsy Unplugged (Toronto Fringe, Canadian/U.S. tours); The Drowsy Chaperone (Toronto Fringe, Theatre Passe Muraille, Winter Garden Theatre, Mirvish Productions); Mump and Smoot In Something Else  (Canadian Stage, Yale Repertory Theatre); Mump and Smoot in Flux (Canadian Stage); An Awkward Evening With Martin & Johnson (Tarragon Extra Space, Tim Sims Playhouse); The Age of Dorian (Artword Theatre). TV: Songs for  Slings & Arrows (Rhombus Media for Showcase/Sundance);  Getting Along Famously (CBC); The Joe Blow Show (Comedy Network). Other: musical director for The Second City national touring company and Alumni Café (Tim Sims Playhouse, Bread and Circus); Score for the short films Pochsy: An Industrial Film and A Tax on Pochsy. Currently working on new musical, Big Rosemary with Lisa Lambert and Blake Edwards.

Zu-Ma: talent to amuz is Cindi Zuby and Lynette Maurice.  The two spend their time designing and teaching theatre, creating props, making music and playing with puppets.  Their latest show is a sock puppet DVD about Robert’s Rules of Order starring Schlocky and Mocky.  They are honoured to be a part of Umo by “giving birth” to the new/bloody/nightmare little babies!   Cindi & Lynette are off to the next show “Niles’ Journey, a Baby Camel’s Story” for the Christmas season.  www.zu-ma.com

James Fisher is a visionary artist obsessed with depicting a surreal world strained by an overpopulation of hopeful dreams.  Fisher is the creator of Rue Morgue Magazine’s popular DISFIGURES OF SPEECH column.  He has produced three graphic novelettes entitled “Fishead”, “The Taboo Floo” and “Mump + Smoot in Caged” and runs a monthly online
comic contest called “Creature Captions”. He is an Alumni of the Ontario College of Art & Design Illustration program where he honed his twisted sensibilities.  Also, Fisher composes soundtracks for film, television and theatre.  He performs his music live with the circus electro band called SQUID LID.   Fisher lives in Toronto with his cabinets of curiosity and his invisible cat named Meep. To see and hear more about James Fisher go to zircocircus.com.

Sherry Roher has been Stage Managing for the past 10 years across Canada and a visit, or two, to the US. Some of her favourite credits include: True Love Lies at Factory Theatre, The Room’s Red Machine I & II,The Exchange Rate Collective & Volcano’s Appetite, M&S & M.K. Productions’ Puzzle Me Red, Single Threat Co-op’s A Quiet Place, ACME Theatre’s Crook Back Dicky, Coeur de Lion/Lioness’s Productions Mother of the Pride, Michael Kennard’s The Hollow, Shakespeare In The Rough’s Two Gentlemen of Verona, Rick Roberts’ Kite & Fish Wife and The Co.’s Awake and Sing, & Audience, Unveiling, Protest. Working with Mump & Smoot for the first time is an honour and a ride that I’ll never want to end. Many thanks to Adrian Griffin for his enduring love and support.