HISTORY
On Friday the 13th of May, 1988 Mump & Smoot were born on stage at the Theatre Centre in Toronto.
Mump & Smoot are the comic creations of Michael Kennard and John Turner. They are also referred to as clowns of horror. They inhabit a parallel universe called Ummo, worship a god named Ummo and speak their own brand of gibberish, Ummonian. Together they challenge every convention about clowns in a series of darkly humorous shows that range from the zany to the macabre.
Michael and John met in 1986 in Second City workshops. As a duo they discovered they had a good connection, especially when doing gibberish exercises. It was also in Second City workshops that they met and began working with director Karen Hines, who has gone on to direct all of their shows and is integral from the developmental phase through to full production.
Their distinctive style of clowning finds its roots deep within their work with Canadian clown master Richard Pochinko, with whom they worked extensively for the last two years of his life. Apart from numerous short sketches their primary repertoire includes eight full length shows, Something – 1989, Caged – 1990, Ferno -1992, Tense – 1997, Something Else – 1998, Flux – 2002, Cracked – 2010, Anything – 2014 and now Exit. Their critical acclaim and popularity was developed through consistent sell-outs in Fringe festivals across Canada. They then went on to have successful runs at many major regional theatres including the La Jolla Playhouse, the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven where they were Associate Artists for seven years, the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Center Stage in Baltimore, the Dallas Theater Center, Alberta Theatre Project in Calgary, and at the Canadian Stage Berkeley Street in Toronto.
Mump & Smoot have also appeared Off-Broadway at the Astor Place Theater in New York, and at the Palestinian National Theatre in Jerusalem and the Acco Theatre Festival in Israel. This dynamic duo has won two Dora Mavor Moore awards in June 2003 – one for Outstanding Production (Mump & Smoot in Flux) and another to Karen Hines for Direction. They were also nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award for Comedic Play (Mump & Smoot in Flux) and are past recipients of a Canadian Comedy Award for Live Male Performance. They have also won the Outstanding Small Visiting Company Award at the Boston Theater Awards and have appeared in the Genie-Award winning film The Fairy Who Didn’t Want To Be A Fairy Anymore as well as their own Canadian Film Centre short The Princess Who Wouldn’t Smile.
BIOS
MICHAEL KENNARD
Michael Kennard
“MUMP”
For the past thirty-six years Michael has been a cocreator (with John Turner), performer and producer with internationally acclaimed clown duo Mump & Smoot. Michael is a graduate of the University of Guelph Drama program and studied physical comedy, clown, mask, improv and movement with Richard Pochinko, Ian Wallace, Fiona Griffths, Philippe Gaulier and The Second City. He has taught at The Yale School of Drama, Tel Aviv University, California State University, University of Colorado, Guelph University, Bishops University, Equity Showcase, The SPACE, The Humber College Comedy program and currently is on Faculty at the University of Alberta. Michael’s directing credits include: The Christmas Carol, The Hobbit and The Wizard of Oz at The Globe Theatre in Regina, The Second City’s Family Circus Maximus and Insanity Fair in Toronto and co-directed Embryos on Ice in Chicago, Half a Sixpence and Alice Through the Looking Glass at Bishops’ University, The Hollow (independent) at Berkeley St Theatre in Toronto and numerous productions at The University of Alberta. Michael has been recognized for his work with a Dora Award (Toronto), a Sterling Award (Edmonton), a Jessie Award(Vancouver), three Canadian Comedy Awards, a Boston Theatre Award and a Drama Logue Award (California) for his work.
www.michaelkennard.ca
JOHN TURNER
John Turner
“SMOOT”
John is best known as the “Smoot” half of the award winning Canadian clown duo Mump & Smoot (with Michael Kennard), and until 2020 the founder and Artistic Director of The Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Performance (aka. The Clown Farm). John attended three universities and two colleges but was never inspired to finish. He had jobs as an oil rig roughneck, orderly, painter, construction worker, frying pan and cookbook salesman, waiter and bartender. John studied clown, mask and movement with Richard Pochinko, Ian Wallace, and Fiona Griffiths, bouffon with Philippe Gaulier, physical comedy with John Towsen and improv at Second City. Hailing from beautiful Cape Breton Island he now coaches, teaches, dramaturges, directs and performs across the country. Coaching and/or Directing credits include Justin Miller’s Pearle Harbour, in Distant Early Warning, Christine Moynihan’s Inside Ethel: Outside, Jennifer Dallas’ Kittly-Bender and Known, Morro and Jasp (multiple shows), Karen Hines’ Citizen Pochsy and Crawlspace, Michael Kennard’s Puzzle Me Red, Sandrine Lafond’s Little Lady, and De-ba-jehmu-jig Theatre’s A Trickster Tale, and The Gulch. He has been recognized for his work with a Dora award, two Canadian Comedy awards, a Boston Theatre award and a Drama Logue award (California) for his work.
www.johnwturner.ca
KAREN HINES
Karen Hines
Director
Hines began her career as an underground sketch comedienne and emerged as the director, performer, and author of multiple award-winning productions which have been presented across North America at venues including Soulpepper, One Yellow Rabbit, Tarragon Theatre, Boca del Lupo, Canadian Stage, Alberta Theatre Projects, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Dallas Theatre Centre, Joe’s Pub (Public Theatre NYC), La Jolla Playhouse and many more. Chicagoborn, Toronto-bred, she is a Dora Award-winning actor and director (she has directed all Mump & Smoot shows since their inception). Her published and prize-winning plays include The Pochsy Plays and ‘rama, both of which were also finalists for Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Award; Hines was also a 2020 Siminovitch Prize finalist. As a director, she has collaborated with Canadian and American theatre artists including Linda Griffiths (Age of Arousal), Michelle Thrush (Inner Elder) and currently, Seattle’s Bhama Roget. She has appeared in American and Canadian TV and film including three seasons on the PBS/CBC’s Emmy Awardwinning Newsroom. Her own short films featuring Pochsy have screened around the world. Her real estate horror Crawlspace recently toured to micro-theatres across Canada and is currently touring in translation with Théâtre Francais de Toronto. Crawlspace now streams on CBC’s PlayME, Spotify, etc.
www.keepfrozen.org