Currently playing at the Astor Place Theater is one of the most entertaining, uproarious, and magnificent shows in New York City: Blue Man Group. Over 17 million people around the globe have experienced a performance by the group, and it’s obvious why it’s such a phenomenon. From the beginning to the end, Blue Man Group keeps the audience in wonder, making them laugh, and demonstrating routines to them that are amazingly unique.
The act started in 1988 when three friends, Chris Wink, Phil Stanton, and Matt Goldman, painted their faces blue to celebrate the end of the decade. They went to Central Park and burned a piece of the Berlin Wall and a Rambo doll, according to Goldman in an August 2008 interview with Inc. magazine. Goldman said that he would wait outside of the box office where Blue Man Group held some of its first shows and confront people to buy a ticket. While at the start of the career the group had to basically beg people to attend, by 2000, they were doing 14 sold out shows a week in Vegas. Their Megastar World Tour also skyrocketed them into international success, with over 2 million people having seen the show.
The Astor Place Theater is the original location of Blue Man Group, and, because it’s smaller than the other venues they perform at, is their coziest space. Audience members are filmed multiple times throughout the show, and there is a great amount of interaction with the group. Two theatergoers are even picked to go on stage during the show to participate in the antics.
Blue Man Group begins with their trademark drumming and paint act. They pour neon paint onto their drums while ferociously banging them, creating a stunning combination of colors. During the show, a band plays on a balcony on the side of the stage, hidden behind a curtain, but wearing neon suits and painted faces that match the other colors.
Silent slapstick comedy, similar to that of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, is the driving force behind the humor. In the second routine, a Blue Man catches about 30 paint-filled gumballs in his mouth. Another Blue Man keeps throwing and throwing them until it looks like his fellow man’s cheeks are about to explode. While the third Blue Man creates a lovely Spin Art painting with his gumballs, the one with the chipmunk cheeks keeps failing. Finally, he spits them out, making a mini tower, and putting a sign on it that says “$4,000.” Poking fun at modern art is one of the many sarcastic jabs that Blue Man Group takes during the show. Others include coffee shops, modern technology, and the ludicrousness of today’s rock stars.
Another act that had the audience nearly rolling on the ground was where each Blue Man held up his own sign. At the start of the routine, each sign said to only pay attention to it and not to the other ones. The group flips the signs quickly. On them they wrote things like, “don’t try to read the other signs because you will just end up skimming the other ones and not getting the full effect of only one” or, “I’m sorry you chose to read this sign, you were probably better off reading the others.” By the end, your eyes, from reading so fast, and your gut, from laughing so hard, are exhausted.
Aside from the comedy, the music Blue Man Group produces with the drums and pipes is a pleasure for the ears. The men can drum at such a rapid pace that you hardly see their hands (that are covered with blue gloves) moving. The backup band, consisting of more drums and guitars, contributes to the appeal of the acts. One of the best use of the pipes is during the “how to be a rock star” portion which is a taste of their sardonic Megastar World Tour. A fake “how-to” video plays, teaching the audience how to make it big in today’s music industry. When the video tells the audience to bob their heads or perform dance moves, everyone does. The video says to play covers of old rock favorites, and so Blue Man Group does, on their pipes. With the band, they play “Whip It” by Devo and “Like a Virgin” by Madonna, among others. Even though the songs last about thirty seconds, it is still wonderful. I could have listened to the group play those pipes for hours.
Blue Man Group live at the Astor Place Theater is an uplifting and fun experience, not just performance, that can be enjoyed by anyone who has a sense of humor and doesn’t mind the possibility of making eye contact with a bald, blue-faced man. They combine sensory pleasure with slapstick and sarcastic comedy to produce one of the best shows in New York City.
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Blue Man Group performs Tuesday through Sunday at the Astor Place Theater at 434 Lafayette Street. $29 student rush tickets are available one hour before show time at the box office for all shows except the Friday 7 p.m. and Saturday 8 p.m. performances. Regular tickets are $68 and $78.
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