Blue Man Group Biography:

Blue Man Group (BMG) is a creative organization centered on a trio of mute performers, called Blue Men, that present themselves in blue paint, latex bald caps, and black clothing.

Friends Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton (collectively referred to by the fan community as CMP or ChrisMattPhil) conceived the idea during the 1980s while in New York City. They began appearing on the streets in Blue Man regalia, busking for passersby and staging unusual events such as The Funeral For the 80s, and doing short bits as part of the underground cabarets of Tom Murrin's The Alien Comic, in "The CLUB" at La MaMa Experimental Theater Club.

Meryl Vladimer, the Artistic Director of The CLUB, saw their work and commissioned Blue Man Group to create a full-length show. The resulting piece, TUBES, took off after Vladimer persuaded The New York Times critic Stephen Holden to review it. Blue Man Group's popularity continued to snowball, eventually winning CMP an Obie Award and a Lucille Lortel Award, which led producers to take the show to off-Broadway. TUBES opened in 1991 at the Astor Place Theater. This show, and frequent appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, enabled CMP and Blue Man Group team to open similar productions and expand their concepts into other kinds of performances.

Blue Man Group's theatrical acts incorporate rock music (with an emphasis on percussion), odd props, audience participation, sophisticated lighting, and large amounts of paper. It is also noted for having a "poncho section" of the audience; in the front rows, audience members are provided with plastic ponchos in order to protect them from various foods, substances, paints, and so on, which get thrown, ejected, or sprayed from the stage. The shows are family-oriented, humorous, energetic and often employ thought-provoking satire on modern life. Much of the humor breaks the fourth wall, for example, interrupting the show to ridicule latecomers in the audience.

The Blue Man can be considered a type of homologue; i.e., a creature approximating a real human being. The strongest and most obvious Blue Man characteristic is his static appearance, namely, the earless, bright blue head and face and nondescript, utilitarian clothing. In action, the Blue Man does not speak and his face is usually expressionless, although suggestions of curiosity, surprise, wonder, chagrin, etc. are sometimes visible (though only in the eyes and eyebrows). The Blue Man does not communicate through speech or broad body language or gestures; rather, he communicates through intense eye contact and simple gestures. He acts impulsively and primarily as a group of three, "checking in" with the other two when making decisions and before moving to their next action. The Blue Man's outwardly apparent motivations are often presented in mild caricature in order to make a humorous and/or ironic point to the audience. Additionally, the Blue Man is inscrutably motivated to drum.