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{{For2|the novel by [[Kin Platt]]|[[The Blue Man]]}}
{{Infobox Theatre Group
| bgcolour = #FFFFFF
| name = Blue Man Group
| image = BlueManGroup Dec2007.jpg
| imagesize = 300px
| caption = Blue Man Group in concert, December 2007
| formed = 1988
| location = [[New York City|New York]], [[Boston]], [[Chicago]], [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]], [[Berlin]], [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]], [[Tokyo]], and [[Basel]]
| disbanded =
| notable =
| homepage = http://www.blueman.com/
| genre = [[Experimental rock]], [[performance art]]
}}
'''Blue Man Group''' is a creative organization founded by Phil Stanton, Chris Wink and Matt Goldman. The organization produces theatrical shows and concerts featuring music, comedy and multimedia; recorded music and scores for film and television; television appearances for shows such as ''[[The Tonight Show]]'', ''[[Scrubs (TV series)|Scrubs]]'', and ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]''; and a children's museum exhibit ("Making Waves").<ref name="whatis">http://www.blueman.com/about/whatis</ref> All of the organization's appearances star a trio of performers called Blue Men.

==Blue Men==
The organization's visual productions are centered on a trio of anonymous mute performers, called Blue Men, who appear in black clothing and blue grease paint over latex bald caps and play a mixture of idiosyncratic, often percussive, instruments. Blue Men are performers of either gender who meet specific physical requirements (athletic build, height between 5'10"-6'1"/1.78-1.85 m), specific performing talents (percussion, acting, non-verbal communication), and certain personality traits (openness, charisma, willingness to collaborate), among other qualifications.<ref>[http://www.bluemancasting.com/blueman_requirements.php Blue Man Requirements]</ref>

===Premise===
{{SectOR|date=January 2009}}
The Blue Man can be considered a type of ''[[homologue]]'', a creature approximating a real male human being. The strongest and most obvious Blue Man characteristic is his static appearance, namely, the ear-less, 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. 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. They even have their own hand gesture, called the "Blue Man Salute", which is made by raising both arms in the air. These characteristics provide a character free of stereotypes or race and allow all members of the audience to identify with them equally.

==History==
===Beginnings===
[[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 ''New York Times'' theater critic [[Stephen Holden]] to review it. Blue Man Group's popularity continued to snowball, resulting in a performance at Lincoln Center, titled "Serious Fun", and eventually winning 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 in New York City.<ref name=recruit>Lola Ogunnaike, [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/10/theater/10blue.html "For the Blue Man Army, Recruitment Is on the Rise"], ''New York Times'', October 10, 2005</ref><ref name=Goldberg>Vicki Goldberg, [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE1D61230F934A25752C1A967958260 "High Tech Meets Goo With Blue Man Group"], ''New York Times'', November 17, 1991</ref>

Blue Man Group won a special citation in the 1990-1991 ''Village Voice'' [[Obie Award]]s,<ref>[http://www.villagevoice.com/obies/index/1991 Village Voice 1990-1991 Obie awards], retrieved December 23, 2007</ref> and a special award in the 1992 [[Lucille Lortel Award]]s, which are for excellence in off Broadway theatre.<ref>[http://www.lortel.org/LLF_awards/index.cfm?page=previous1986-2000#eightnine Lucille Lortel Awards - Previous Nominees and Recipients], retrieved December 23, 2007</ref>

Early in the history of the group, the members would speak with audiences after the show while still in makeup, answering questions, signing autographs, and talking about the show.{{fact|date=January 2009}} Eventually, however, it was decided that cast members would stay in character at all times while in makeup, meaning after shows they would still not speak to audience members, and the only "autograph" they would sign would be a smudge of blue paint. When shown a "new" piece of technology, such as a cell phone or even an old pair of binoculars, they will simply stare at it in wonder.

==Theatrical productions==
===List of theatrical productions===
====Current theatrical productions====
* "Tubes/Rewired" in [[New York City|New York]] at the [[Astor Place Theatre]] (1991 &mdash; )
* "Tubes/Rewired" in [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] at the [[Charles Playhouse]] (1995 &mdash; )<ref name=Vegas>Viki Goldberg, [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE1DA1330F933A05757C0A9669C8B63 "Blue Man Joins the Vegas Collection], ''New York Times'', April 30, 2000</ref>
* "Tubes/Rewired" in [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] at the [[Briar Street Theater]] (1997 &mdash; )<ref name=Vegas/>
* "Bluephoria/Live at The Venetian – Las Vegas" in [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]] at [[The Venetian (Las Vegas)|The Venetian]] Resort Hotel Casino (October 10, 2005 &mdash; )<ref name=recruit/>
* [[Berlin]] at the Bluemax Theater (February 1, 2006 &mdash; )
* [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]] at the [[Sharp Aquos Theatre]] at [[Universal Orlando Resort]] (June 6, 2007 &mdash; )
* [[Tokyo, Japan]] at the Invoice Theatre (December 1, 2007 &mdash; )
* [[Basel]], [[Switzerland]] at Musical Theater Basel (October 25, 2008 &mdash; January 11, 2009)

====Previous theatrical productions====
* "Live at Luxor" in [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]] at the [[Luxor (hotel)|Luxor]] Hotel and Casino (March 10, 2000 &mdash; September 15, 2005)
* [[Berlin]] at the Theater am [[Potsdamer Platz]] (May 9, 2004 &mdash; January 31, 2006)
* [[Toronto]] at the Panasonic Theatre (June 20, 2005 &mdash; January 7, 2007)
* [[London]] at the [[New London Theatre]] (November 2005 &mdash; June 24, 2007)<ref>{{cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Blue men pack up bags | date=2007-03-27 | publisher=[[Society of London Theatre]] | url =http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/latest/view/item71802/Blue-men-pack-up-bags/ | work =Official London Theatre Guide | pages = | accessdate = 2007-05-28 | language = }}</ref>
* [[Amsterdam]] at the Theater Fabriek (December 2006 &mdash; September 30, 2007)
* [[Oberhausen]] at the Metronom Theatre (March 11, 2007 &mdash; October 3, 2008)
* [[Stuttgart]], [[Germany]] at the Apollo Theater (February 28, 2008 &mdash; October 12, 2008)<ref>[http://www.stage-entertainment.de/musicals/blue-man-group-berlin/english.html BLUE MAN GROUP / Show in Berlin - English<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

====Future productions====
=====International Blue Man Theatrical Tour=====
Blue Man Group is in the midst of an International Blue Man Theatrical Tour which started in [[Stuttgart]], and will continue on to [[Basel, Switzerland]], [[Spain]], [[France]], and [[Austria]] for approximately four to six month runs. Unlike The Complex Rock Tour and the How to Be a Megastar tours, the International Blue Man Theatrical Tour will actually showcase the theatrical show currently performed in New York City, Boston, and Chicago.

==Music and tours==
In 1999, the group released their first audio recording, appropriately titled ''[[Audio (album)|Audio]]''. Although it contained some of the music from their stage productions, it was less of a soundtrack and more a collection of full-length instrumentals that featured new instruments.

In 2002, the group participated in [[Moby]]'s [[Area2]] tour, giving a more rock-oriented performance than in the theatrical shows. Songs developed during this tour appeared on 2003's album ''[[The Complex]]''.

Unlike ''Audio'', ''The Complex'' featured a variety of vocalists and guests including [[Tracy Bonham]], [[Dave Matthews]], [[Gavin Rossdale]] and [[Venus Hum]]. The record spawned its own 2003 tour, the first headlined by Blue Man Group. The tour deconstructed the traditional [[rock concert]] experience into its often clichéd parts and was chronicled in a 2004 [[DVD]] release. The tour featured Tracy Bonham and Venus Hum as supporting acts. The DVD included a surround sound mix of some of the studio recordings.

Blue Man Group launched its second tour, The "How to Be a Megastar Tour 2.0", on [[September 26]], [[2006]]. The tour added some new material to material from the original Complex Rock Tour, and had Tracy Bonham as an opening act and vocalist. [[DJ]]/[[VJ (video performance artist)|VJ]] [[Mike Relm]] was the opening act for the second leg of this tour, which ended [[April 22]], [[2007]] in [[Wilkes-Barre]], [[Pennsylvania|PA]]. This third leg of the tour began in May 2007 and included performances in [[Mexico City]], [[Guadalajara, Jalisco|Guadalajara]], and [[Monterrey]], [[Mexico]]; [[Buenos Aires]], [[Argentina]]; [[Sao Paulo]] and [[Rio de Janeiro]], [[Brazil]]; and [[Santiago, Chile|Santiago]], [[Chile]]. The fourth leg, using "2.1" in its title, included more U.S. and [[Canada]] dates. Following that, the Megastar World Tour visited France, Korea, Canada, Germany, and a few other European countries throughout 2008.

==Themes==
There are a number of different themes found in various Blue Man performances. These themes include:<ref>PBS's INSIDE THE TUBES Blue Man special from 2006</ref>
* '''[[Science]]''' and '''[[technology]]''', especially the topics of [[plumbing]], [[fractals]], human [[sight]], [[DNA]], and the [[Internet]].
* '''[[Information overload]]''' and '''[[information pollution]]''', such as when the audience is asked to choose one of three simultaneous streams of information to read.
* '''[[Innocence]]''', as when the Blue Men appear to be surprised and perplexed by common artifacts of modern society or by audience reactions.
* '''[[Self-conscious]]''' and '''[[Naïveté|naïve]]''' imitation of cultural norms, such as attempting to stage an elegant dinner for an audience member with [[Twinkie]]s; or following the Rock Concert Instruction Manual (see below) with the expectation that following a series of instructions is all it takes to put on a rock concert.
* '''The Outsider'''. Blue Men always appear as a group of three. This is because <ref>PBS's INSIDE THE TUBES Blue Man special from 2006</ref> not only are Blue Men viewed as outsiders to the rest of the world, but three is the smallest group possible wherein there can be a subgroup of more than one as well as a subgroup of one, the outsider. Many of the Blue Man skits involve one of the three Blue Men performing in a manner inconsistent with the other two.
* '''Rooftops''', or otherwise climbing to the top. There are a number of references, both in visual pieces and in lyrics from the COMPLEX tour, that have a common theme of getting to the roof. This theme is a metaphor for the advice Stanton, Wink, and Goldman drew from [[Joseph Campbell]] and [[Bill Moyers]]'s [[PBS]] program ''[[The Power of Myth]]'' and represents "Following your bliss." <ref>PBS's INSIDE THE TUBES Blue Man special from 2006</ref>

==The Rock Concert Instruction Manual==
The '''Rock Concert Instruction Manual''', used by Blue Man Group in The Complex Rock Tour and the How to Be a MegaStar Tours 2.0 and 2.1, is a [[satire]] of the conventions of [[rock music]]. The manual describes in simple steps how one can gain [[Celebrity|fame]] and fortune by becoming a [[rock music|rock]] star. Parts of the manual are also used in Blue Man Group's theatrical shows.

===Origins and attributes===
The Rock Concert Instruction Manual is bought at the beginning of the How to Be a MegaStar show from a fake [[infomercial]], using an audience member's [[credit card]]. (In compensation, the audience member later receives a [[marshmallow]] [[sculpture]] that was in one Blue Man's mouth). The Manual is narrated by a [[monotone]] [[male]]'s voice ([[Todd Perlmutter]]) who directs their actions step-by-step, from creating their [[persona]] to ending the show.

==Appearances and other work==
===Advertising===
* When Blue Man Group was still solely in New York, they ran a variety of fake advertisements in ''[[The Village Voice]]''.
* The group did a commercial for the soft drink [[Mirinda]], where the trio is orange, instead of blue.
* The group achieved widespread visibility when they appeared in an [[Intel]] advertising campaign for [[Pentium III]] and [[Pentium 4]] [[central processing unit|CPU]]s as well as [[Centrino]] technology.
* In June 2006, [[Swatch]] launched a new range of colored watches with BMG as the faces of the advertising campaign. A limited edition Blue Man Group watch was also released, featuring all three men throwing paint to each other on the strap.
* BMG appeared in local TV ads for the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] baseball team broadcasts.
* In 2005, the group collaborated with artist [[David LaChapelle]] and produced several new images for upcoming ad campaigns, including their show "bluephoria" at The Venetian in Las Vegas. These images are radically different from any of the group's previous advertising and can be seen on the [http://www.blueman.com/ official webpage].

===TV guest appearances===
{{unreferencedsection|date=January 2009}}
* Since 1992, Blue Man Group has appeared repeatedly on ''[[The Tonight Show with Jay Leno]]'' and ''[[Live with Regis and Kelly]]''.
*Blue Man Group frequently gave out clues on the PBS kids' game show ''[[Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego (game show)|Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?]]'' in the early 1990s.
* Starting in the second season of ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]],'' a running subplot was that of [[Tobias Fünke]] ([[David Cross]]) attempting to join the group with little to no luck. The group themselves were featured at least three times.
* Blue Man Group appears in ''[[The Drew Carey Show]]'' episode "Drew Live III".
* In 2004, Blue Man Group made an appearance in the show ''[[Las Vegas (TV series)|Las Vegas]]'' in the episode "Blood and Sand" (original airdate January 5, 2004). In the episode, they play themselves "trashing" the hotel managed by Ed Deline ([[James Caan]]), and shooting money from PVC pipes in the lobby.
* In Autumn 2005, the group appeared on the children's [[BBC]] program, ''[[Blue Peter]]'', to promote their London production.
* Blue Man Group appeared on the finale of ''[[America's Got Talent]]'', where they performed a cover of [[The Who]]'s "[[Baba O'Riley]]" with [[Tracy Bonham]], from their Complex Rock Tour show.
* Blue Man Group made an appearance at the launch party of the new [[The CW Television Network|CW]] network in September 2006.
* Blue Man Group and their Las Vegas show were featured in the sixth season premiere episode of ''[[Scrubs (TV series)|Scrubs]]'' on [[NBC]] titled "[[My Mirror Image]]".
* Blue Man Group appeared in an episode of ''[[FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman]]'', a children's game show on [[PBS Kids Go]]. The episode was "Ruff's Case of Blues in the Brain".
* Emily Yeung took part in a brief performance with Blue Man Group on the children's program ''[[This is Emily Yeung]]''.
* In November 2007, Blue Man Group appeared in an episode of ''Space Pirates'', a children's BBC program.
* In April 2008, Blue Man Group appeared in the [[Comedy Central]] special, ''Night of Too Many Stars''. Actor [[Kevin James]] joined the trio as a parody, bringing out [[Jerry Stiller]], his former co-star on ''[[The King of Queens]]''.
* On October 2, 2008, Blue Man Group performed on an episode of ''[[Dr. Phil (TV series)|Dr. Phil]]'' that discussed various ways to help reduce stress.

===Concert guest appearances===
* At the Grammy Awards in 2001, Moby collaborated with Blue Man Group and Jill Scott to perform his song "Natural Blues."<ref>[http://www.blueman.com/pdf/press/BMG_readytorock.pdf]</ref>
* In December 2005, Blue Man Group appeared at the [[Royal Variety Performance]] in [[Cardiff]], where they performed "[[I Feel Love]]" with [[Katherine Jenkins]] on vocals. They also created a piece of [[Yves Klein]]-inspired art by daubing comedian [[Joe Pasquale]] in paint, attaching him to a pulley, and swinging him against a large canvas. Finally, Blue Man Group performed their popular "spin art/marshmallows" skit.<ref>[http://www.eabf.org.uk/press05.pdf]</ref>
* Blue Man Group performed the American and Canadian national anthems at the home opener of the [[Toronto Blue Jays]] against the [[Minnesota Twins]] in April 2006.<ref>[http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20060330&content_id=1374616&vkey=pr_tor&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor]</ref>
* Blue Man Group had a guest performance at [[Tiësto]]'s "[[Elements of Life]]" show where they performed "No More Heroes" on the 2nd of June 2007 in the Gelredome in Arnhem, Holland. They also joined him at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City to kick off the United States part of his "Elements of Life" tour on July 19 and July 20, 2007, where they performed the same song, the song will be released as a bonus track in [[Tiësto]]'s upcoming release, [[Elements of Life: Remixed]].<ref>[http://www.tiesto.com/content/tpl_news.asp?nid=571&pid=NaN]</ref>
* On [[July 4]], [[2007]], Blue Man Group performed "PVC IV" with the [[Boston Pops Orchestra]], [[Keith Lockhart]] conducting, during the Pops' annual [[Fourth of July]] celebration at the [[Hatch Shell]].<ref>[http://www.blueman.com/news/stories/3]</ref>
* On [[November 8]], [[2007]], [[Ricky Martin]] opened the Las Vegas-themed 2007 [[Latin Grammy Awards]] show with the help of Blue Man Group. They performed a medley of Ricky Martin's "Lola, Lola" and "La Bamba".<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,309681,00.html?sPage=fnc/entertainment/music]</ref>
* On [[December 1]], [[2007]], Blue Man Group and [[Koda Kumi]] performed "I Feel Love" for her Black Cherry Tour in the Tokyo Dome, Japan.
* On July 4, 2008 Blue Man Group performed at the Stadium of Fire at the Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo Utah.<ref>[http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/8137/ http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/8137/]</ref>
* On January 2, 2009 Blue Man Group made a guest appeareance at the I've in BUDOKAN 2009 ～Departed to the future～ concert at Tokyo Budokan, performing HYDIAN WAY with Love Planet Five<ref> [http://www.akiba-ch.com/?p=887 "I’VE in BUDOKAN 2009" ] Jan 02 2009</ref>

===Movies===
* "The Current" was featured on the soundtrack for ''[[Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines]]''<ref>[http://www.blueman.com/pdf/press/BMG_CurrentT3.pdf]</ref>
* Blue Man Group played various percussion instruments on the score of the 2005 animated film ''[[Robots (film)|Robots]]''.<ref>[http://movies.about.com/od/robots/a/robots020705.htm]</ref>
* The group contributed music to the 2008 animated film ''[[Space Chimps]]''.<ref>[http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/movies/18chim.html]</ref>

===Other===
* Blue Man Group appears in an informational video played continuously at security checkpoints in [[McCarran International Airport]] in [[Las Vegas, Nevada]].
* In 2004, the piece "Piano Smasher" was used in the soundtrack for the video game ''[[R-Type Final]]''.<ref>[http://music.ign.com/articles/475/475071p1.html IGN.com]</ref>
* Blue Man Group have licensed two different musical instruments for kids, manufactured by Toy Quest, based on existing Blue Man creations: "Blue Man Group Percussion Tubes" and "Blue Man Group Keyboard Experience".<ref name="whatis"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.toyquest.com/toy/S/p1.htm |title=Blue Man Group instruments |accessdate=2007-06-03 |publisher=Toy Quest }}</ref>
* In 2007, Goldman and Wink (both fathers) founded an alternative children's school, [http://www.bluemancreativitycenter.org/ The Blue Man Creativity Center].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2007/09/24/070924ta_talk_green |title=Cool for School |accessdate=2007-09-21 |publisher=The New Yorker }}</ref>
* Blue Man Group is mentioned in the ''[[Angel (TV series)|Angel]]'' episode "[[The House Always Wins]]".
* In an episode of ''[[Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!]]'', [[Jeff Goldblum]] parodies Blue Man Group with a similar group titled the "Jeff GoldBluMan Group".
* Blue Man Group was parodied on an episode of ''[[Family Guy]]''. In a cut-scene, [[Peter Griffin|Peter]] recalls the time when he saw the Jew Man Group, a group of four [[Rabbis]] in blue paint (three rabbis were dancing to [[Klezmer]] music while holding up a chair with the third sitting on it).
* Blue Man Group was also parodied on the ''[[The Simpsons]]'', where Bart threw a ball into one's members mouth in a church. Also they appear in a [[couch gag]] in episode "[[The Old Man and the Key]]".
* In 2008, Blue Man Group performed a special concert, organized by ABC's ''[[Oprah's Big Give]]'' for a Chicago inner city school. Also at the show, they gave two $50,000 cheques to help the school's athletic facilities and music department.

==Feature film==
In September 2008, ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' reported that the original trio (Matt Goldman, Chris Wink and Phil Stanton) would star in a Blue Man Group [[IMAX#IMAX 3D|IMAX 3D]] feature film, to be produced by [[Charlotte Huggins]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Blue Man Group heads to bigscreen|url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117991865.html?categoryid=1238&cs=1|publisher=Variety|date=2008-09-08}}</ref>

==Musical instruments==
{{unreferencedsection|date=January 2009}}
As the shows evolved, Blue Man Group developed a set of custom [[musical instruments]], many designed from the observation that common materials, such as [[Polyvinyl chloride|PVC]] pipes, make interesting noises when struck.

;[[Zither]]: Blue Man Group uses a custom-built, 86-string electric zither. Unlike standard fretless zithers, Blue Man Group's zither is several feet wide, typically deeper in note range, is amplified by several electric guitar pick ups, and utilizes many more strings. Similar to standard sized zithers, Blue Man Group's zither is composed of a harp and chord section. The characteristic sound of the harp section can be most prominently heard during the Marshmallow & Gumball piece of their live performances. Chimey and bright, the harp plays many of the melodic themes during a Blue Man Group theatrical performance. The dense, typically distorted sound of the chord section sounds similar to an electric guitar played with a glass slide, most recognizable as the lead instrument during the second half of "Utne Wire Man". This technique is similar to a pedal steel guitar, with 'fret' markings on the soundboard beneath the chords to be played with the slide on the left hand and standard guitar and/or fingerpicks on the right hand. The zither signal typically runs through a series of guitar pedals (Distortion, Wah, Delay, etc) and then into an old "Orange" vintage guitar amp. When played through a delay effect and phaser, the zither is sometimes referred to as the Pressaphonic, which supplies the main riff in "Rods & Cones".
;PVC Instrument: The PVC Instrument is made out of 2" PVC pipe. The pipes are cut to exact lengths and the Blue Man plays the instrument by striking one of the open ends with a closed-cell foam rubber paddle. PVCs are somewhat based on the [[bamboo]] instruments used in [[Gamelan joged bumbung]] & [[Gamelan jegog]] ensembles. In the live shows, three separate PVC instruments are used, one for low, mid, and high octaves. This instrument also comes in a "backpack" variety for portability, which comes optionally equipped with confetti/streamer shooters. The "floor" PVC units are generally painted with [[fluorescent]] dye invisible under normal lighting conditions, but of visibly different colors under [[ultraviolet]] light. During a performance, levels of such are generally adjusted to give the PVC the appearance of changing from white to colorful. Along with the tubulum and drumbone, PVCs can be classified as [[List of musical instruments by Hornbostel-Sachs number#413. Plosive aerophones|plosive aerophones]]. A prime example of a PVC style instrument is the [[Thongophone]].
;Tubulum: Similar in concept to the PVC, the Tubulum {{IPA|[ˈtub.juˌlʌm]}} uses 4" PVC pipe and has cardboard or rubber "reeds" on the end that are struck with drumsticks. This gives the Tubulum a more "updated" sound than the PVC; in fact, the [[synthesizer]]-like sound quality of the instrument inspired Blue Man Group's [[cover song|cover]] of "[[I Feel Love]]" by [[Donna Summer]]. The Tubulum is designed for playing [[bass (musical term)|bass]] notes, so the tubes must be sufficiently long to generate the low sounds. Because of the unavoidably large size of this instrument, the performance venues for the theatrical shows in New York, Boston, and Chicago are not physically large enough to contain it. A more compact instrument was used on the Complex Rock Tour and in the video for "I Feel Love"; the tubes twist around for extra length, below the frame that holds the tube "heads". Backpack tubulums, with the same streamer-launching abilities of the backpack PVC, were used in the Las Vegas, Berlin & Toronto shows. Another variation of the Tubulum is the Paddle Tubulum, which allows the Blue Man to play bass notes with the ease of paddles, as on a PVC; this instrument was used on ''The Complex.''
;Airpoles: Airpoles are hollow [[fiberglass]] boat antennae of various lengths. The instrument is sharply swung to create a "swoosh" sound. These instruments come in three varieties. Sword airpoles are short and held on the end like a sword. Wiper airpoles are longer versions of sword airpoles. Angel airpoles are very long and are held in the middle so that both ends move in unison to create syncopated rhythm. This is supposedly one of the most difficult Blue Man instruments to learn, as it requires very precise muscle control that can take a long time to develop. Unlike most of the other instruments listed here, airpoles were not, strictly speaking, "invented"; they were [[found object|discovered]] when one of the founders of the group swung a boat antenna through the air while experimenting to find new instruments.
;Drumbone: The Drumbone is another instrument made from 4" diameter PVC; this one uses two movable sections to alter the pitch. One Blue Man plays the instrument with drumsticks, another moves the horizontal slide, and the third Blue Man moves the vertical slide. It is also capable of being taken apart into two separate instruments which harmonize with one another. Curiously, when disassembled, the horizontal slide section is held vertically, and the vertical slide section is held horizontally. The Drumbone is only used in the song of the same name, an audience favorite, due to the fact that all three Blue Men are needed to play it properly and are unable to play any other instruments during the song. Blue Man Group used a special Drumbone shaped like the [[number 4]] for the [[Intel Pentium 4]] commercials.
;Drumulum: The Drumulum {{IPA|[ˈdrʌm.juˌlʌm]}} consists of a drum and a length of PVC pipe (or "ulum") over the drum. The length of the tube, when in harmony with the pitch of the drum, creates the sound heard at the beginning of the hidden track "Mandelbrot 4" on ''The Complex'' as well as part of the opening track "Above".
;[[Hammered Dulcimer]] and [[Cimbalom]]: Although they are not inventions of Blue Man Group, these instruments are played with drumsticks rather than the usual [[felt]] hammers. This gives the instrument a much more aggressive sound with a sharp attack. Because of the nature of Blue Man Group's music, only a few notes of each instrument tend to be used on any given performance; to minimize the odds of [[Consonance and dissonance#Dissonance|sour notes]], multiple adjacent strings are generally tuned to the same note.
;[[Chapman Stick]]: The Stick is most notably heard in the "Mandelbrot" series of songs (of which there are 4), "Synaesthetic", "Your Attention", and the main riff in "Utne Wire Man". In addition to "tapping" the instrument, the Stick player also "bows" the lowest two strings (with a .110 gauge bass string cut approx 10" long) in the "Mandelbrot" songs.
;Dogulum: This instrument is "played" by taking Chris Wink's [[dog]] and stroking him rhythmically until the dog enters a state of Zen-like complete contentment; the dog is then recorded, and the vibe is included on the album mix.
;Piano Smasher: The Piano Smasher is a [[piano]] stripped down to its frame and stood up on its side. It is played by hitting the strings with a large soft mallet, resulting in a clangy, almost discordant sound. In live performances, this instrument is generally played with a [[MIDI]] system, using sensors behind the strings, as the instrument goes out of tune very quickly. Each Piano Smasher is tuned to only one note, as it would be otherwise impossible to get anything resembling a musical tone from the instrument.
;Shaker Gong: A Shaker Gong is a matrix of [[ball bearing]]s inside a steel casing, suspended from a frame by surgical tubing. It is struck with a mallet to produce a sharp, lingering sound vaguely reminiscent of a [[rattlesnake]].
;Gyro Shot: This was a failed instrument from the ''[[Audio (Blue Man Group)|Audio]]'' sessions. It consisted of ball bearings inside spinning tubes. Although it looked futuristic, the only sound Blue Man Group managed to get from it was a weak [[rain stick]]-like sound.
;Aronophonic: The Aronophonic was invented by Blue Man Group instrument technician Aron Sanchez in order to reinvent cymbals, shakers and other high frequency percussive instruments. It consists of multiple pieces of metal laid out on a rack so the drummers can hit them with drumsticks and allow the pieces of metal to stay together.
;Electric Dog Toy: Blue Man Group took a dog toy that had a whale sound sampled in it and moved it in different ways near an electric guitar pickup. The result was a high-pitched squeal that can be heard at the end of "Drumbone".
;Dumpstulum: Two steel garbage dumpsters lying on their sides. They are played by having drum army rhythmically jump on them, or hit them with hammers, drumsticks, or large mallets, as demonstrated on the Discovery Channel's "Daily Planet" show. The Dumpstulum can be heard on the live CD/DVD "How Be A Megastar Live!" in the song ''Light Suits''.

== Labor controversies ==
None of the people who work for Blue Man Group are members of a union. There have been labor actions in Toronto and Las Vegas. In March 2007 the AFL-CIO placed Blue Man Group on its "Don't Buy List" for union members and their families.<ref>[http://www.unionlabel.org/articles/Boycott_Updates113145.htm "AFL-CIO Adds Blue Man Productions to Don’t Buy List"], March 19, 2007, retrieved December 25, 2007</ref>

=== Toronto ===
Announcing their debut in [[Toronto, Ontario]] in 2005, Blue Man Group attracted considerable controversy for opting not to use [[trade union|unionized]] workers for their show, which many labor groups regarded as being highly unusual for a show of its size in Canada. Their [[June 20]], [[2005]] premiere in Toronto was [[picketed]] by members of the [[Canadian Actors' Equity Association]], the [[Toronto Musicians' Association]], and two locals of the [[International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees]]. The Ontario Teacher's Union also joined in the boycott, which essentially eliminated any business from school trips and student matinees. The show closed after 18 months, staging its final show on January 7, 2007.<ref name=ignore/> The ''Toronto Star'' reported that the closing was due primarily to the show's union difficulties and to the lack of novelty of the show itself.<ref name=Star>Richard Ouzounian, [http://www.pensionsatwork.ca/english/pdfs/whats_new/0609/WhokilledBlueManGroup.pdf "Who killed Blue Man Group? Matinees failed to draw school tours Show may have been past its prime" (pdf)], ''Toronto Star'', September 29, 2006</ref>

=== Las Vegas ===
In September 2005, Blue Man Group moved from [[Luxor (hotel)|Luxor]], where they had a union contract, to [[The Venetian (Las Vegas)|The Venetian]], electing not to keep the contract. Stagehands who went from the Luxor venue to the Venetian started an organizing campaign with the [[International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes]] in Las Vegas, leading to a vote in May 2006. Before the vote, Matt Goldman, a co-founder of Blue Man Group, pledged to honor the results "in accordance with the great democratic traditions of our country."<ref name=ignore/>

In the May 2006 election, the stagehands voted to be represented by IATSE Local 720.<ref name=election>Michael J. Mishak, [http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2007/dec/01/culinary-finds-own-path-to-growth/ "Culinary finds own path to growth: Forced to use elections, other unions fall short of organizing success"], ''Las Vegas Sun'', December 1, 2007</ref> In June the [[National Labor Relations Board]] certified the results.<ref name=ignore>Michael J. Mishak[http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2007/oct/09/example-of-how-rotten-labor-law-is/ "Ignoring law, Blue Man Group drags out union fight"], ''Las Vegas Sun'', October 9, 2007</ref> The winning election permitted the employees to start bargaining a contract with Blue Man Productions. After the election, Blue Man Group refused to go to negotiate, arguing that the election was not valid because it did not include a half-dozen musical technicians.<ref name=election/>

In June, the union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the regional office of the [[National Labor Relations Board]]. The NLRB sided with the union. The company filed a challenge, sending the case to full hearings before the Board in Washington DC. In September 2006 the NLRB rejected the challenge, ordering bargaining to begin.<ref name=ignore/>

In September 2006, Blue Man Group sued to have the NLRB ruling overturned. In October, the NLRB filed a petition for enforcement of its order.<ref name=ignore/> (D.C. Cir. Nos. 06-1328 & 06-1341 NLRB v. Blue Man Vegas, LLC Board Case Nos. 28-CA-20868 and 28-RC-6440).<ref>[http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/internet.nsf U.S. Court of Appeals - D.C. Circuit - Home<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

On June 10, 2008, the [[US Circuit Court of Appeals]] ruled in favor of the NLRB.<ref>http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/common/opinions/200806/06-1328-1120845.pdf</ref>

The union has also filed charges of federal unfair labor practices with the NLRB Las Vegas office, contending that Blue Man Group illegally changed the show's work rules and fired a key union supporter.<ref name=election/>

==Discography==
{{main|Blue Man Group discography}}
==Videography==
* ''[[The Complex Rock Tour Live]]'' DVD (2003). Live concert footage taken from shows in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]].
<!-- Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:Thecomplextourlive2003.jpg|100px |thumb|{{deletable image-caption|1=Thursday, 19 July 2007}}]] -->
* ''Inside the Tube'' (2006). A special one-hour documentary created and aired exclusively for [[PBS]]. Features interviews with Stanton, Wink, and Goldman describing the Blue Men, and video clips from various theatrical performances. DVD only on the PBS online store.
* ''How To Be A Megastar Live!'' (2008). Live concert footage from Blue Man Group's newest tour. It was released on DVD on [[April 1]]st and [[Blu-Ray]] on [[November 4]], [[2008]]. The DVD version includes a bonus audio CD of many of the show's songs.
*''[[Scoring Reel]]'' a scoring DVD only available in 2004.

==Awards==
===Nominations===
* Grammy nomination: '''''[[Audio (album)|Audio]]''''' (1999)

==See also==
* [[Uberschall]], a Las Vegas band consisting of past and present members of Blue Man Group

==References==
Specific references:
{{reflist|2}}

General references:
{{refbegin}}
*[http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/music/orl-newtix0507jan05,0,3940509.story?coll=orl-calmusictop "Blue Man Group: Color them cool"]{{Dead link|date=October 2008}} - ''Orlando Sentinel'', January 5, 2007
*[http://www.kapitalmag.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=2 "Toronto’s Blue Period?"] - ''kapiTal'' magazine, December 2006
*[http://www.thestar.com/article/96561 "Who killed Blue Man Group?"] - ''Toronto Star'', September 29, 2006
*[http://www.bluemanboycott.com/variety_062605.html "Canuck unions blue over group"] - ''Variety'', June 16, 2005
*[http://www.robwalker.net/contents/as_blueman.html "The Business of Blue Man"] - ''Fortune Small Business'', March 2003
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons|Blue Man Group}}
*Official websites: [http://www.blueman.com/ General], [http://www.bluemangroup.de/ Germany], [http://www.blueman.jp/ Japan], [http://www.bluemangroup.ch/ Switzerland]
*{{imdb name|id=1292489|name=Blue Man Group}}
*{{MusicBrainz artist|id=dbcec54d-49c8-4d61-8512-8025bb37bf8e|name=Blue Man Group}}
*[http://www.bluemanlibrary.com/ Unofficial fan community], including [http://www.bluemanlibrary.com/feed.xml podcast feed]

{{BMG}}

[[Category:Performance artists]]
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Revision as of 03:32, 24 February 2009

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