TORONTO – At a Blue Man Group show, audience participation – and occasionally humiliation – is an essential element in the fun.
At a show this week in Toronto, one nervous soul was covered in paint and slammed into a canvas, another had an impromptu dental exam with a camera dangling into his throat (and the gory results were broadcast for the rest of the audience), and a third reluctantly climbed onstage for a messy meal with the three mute men.
Depending on one’s threshold for embarrassment, these stunts could either be a unique joy or a nightmare. So how do the titular Blue guys choose their victims?
“You’ve gotta find somebody who’s having a good time, and maybe a little shy, you know, slightly nervous so that they’re not going to go too crazy and be easy to sort of coax into a certain direction onstage,” said Kalen Allmandinger, one of the Blue Men who brought the show to Toronto this week.
“Or just somebody who just seems like a cool person, having a good time, and open…. Sometimes you’ll think they’re gonna be a certain way in their seat and then they realize that this is happening, and they shut down or they become a crazy person.
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“But that’s part of the fun. You just have to roll with what’s given to you.”
It certainly seemed to impress a boisterous crowd at Wednesday’s opening night gig in Toronto, where performances will run at the Princess of Wales Theatre until July 30. The packed crowd offered a standing ovation after the 105-minute show.
Allmandinger has been part of the Blue Man Group for more than a decade now, and the show has taken him to Tokyo, Berlin and London.
Before each performance, Allmandinger has a bald cap glued over his ears and short brown hair so blue grease paint can be slathered over his head and body. The process is completed in stages but takes about 20 minutes total.
And yes, the paint gets absolutely everywhere.
“I think I still may have a little eyeliner from last night,” he said with a smile. “And sometimes, you’ll blow your nose the next day and there’ll be a little blue in there.”
The show combines physical comedy seemingly rooted in the silent-film era, eye-catching multimedia presentations, infectious rock riffs and tribal rhythms, and a goofy spirit meant to appeal to audiences of all ages.
Though founded more than 20 years ago, the Blue Man Group has become more popular as it’s toured in recent years. The show also began making more appearances in pop culture, from a popular series of Intel ads to its inclusion on the cult TV show “Arrested Development.”
And while audiences are prohibited from filming the performances, plenty of bootleg videos have become YouTube sensations, with various clips combining for well over 40 million views on the site.
“I think (YouTube) allows for people to see a little bit of what (the show) is about. Even if it’s a grainy little cellphone image, they can see this character is playing music, and he’s not saying anything, and that it looked pretty funny,” Allmandinger said.
“It’s cool that it allows people to get some idea of what a live show is. Of course it doesn’t compare, you kind of have to be there to really get the full experience, but I’m OK with it.”
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