Blue Man Group

What is it?

A funny, often strange, performance-art-piece-meets-rock-concert performed by three silent guys with their heads painted blue. It’s kind of hard to explain.

Where is it?

At Luxor on the South Strip.

Is it worth the cost?

Their back to basic revisions of the show have made it more entertaining.

Why should I see this show?

Because the antics of the blue headed dudes are good for a few laughs.

What else do I need to know?

If you have seen the show, the changes made recently make it worth seeing again.

What’s the bottom line?

If you can open your mind to the absurdity of the whole thing, Blue Men Group can be an enjoyable night at the theater.

The Blue Man Group has been a phenomenon in this country, going from underground, bizarre, avant-garde performance art to nationally recognized, bizarre, avant-garde, performance art to mainstream entertainment in the space of a decade. Much of that success had to do with their long run in Vegas, first at the Luxor, then at The Venetian, then at Monte Carlo, and now back at Luxor again. More on that in a moment.

Just in case you’ve been living in a cage somewhere, the Blue Man Group consists of three men whose bald-shaven heads are painted cobalt-blue, giving them the air of visitors from another planet. Their antics over the course of their show only reinforces this feeling, bringing to mind some sort of bizarre mix of Buster Keaton, Ernie Kovacs, and Mork from Ork.

The show has been revised many times over the years, which is a good thing in theory since it had become a bit “been-there-done-that.” I have seen the show seven times in Vegas and while it was dizzyingly enervating the first time, by the third or fourth viewing I was getting a bit bored.

The good news is that their recent move back to the Luxor in a smaller theater has forced changes that bring it back to its roots and make it simpler, sillier, and so much fun that I didn’t mind seeing it yet again.

There are a lot of classic Blue Man Group set pieces where they do things like pour paint on drums to create a multi-hued spray and create a Pollack-worthy work of art from it; toss marshmallows and paint balls into each other’s mouths; create music out of elaborate PVC pipe constructions (everything from Beethoven to Devo); turn the chewing of Cap’n Crunch cereal into a musical; and torture an audience member in a bit with Twinkies that is still funny after multiple viewings. All of this sounds odd, and it is, but their behavior throughout – as if they are children discovering bizarre and surprising new toys – is endlessly entertaining.

Speaking of the audience, don’t be late… they’ll make you regret it.

Newer bits that are still included include oversized iPad-like screens with various apps that they have great fun with; a trip down an audience member’s throat with a camera; and the big finale involving smoke cannons and toilet paper.

Returning to their roots has re-energized the show and put it back on my short list of things that are worth going out of your way to see in Vegas.