Blue Man Group has gained worldwide success by captivating their audiences with intense, unique performances. Friends Phil Stanton, Chris Wink, and Matt Goldman created Blue Man Group in New York in 1987. What started out as a single, blue character called “Blue Man” that was part of a performance art piece has grown into something far greater. Blue Man Group is now a huge, multinational performance company that tours worldwide and has residencies in New York, Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas, and Orlando.

How did such a different kind of show achieve such a level of success? Blue Man Group’s origins weren’t without their challenges. Stanton, Wink, and Goldman believed in their idea, and they started out doing street performances that got them a lot of attention. MTV’s Kurt Loder featured their “Funeral for the ‘80s” from Central Park and from there everything took off.

In 1991 they took their show to the Astor Place Theatre, where the show has resided ever since. They worked to combine their love of art and science, and wove together music and artistic creation live on stage. There wasn’t anything like them at the time, and audiences were delighted.

The defining characteristic of Blue Man Group’s performances is their use of percussion and drumming, combined with bright color and physical comedy. Neon paint is sprayed across drums, lighting up the Blue Men as they beat away. They involve the audience, interacting with them and encouraging their participation. Their shows aren’t just something to be watched, they’re an experience all together.

Nothing about what they do is conventional. While drum kits and other traditional instruments are featured in the show, it’s the strange instruments they’ve created that make the sounds that have come to define them. They incorporate many types of materials, especially PVC pipes, in order to get the percussive sounds they want. In order to making recordings they had to build their own studio in a warehouse big enough to fit their array of instruments. Their first release in 1999, Audio, has sold over 500,000 copies and received a Grammy nomination.

Musical talent isn’t enough to succeed as a member of Blue Man Group. For musicians who are auditioning, nothing about the experience is typical. For some drummers, joining Blue Man Group is a dream. To get through the audition process musicians are expected to arrive ready to jam, no prepared music necessary. Instead, part of a piece is played for them and they are expected to play it back. So much of what the group does relies on artists who are able to improvise on the spot, play by ear, and bring tremendous energy to everything that they do. None of their music is written down, it’s taught to new members through listening and practice.

Blue Man Group is a testament to individuality. They broke the mould completely and introduced people to an entirely new kind of show, now employing 550 people and raking in over $100 million annually. Their willingness to push musical boundaries and explore the diversity of percussion created a path to success, performing to over two million people every year.