The Blue Man Group says goodbye to New York and Chicago

Let us all take a moment to think of Tobias Fünke, whose dream is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve. The would-be Blue Man will never make it again blue itself at an audition for the New York or Chicago Blue Man Groups. Both are ending their involvement in their respective cities after almost 30 years.

Your last chance to watch the Blue Men beat paint-covered drums and eat marshmallows in complicated ways is soon approaching. The New York Blue Men will play their final show (of over 17,000 performances!) on February 2nd, while the Chicago Blue Men will say goodbye on January 5th. But if you know in your heart that you’re destined to become a Blue Man like Tobias (or somehow haven’t seen the series in the nearly three decades it’s been running), there’s still a little hope . Performances are currently planned in Las Vegas, Boston, Berlin and other countries. Still, the announcements for New York and Chicago came pretty suddenly and no official reason for the curtain call was given, so you might want to grab those tickets sooner rather than later.

If you think the Blue Men are just goofy, painted dudes who bang on PVC pipes and never seem to bat an eyelid, then no idea the wonder of philosophy, psychology and high art that we will soon lose. This author would never claim to shorten a Blue Man’s mind, so here’s the kicker directly from Isaac Eddywho was one for over 12 years:

So it’s this psychological analysis of the audience itself by Joseph Campbell. So the Blue Man reflects the audience itself and the Blue Man is summoned by the audience itself. A primal, psychological journey of the audience itself. In simpler terms, you could think of it as the color blue.

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There you have it – a sad day for both cities. Now let us come together and sing solemnly for our departing heroes: I’m blue, da ba dee da ba di. Da ba dee da ba di, da ba dee da ba di.