Blue Man Group Rocks the Granada

The Blue Man Group had the audience laughing even before the curtain went up on Monday with a droll set of instructions communicated by way of a Times Square-style news ticker scrolling across the proscenium arch. Like everything in this charming, high-energy show, the jokes were pitched perfectly — light but unpredictable. The Blue Men operate according to a formula so ancient that it’s almost like the golden rule of comedy; pit two against one, repeat. In a series of cleverly organized action sequences, the three performers, accompanied by a funky electric band on risers above them, explored the underappreciated dimensions of such common items as marshmallows (tested for their aerodynamics) and Cap’n Crunch cereal (used as a sound-effect generator and by one Blue Man as a kind of facial cosmetic). From there the show built, first through a brilliant audience participation piece involving a very patient and funny young woman having a messy triple dinner date with the Blue Men. Then came half-a-dozen crisply delivered digital video sequences involving the manipulation of multiple screens, each telling a crazy story about the brain, or perception, or texting. Finally, the whole thing morphed into a raging dance party, complete with giant balloons, confetti guns, and multiple euphemisms for the booty. The roots of Blue Man Group run deep in traditional theater and in performance art, but its branches reach up through the rock concert world toward an omni-sensory electric sky.