What color will this review be? I’m hoping for sexy, playful brat summer green with a hint of perceptive fuchsia running through it.
Making his Off-Broadway debut as writer and star in Color Theories at Performance Space New York, Julio Torres warmly invites us into his beautifully offbeat mind for an intoxicating, frequently hilarious synesthetic delight.
Torres clarifies that rather than being a theatre or stand-up show, the purpose of this run is actually to try out material that he plans to take to every classroom in New York City. Having made a donation of $130 to Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, Torres believes this makes him one of the biggest donors and that the man will be his “puppet” once elected, making way for his color theories class to be on every curriculum. The comedian also has city positions in mind for his friends in the new administration. Julia Fox will run the MTA, while Lena Dunham will head up the DMV (she didn’t get anything better because she arrived late to the meeting).
This presentation will see Torres take us through his theories on as many colors as he can during the show’s 80-minute runtime. Meanwhile, his robot assistant and aspiring actor Bibo (voiced by Joe Rumrill)—who made a cameo in Torres’ directorial debut feature Problemista and had a substantial role in his Peabody Award-winning HBO series Fantasmas—will keep his electric eye on the time, interrupting the performer’s flow when necessary to keep him on track. As Torres’ riffs on various colors, they are anthropomorphized, given sounds, evoked through facial expressions—and at one point an elaborate hand gesture—to convey what they embody.
What color is law and order? How about the heckler in the Hampton’s who shouted “faggot” during one of Torres’ shows there? Or a sign in a sauna that reads, “if you see someone pour water on the heater, notify staff immediately”? What about leaving a review for a waterfall? According to Torres, each has a specific color that somehow immediately makes perfect sense, judging by the vocalizations of recognition and approval from the audience. Afterall, common parlance incorporates colors to express our emotions. When someone says they’re green with envy, seeing red, or just feeling blue we know exactly what they mean. Torres just takes this concept to its natural conclusion, and beyond.
According to Torres, every letter has a different vibe and associations too, that vary depending on whether it is upper or lower case, or has an accent. A capital “A” is a privileged, man-spreader “who has everything handed to him”. He probably proudly drives a Cybertruck around Midtown. There are queer letters too, “the deeper you get in the alphabet the more likely it is they’ll have an infected tattoo or be estranged from their parents”, Torres explains.
The premise of the show proves to be an ingenious lens through which to look at life, human behavior and how the world works. It is elevated observational comedy through Torres’ unique vision, that takes the abstract idea of theorizing on colors in terms of the kinds of people, behavior, moods and systems that they relate to and somehow making it resonant, often enlightening, and always very funny.
As he goes through various colous—primary and otherwise—Torres references airports; the way we present ourselves versus our interior selves; the frustrating experience of getting a new iPhone set up; celebrities like Ellen (analyzing her show’s use of a lower case “e” for its logo), Barbara Streisand taking her cloned dogs to the grave of her original dog, and Real Housewives; Pixar movie acting; and the way he played with his Little Mermaid doll as a child. All things that a stand-up might touch upon, but through Julio’s distinct perspective his musings are not only hysterical, but invigoratingly refreshing.
Although this is a scripted piece, Torres’ captivating performance style feels loose and off-the-cuff and while his humor is dry and smart, it is never bitter or snarky, yet retains its edge. This show also feels unabashedly queer in every sense of the word.
As evidenced by his HBO series Los Espookys (co-created with Ana Fabrega) and Fantasmas, as well as his feature Problemista, Torres is an imaginative world builder, envisioning and creating environments with a touch of the fantastical, tweaked just enough from the real world to make us reflect on our behavior and systems of bureaucracy that exclude, dehumanize and over complicate by design (that’s very navy blue by the way). Those worlds are visually striking and distinctive and Color Theories continues that pattern in the way that Pee-Wee’s Playhouse was an unmistakable environment with its own logic.
Scenic designer Tommaso Ortino, who collaborated with Torres on Fantasmas, creates an alluringly whimsical space for him to perform in, beautifully lit by Emmanuel Delgado, with the stage becoming a giant pop-up book that gives the production a fairytale charm. It is the perfect habitat for Torres’ intimate and magnetic performance. The two stagehands add to the fantastical charm of the setting, with both already on stage as the audience enters. There is Spilled Wine from a giant glass (Drew Rollins) and a Music Box figure (Nick Meyers), in opulent costumes by designer Muriel Parra, who previously collaborated with Torres on Los Espookys and worked on the Oscar-winning A Fantastic Woman.
Torres illustrates his theories as he goes along on a special pad at his chair or on oversized parchment paper which is then projected onto various areas of the stage so that the audience in the thrust configuration can see the details of what he’s drawing. The result is a soothing setup, that offers all the contented bliss of sitting in a classroom enthralled by your favorite teacher or watching a TV artist like Bob Ross at work.
Sometimes it is tempting to see the world in black and white, but what happens when we start to examine things through a wider sprectrum of colors and with more light and shade as this show ultimately encourages us to do? To be more yellow or orange, and to recognize and avoid being navy blue at all costs. Color Theories reasserts Torres as an artist with a unique comic voice who colors outside the lines. It is a show where observational humor morphs into something absurdist and hysterical, but also touching, and at times even profound. It is the work of comedy genius who is only just getting started.
By James Kleinmann
Julio Torres’ Color Theories runs at Performance Space New York (150 1st Ave, 4th Floor, Manhattan) until Sunday, October 5th, 2025. For more details and to purchase tickets tickets head to color-theories.com.
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