The title of US comedian Julio Torres’s show – ‘My Favourite Shapes’ – isn’t a metaphor. The art-comic’s solo show features him sat behind a desk, with a camera feed projecting the objects he handles onto a screen – and those objects are quite literally his favourite shapes.
‘I tell the audience stories about them or in some cases let them do the talking,’ Torres somewhat explains. ‘There’s a square that feels like he’s overshadowed by the little swan figurines but I assure you they all shine in their own way.’
The New York-based stand-up’s dream-like show was a hit at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, where it developed a cult following. ‘Some people came back to see it a couple of times,’ he says. ‘Others, of course, left with a huge question mark on their heads. I’m warning you now the humour is subtle and often literally small.’
Off stage, Torres is a writer on ‘Saturday Night Live’ and is co-writing and starring in a new HBO sitcom called ‘Los Espookys’ with ‘Portlandia’s Fred Armisen. But he’s looking forward to a break from Brooklyn – where he lives in a ‘vegan queer collective’ – to head to our capital.
‘I come with no expectation, really,’ he admits. ‘But all my little trinkets are so very eager to perform in London. I’ve only been to there for a few hours having a little tiff with the Salvadoran consulate. If you know me you know I’m always fighting with a consulate.’ Ben Williams