Julio Torres at Lodge Room

from November 19, 2024

Photos and words by EJ Hermitt

Julio Torres, the beloved Salvadoran-American multi-hyphenate who blends the

mundane with the absurd, brought his latest show "Color Theories" to the Lodge Room. Wielding just a pack of crayons, a notebook, and his iPhone camera projected on the screen behind him, Torres shepherded the audience through his observations about colors. He apologized in advance that he wouldn't be able to get to every color, but the ones he did cover were certainly brought to life. Torres touched on the personality nuances of various colors, such as the emotional differences between two forms of purple: Lilac (soft, tender, dainty) and Violet (striking, obtuse, loud). He identified situations that could very matter-of-factly be explained as Orange or Blue or Beige. 

Following a number of these impressions of colors, Torres took a couple audience questions to end the show. First, "do you have some sort of condition where you see & feel colors in a different way than normal?" Julio responded, "No. This is observational comedy. Jerry Seinfeld who?!" The final question was a simple "What does Pink sound like?" - without hesitation Julio sensually moaned into the mic and slinked off the stage to guffawing laughter. The intentionality behind the simplicity is what makes his comedy soar. It was a treat to see the wheels of creativity turning in real time as Julio created a diverse palette of hilarious reflections.