My Favorite Shapes by Julio Torres

Gave it about fifteen minutes, but it was awful. Fast forwarded another ten minutes and watched a bit, but it was still awful. Fast forward another ten, and then another ten, and then just shut it off. In the twenty five to thirty minutes I gave this hour long program, I didn't have a single laugh. This was quite probably the worst comedy special I have ever tried to watch. It just wasn't funny in any way.

Saturday Night Live writer and co-creator of Los Espookys, Julio Torres, has an HBO special where bric-a-brac is delivered to him via a conveyor belt that he controls with a foot pedal. Torres then gives you the back story, the hidden secrets, and the drama behind each object. Sometimes these objects have interior monologues which are voiced by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. Also, Torres is dressed as some sort of gay alien, and apparently he has the ability to teleport around the stage.

Now, there are exactly two kinds of responses to this description. There are those who will enjoy this special precisely because they are unable to fully understand it. And then there are those who will hate this special precisely because they are unable to fully understand it. Which are you?

I respect what he is doing, but this special felt extremely one note. That one note was often hysterical, but it also often fell flat. Some people will love it and some will hate it, my opinions were mixed. Either way, I think people should look forward to his future work because he definitely has potential.

I sat through this special- I don't usually leave reviews on this site but I'm trying to save you from watching this disaster. I grew more resentful as time went on. It's not funny. I don't think I laughed at a single "joke". Everything seemed forced yet the audience was in a constant state of laughter. I don't get it. Save yourself and avoid this train wreck.

Comedy that is both queer and Queer. The focus is far more on the former here. That changes in some of Torres' more recent outings but this is my favorite of all of those. Fantasmas a close second.

Often the tales here that Torres conveys (literally, see the set design) deal with some very tiny item being exposed as having a huge amount of attitude to it.

Maybe for some that is also Queer, as in a stereotype along the lines of a Hairdresser on Fire. But I think there are just plenty of individuals of whatever gender/sexuality who qualify, whether they are trouble magnets, self-appointed style/culture/park police or just people living a lot larger than they appear.

See also Bibo, the robo-assistant in Torres' current HBO series.

That is a drama queen can be anyone from a R2D2 with ADHD to an incel to a Happy Meal prize. The smaller the package, the bigger the drama.

Perhaps this was comedy born out of necessity for Torres as a struggling artist/writer living in small NY apartment, maybe he collected more figurines than the mother in "Glass Menagerie." I do NOT think this show is just more middle-aged adolescence; there is more to his comedy than playing verbally with tiny toys.

Interesting to note the wild 1-to-10 swings here even under the Prolific Reviewer tab. Begs to jump to conclusions? Too big a leap, best to avoid.

Anyways this worked for me, the set design is a bit of a trip. He's meticulous in his delivery, and after awhile the format feels pretty familiar, but he does have a few clever turns. A step aside to imagined animals, and having to rewind the conveyor belt. Everything is seen on stage on screen to as an homage to the omnipresent cell phone camera.

So, I guess recommended if you've been to a museum in the past year (and certainly if you ever saw the Tilda Swinton live exhibit), while if half of your viewing time is horror movies and/or sitcoms, maybe start with Los Espookys instead??!?