My Favorite Shapes by Julio Torres

Julio is a writing genie. He makes the most arbitrary subject content change into some absurd nonsense that some how is rationalized. They jokes were unpredictable and fun!

He has a Demitri Martin and Fred Armisen vibe and remains completely original.

Love!

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.

No one is doing stand up like this out there. It's childlike yet, smart as hell. His ongoing narratives of inanimate objects are informed by the same dumb insecurities, neuroses and delusions of grandeur that we all succumb to in modern life... except, its a sink! Or a cactus. Or a truly random shape. ( my favorite shape was : "Tilda Swinton's apartment"). And of course, "Los Espookys" is a must-watch.

This is the dumbest comedy show I've EVER seen. Watching it is like being on candid camera-it looks like a legit comedy special, but you just can't believe it's real and think someone is messing with you.

I don't know how Torres has managed to capture the imagination of a couple of critics (and then they all jump on the bandwagon of "he's a comedic genius!"), but it's truly mind boggling. Absolutely nothing special, unique, clever, or scintillating about his comedy in this special or in Problemista (I gave him a second chance by watching the latter. Tilda, what were you thinking?) Do not waste your time watching My Dumbest Shapes.