When I first connect with Julio Torres over video, his apartment in Brooklyn already feels like the beginning of a story: a large golden shell hangs in the background, casually explained as a contraption to pulley clothes to the closet. That matter-of-fact surrealism is central to Color Theories, the new special that lands on HBO Max on March 27. What starts as a simple framework—Torres presenting ideas about various colors—unfolds into something more layered, equal parts comedy routine and immersive theatrical piece. The special keeps the laughs but expands into a crafted universe where objects and mood hold meaning, and where Torres’ logic governs the rules.
Between standup and theater: a hybrid performance
Color Theories was first presented at Performance Space in downtown Manhattan, where it earned strong acclaim and two extensions, signaling that audiences connected with Torres’ blend of humor and stagecraft. It resists tidy classification: while it contains punchlines and timing associated with standup, entire moments feel deliberately theatrical—set pieces, dramatic tableaux, and a dense visual vocabulary. The show’s world includes the robot Bibo, a character borrowed from Torres’ HBO series Fantasmas, who functions like a living clock or foil. Seeing the taped performance and watching it live produce the same effect: you’re laughing, but you’re also inside a constructed aesthetic that demands attention beyond jokes.
Design, inspiration and the art of objects
Visually the special leans on the nostalgia and mechanics of early animation: think of the early golden-era cartoons where ordinary items spring to life at night. Torres cites that era—Fleischer and early Disney—as an influence for the way still images seem to animate with minimal fuss. The stage itself was imagined as a pop-up book, and that simple sketchbook idea turned into an unfolding set that allowed for a series of tableaux. Elements like a music box and a spilled wine figure were chosen to become characters in their own right, and the decision to animate inanimate things reflects Torres’ affection for the still life made mobile approach to stagecraft.
From sketch to practical stage choices
The translation from sketchbook to live set introduced logistical challenges that became creative opportunities. Where Torres had imagined the book opening by itself, production realities required stagehands; rather than hide them, the team integrated them into the visual world. Initial tests with wooden artist mannequins felt too literal, so the figures evolved into a wine spill and a music box—small reimaginings that speak to how design constraints can broaden creative decisions. These choices make the environment feel cohesive: the helpers are part of the tableau, and each object carries symbolic weight within the show’s conceptual arc.
Theme, sensory curiosity and the awkward end
A persistent motif throughout the performance is color as an organizing principle, and Torres’ own playful relationship with perception—he speaks about possibly having synesthesia, the blending of senses, though he treats the concept casually and with humor. That curiosity drives the piece rather than providing clinical answers. Torres also wrestled with the problem of how to finish a live performance: traditional bows felt like breaking the illusion. He opts instead for a departure that preserves the staged world—crawling into a hole, refusing to ‘bow’—so the show’s magic remains intact. That choice underscores the tension between knowing one is performing and wanting the audience to remain inside the fiction.
Bibo, critique and a refusal of self-congratulation
Bringing Bibo into the ending as a critic was a deliberate move to allow for internal reflection without collapsing into self-congratulation. Torres wanted a non-hostile antagonist: someone who could question the piece’s instincts without erasing them. In doing so, he foregrounds a kind of productive critique—a back-and-forth that refines ideas rather than treating feedback as attack. This fits into his broader practice of blending vulnerability with whimsy, and it reframes how a solo performer can accept interrogation in public performance.
Ultimately, Torres hopes the special sparks curiosity and inspires others to make things that feel odd or unmarketable at first. He describes Color Theories as an invitation: not only to laugh, but to ask questions about how we associate color, object and emotion. With its debut on HBO Max on March 27, the performance will reach a wider audience while retaining the intimate peculiarities that earned it acclaim at Performance Space. If nothing else, Torres wants audiences to feel motivated to try the strange ideas they once dismissed—because, for him, that is often where the most interesting work begins.
