Julio Torres @ Underbelly Cowgate
Julio Torres' Fringe debut is unfortunately no shape shifter
This is an unconventional show from the beginning, which for many will be a draw in itself. The Fringe delights in promoting variety and the world has plenty of white, middle-class haircuts that can deliver 55 minutes of shouting – bring on the weird, says us. Also, make it funny, says us. The beglittered yet deadpan Torres takes his place behind his cluttered talk-show style desk and focuses his iPhone camera downwards so we can all see him present some of his favourite shapes, these being the subject of this debut Edinburgh show.
Each has an accompanying story; some are cute, some irrelevant, some innocuous, some are just flights of fancy revelling in a hint of surrealism with – every so often – a touch of politics inserted to perhaps serve as a reminder to the audience that we’re at an arts festival in 2017 and not staring at the floor of a child’s bedroom. Torres lacks the kind of charm that could carry a show like this to the next level. His slight, even frail delivery unfortunately reveals slight and frail material, which appeals to a few members of the crowd but seems to leave many with the feeling that tales written by a whimsical comedy writer might be better told by an actual charismatic comedy performer.