Julio Torres' first comedy show was called My Favorite Shapes. What is his least favorite shape?
A pentagon or an octagon. There's a rigidity to them that he finds displacing.
What's the oldest thing he owns and why does he still have it?
He has a picture of the inside of a church that his mother took when she was in college. There is something eerie and mysterious and evocative about the photo. He likes thinking of her as a young creative.
What's the strangest thing in his fridge right now?
The beautiful, strange patterns that mold creates over takeout. The life, the ecosystem, the beings he has created, the life he has given.
What is his most controversial pop culture opinion?
He is a big fan of the film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, starring Cara Delevingne, Dane DeHaan, and Rihanna. It's a Luc Besson movie. It is apparently France's most expensive film and it was not well received. It sort of came and went but he really liked it. He loves the spectacle of it, how big it is, how beautiful it is.
What is his most cringeworthy run-in with a celebrity?
When he worked at Saturday Night Live, he thought Shawn Mendes was an intern. He was confused by his very confident presence and didn't realize he was the star of that week until he saw him through the monitors rehearsing his musical performance.
What has been his biggest fashion crime to date?
The brief period in his life where he wanted to wear what everyone else was wearing.
What is the weirdest thing he has never eaten?
He is vegan and not adventurous with food, so he doesn't think he's ever eaten anything that exciting in his life. Like even when he was eating meat, he never strayed away from the four main kinds of meat that most people eat. But he has never had eggs. That's the weirdest thing he's never eaten.
What is his favorite word?
He likes Ss and Vs and Zs and Ys and Is. He likes Qs. He doesn't like Ps, which it's strange because his first and only movie so far [Problemista] has a title with a P.
Like if the letter P were a Pokémon, it'd be a normal type. It's basic and in a way that's not even like comforting. It's not like the letter A – that's also basic, but it's the best-case scenario for basic. A is like leading-man vibes.
If animals could talk, who would be the nicest?
He thinks raccoons. They seem very happy to be there and apologetic.
His new show is called Color Theories. If he could remove one color from the rainbow, what would it be?
He wouldn't remove any of them. But if he could add one color to the rainbow, he would add clear. It's just not there.
Julio Torres performs his show Color Theories at Melbourne international comedy festival from 15 to 20 April
