Determined to wage war on the proliferation of gray, I marched over to Performance Space New York for Color Theories, Julio Torres’s latest comedy special, a self-described “pilot demonstration” of a “new mandatory course” for public schools. Torres, a nutty professor–meets–space prince, uses the color spectrum as an organizing principle for observational humor and surreal storytelling. White, in his taxonomy, represents what is known—the starch of a doctor’s coat contrasting with the nurse’s softer, “don’t ask me” scrubs in hues of “anything but white.” Black is what can’t be known. Which is why Torres suggests waiting rooms are often gray: “You are halfway between not knowing anything and knowing too much.”
Later, I revisited my notes of the show, splaying out my spiral-bound over a new black-and-white striped IKEA duvet cover. I had spent the better part of the year going gray, seeking stability through the holy trinity of American self-help—psychiatry appointments, home improvement, and habit tracking apps. Eventually, the disciplined routine I had established fe…
