Photo courtesy of Capital Fringe.

Reminds us of: A YouTube tutorial meets love letter.

Flop, Fine or Fringe-tastic? Fringe-tastic.

Magic The Gathering is the world’s first trading card game and it remains popular decades after its introduction, despite some participants’ bashfulness about their hobby. Writer and performer Joseph Price’s one-man show about the nerdy pastime is a love letter in monologue format, buttressed by clever visuals that add oomph to the jokes—and to the genuine feeling underneath.

There are five kinds of Magic cards, each corresponding to a color and a world view. Price teaches the audience this “color theory” (hence the show’s title), and asks us to determine which literary and cultural characters fall under each category. (Hermione Granger of Harry Potter is blue, meaning “perfection through knowledge,” whereas Veep‘s Selina Meyer is black for “power through opportunity.”) Price’s ability to walk us through a particularly resonant Magic match-up, layering our newfound knowledge of the game and of his past so that the audience is cheering over “counter-counter-counterspells,” speaks volumes about his storytelling prowess.

When I saw Color Theory on Sunday, it was totally sold-out but for a few standing room-only tickets. Color Theory is sponsored in part by Labyrinth, the Capitol Hill board game store, which is a canny branding opportunity: I am seriously tempted to join the gathering. Price must not have been kidding about the power of those spells.

Color Theory is playing at Caos on F on Tuesday July 19 at 6:15 p.m., Friday July 22 at 10:30 p.m., Saturday July 23 at 8:30 p.m., and Sunday July 24 at 6:30 p.m..

See here for more of DCist’s Capital Fringe 2016 reviews.