The play begins with the cast noticing that they’re no longer in a living room, but on a stage, and that people are watching them from the shadows. To vent their frustration, they kidnap a member of the audience and bully him onto their couch. He convinces them that they are in a play, and they force him to participate in a performance that they quickly throw together. 

This lengthy sequence comes off as Jack from Will & Grace meets Big Bang Theory. It’s all the endlessly geeky gratuitous dorky references of Big Bang Theory, presented with the obnoxiously one-dimensional queeniness of Jack. That sort of thing has its place; lots of people like it, but I find it tiresome. 

Thankfully, things get more interesting once they decide how the show is going to go. The boys start making out, orchestrated by Lana (played by Kirsten Dahlin Nolan), who unaccountably starts behaving like a Southern belle (reminiscent of Blanche from The Golden Girls). Sam (Ryan Kerr) comes out as a lanky gay Gandalf-type figure and the show finally takes off. The rest of the show — also the majority of the show — is a lot of highly nuanced physical and verbal comedy, zany references and boy-fondling. Delightful!  --Jeremy Willard
 
Gay Nerds runs till Sat, July 14 at Factory Mainspace, 125 Bathurst St. fringetoronto.com