He’s a glass half-empty kinda guy.
A comedian and former Brooklynite who makes his living by recording his complaints about the world while downing a bottle of wine will deliver a take-down of the Big Apple and its most obnoxious inhabitants at a live show on Dec. 6 at Littlefield in Gowanus. The boozing bellyacher, who lived in Flatbush before decamping for the distant isle of Manhattan, says he will have a few words of scorn for the hippest of the boroughs — but no more than he has for the rest of Gotham.
“I think it’s just overhyped,” said Matt Bellassai. “But everybody’s the same level of a mess in every borough.”
The former Buzzfeed staffer started his first weekly online drinking-and-complaining show, “Whine About It,” while working at the listicle factory in 2015, taking on topics including the worst kinds of co-workers, texters, and roommates — while drinking a full bottle of wine during each 30- to 45-minute recording session. He left the web giant last year, but continued complaining in the same spirit with the new show “To Be Honest” and on his podcast “The Unhappy Hour.”
The irritated inebriate’s latest project is the book “Everything is Awful,” released last month. Bellassai said that when he put pen to paper, he also changed his focus to a new topic of annoyance: himself.
“The book is more autobiographical — I hate the word memoir for people who are younger than, like, 90 years old, because nobody [that age] should be writing a memoir,” he said. “It’s funny stories from my life — it’s far more about me, mixed in with all the things that I hate.”
Over the last few weeks, the pessimistic funny man has taken his show on the road, mixing stories from his own life with his signature criticisms of the world’s shortcomings. He has made one change to his normal ranting routine in the process, he said.
“I drank an entire bottle of wine on stage at the first show, and I very quickly realized that was not a great idea,” he said. “So I’ve upgraded to whiskey.”
Despite his down-and-outlook, Bellassai said that Brooklyn is one of the few places on which he will gladly heap some praise — especially compared to its rival across the river.
“I still think Brooklyn is cooler [than Manhattan],” he said. “I fully admit that it is not cool to live in Manhattan. I’m not Carrie Bradshaw; it’s never going to happen for me, it’s not going to happen for anyone in Manhattan. Everyone in Brooklyn is in the spot.”
“Everything is Awful” with Matt Bellassai at Littlefield (635 Sackett St. between Third and Fourth avenues in Gowanus, www.littl
