Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

We open at a party in a New York City brownstone, where Tom DeTrinis is making small talk with fellow guests, agreeing with their every comment, his own opinions blowing in the wind. He despises this scene – or more accurately, he hates this vacuous, obsequious version of himself. It’s time to reclaim the fury.

Hate and anger are, of course, big drivers of comedy, whether righteous or petty. DeTrinis has a bit of both, raging against inconsequential irritants such as slow-moving pedestrians or inattentive bar staff as well as more significant problems such as the ‘tsar landlords’ who keep their tenants on the edge of sanity.

His witty reconstruction of a desperate home-seeker meekly pointing out the myriad flaws and cockroaches in an overpriced slum seems drawn from raw experience. And one of the main reasons he hates New York is deeply personal: his large, dysfunctional family come from the state, or Long Island, to be precise.

The comedian’s gripes and tainted memories are explored in a series of scenes showcasing his ability to inhabit various characters. It’s a very theatrical performance; DeTrinis was described as ‘too much’ from a very early age and clearly still loves holding court with all eyes on him. 

Reflecting on his family history doesn’t quite strike the same chord as the gripes any urbanite will recognise. He runs through past boyfriends, relives rows, and manifests various possible ideas of who his uncle could have been, had he not died young. This is an excuse for DeTrinis to explore what version of himself he’d like to present. That he weaves this into unrelated strands is testament to his notable performance and storytelling skills.

The personalities he evokes are well-realised, and there’s a cutting wit – if only a few laugh-out-loud lines – to the way he ridicules them. Not all of the archetypes rang a bell with me, which may be something lost in transatlantic translation, but he makes a convincing case that these are real people.
 

DeTrinis lives in Los Angeles now, which he knows is fake – but admires the fact that pretty much everyone there is honest about being so plastic, as opposed to what he sees as the faux authenticity of the Big Apple’s hipster-inspired culture.
It’s ironic as here his anger seems performative (maybe obviously, since it *is* a performance) but I Hate New York is nonetheless a divertingly droll hour in which a skilled actor gets to vent his vexations.

• Tom DeTrinis: I Hate New York is on at Assembly Rooms at 6.20pm

Review date: 10 Aug 2022
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Assembly Rooms