Good News! It’s Been Destroyed – The Beaten Track, Sheffield

Bróccán Tyzack-Carlin’s latest live stand-up project has taken its first steps in the capital and Manchester before finding its way to Sheffield, where I was fortunate to catch it. ‘Good News! It’s Been Destroyed’ is a full-length stand-up comedy show that orbits around the hopelessness of current affairs, allowing ourselves to be angry and use the energy of that anger to laugh. It takes on serious topics but is never too serious to be misinterpreted as a reductive polemic. That said, it is full of comical diatribes and carefully crafted anecdotes that will leave your face worn from laughter.

Tyzack-Carlin makes our lives easier. He goes by ‘Brogan’, as opposed to the Irish pronunciation and spelling of his name (which he likes to remind us has never caused him any difficulty in his life at all). He introduces us to the context of the ridicule he is about to unleash in theatrical format: he’s well researched. He talks to the crowd and gets to know them (kind of) – doing all this with a wryness that distills a sense of playful duplicity. We are spared the focus of his hilarious insults – that is saved for many of the bad actors front and centre in the British cultural sphere. 

Some are guilty of fascistic policy and murderous ideology. Some are guilty of vicious discrimination campaigns and organised ostracisation. Some are guilty of stupidity. Some are guilty of simply being irritating, or for having a liberal use of the block feature on Twitter (X, derogatorily). All are fair game. Bróccán is unrelenting in his deconstruction of the so-called culture wars and exposing its contradictions. It is a dangerous place to be a B-list celebrity or politician with a far-right or idiotic sensibility (thought some may say that Venn diagram is just a circle). It’s also a dangerous place to be a seemingly innocuous BBC game show. The genius of Tyzack-Carlin’s work is that the domestic and majestic are leant against each other to great effect and with amusing extremity. The religious iconography of Hell is invoked in the same breath as things so pedestrian that it’s only upon reflection you realise the obscene contrast. But Tyzack-Carlin segues it seamlessly. It’s a cohesive work.

The challenge of making something so unapologetically topical during a time of such tension and difficulty ought to be recognised. Geopolitically the landscape is grim, and domestically there is huge cause for concern for many of us. It’s a time when jokes don’t seem to cut it, or maybe we just fear they won’t, and this is something the comedian is aware of. It makes his work even harder, as there is only so much one can get out of the depressing absurdity of it all. Their efforts are valiant, and the only casualty afforded is that for some this may be too on the nose and too visceral to enjoy with ease. Bróccán knows this and chooses to take you along for the ride anyway. Its noteworthy poetry is incorporated into this work, and often this is the device deployed when making his most acerbic observations. These silly, abrasive rhymes offer a formal diversity to the work, providing a pocket of space to breathe in and punctuate the piece in a way that caters for a broad church of comedy fans. 

A bold and fiercely funny hour of comedy, ‘Good News! It’s Been Destroyed’ is a cathartic, sardonic work that has ambition, punch and surprising warmth. Catch Bróccán on stages near you throughout 2026. You can find links to events and shows through his social media: @broccantyzack

Reviewer: Nathan Dunn

Reviewed: 14th March 2026

North West End UK Rating: