Next week the Assembly Rooms will be welcoming the first comedy show of our 2020 Spring Season with Bróccán Tyzack-Carlin’s ‘Don’t Bother’. However, this is comedy with a twist, as Bróccán blends poetry, story-telling and surreal humour to create a truly unique hour in our theatre.
Bróccán’s return to Durham is somewhat full circle; he studied at Durham University, graduating in 2018, and is an alumnus of the university’s renowned Durham Revue. Since his time here, he has continued to garner top reviews and great successes, proclaimed as “one of the most hotly tipped performers in the country” by Punk in Drublic. They are clearly not the only ones to think so: he is winner of the Manchester Word War 2018, a Hammer and Tongue National Finalist 2019 and winner of the Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Show 2019. Having been in development for over a year, touring the country from Nottingham to Brighton, ‘Don’t Bother’ itself has recently enjoyed an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe as part of the Underbelly programme.
Despite the longevity of the show’s life, however, no two performances of ‘Don’t Bother’ are likely to ever be the same. Juggling comic timing with the rhyme and rhythm of spoken-word creates a unique genre blend, where the next move is often dependent on audience reaction and the specificities of each performance. Indeed, Bróccán has so far only performed the show in fairly intimate venues, so its translation to the Assembly Rooms’ larger stage promises a unique take on the repertoire.
In other words, when you walk into the Assembly Rooms on Sunday 16th February, expect to be unexpected. ‘Don’t Bother’ will take you through both nothing in particular and everything you can think of: dead dogs, chocolate, nostalgia and “wonderful imagination” (Voice Magazine) all have a part to play in the performance. In Bróccán’s own words, “It is a joyous, surreal and at times thought-provoking show, and I cannot wait to share it with a wider audience.”
Tickets available here.
By Elvira Parr