Time travel might seem like an esoteric subject for an hour of stand-up, but as Heidi Regan demonstrates, we all think about time travel a lot. When we think about what we would say to our past selves, what alternative realities we could have with the knowledge we know now, when we worry about the future, we are in a sense travelling through time, and Regan deftly uses this grand topic to address a variety of topics on both a personal and global scale.
Like so much time travel media, the show is on the surface a whimsical romp through fantasy, but with a real darkness bubbling underneath. Reagan sells this contrast with her typical deadpan demeanour; when she tells us that her bloodline are the gatekeepers of an all-powerful amulet that must not get into the hands of Egyptian sun god Ra, there is nothing in her delivery to suggest that she is lying to us.
So through this fantastical prism we explore topics such as double standards of being a woman in comedy, the ethical quandary of killing baby Hitler, Regan’s relationship and coming out journey, and the existential threat of climate change. The show isn’t afraid to get surreal; one extensive bit takes us on a journey through Regan travelling back in time not to kill baby Hitler, but to show a younger Hitler who still has hope (‘Anakin Hitler’ she calls him) a bunch of DVD boxsets of the best that long form drama has to offer, which turns into a lesson on why and when Game of Thrones exactly went downhill. I feel like such a long, hat-on-a-hat sequence shouldn’t work as well as it did, but the ideas are so funny and is told with such dorky charm that it kills with the audience I saw it with, myself included.
There’s hardly a dull moment in the show, and though the show’s Shyamalan twist may not be as well thought through as its concept deserves, it’s still an hour of polished, intricate material. The stuff that resonates the most are the glimpses into her personal life, the touching stories of her girlfriend and her hopes and fears for the future. Heidi embodies that very 2019 mix of surrealist irony and deep-rooted terror that defines our culture right now, and this feels very fresh and relevant. And whilst I can’t promise that humanity’s problems are disappearing any time soon, I do foresee that Heidi Regan is destined for bigger things in the future.
Main Image Credit: STEVE ULLATHORNE
