Heidi Regan

Heidi Regan

British-based Australian comedian who won the BBC New Comedy Award in 2017 and So You Think You're Funny? in 2016.
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Heidi Regan: Finding an Inner Peace That All Your Friends Will Envy

Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Heidi Regan promises her audiences 'a very silly show – you’re not going to learn anything and probably not going to feel anything’.

That’s not entirely true. You’ll feel like you’ve had a good time, and you’ll learn that King Alfonso XIII of Spain had a hand in establishing the Telefonica phone network, though quite when that will come in useful is a moot point. 

Regan prefers to immerse herself in misinformation, even if it’s of a relatively benign kind. She is obsessed with people who make conspiracy theory-style videos about hidden messages in films, often by frame-by-frame analysis. And she was ultimately inspired to make her own, roping in a few comedy mates to offer their fake insights into why Friends and The Matrix occupy the same universe.

It’s a bit too self-indulgent, this, outstaying its welcome in both set-up and execution. But the Australian comic had earned our lenience with her appealing mix of silliness and nerdiness, so we happily stick with her.

The online videos align with her show’s theme, her delight at coincidences – trying so very hard to find them even when they don’t exist. Could these unlock a greater understanding of the world? Probably not, and Regan only tongue-in-cheek thinks they might. She raises the story of Plato’s Cave, all about seeing the bigger picture, primarily to demonstrate how just mentioning the allegory makes you seem smart while also seeding a great surprise joke later.

Her playfully loose connection with the truth lies in contrast to her parents who would never lie – not even about Father Christmas, which instilled a smugness in their daughter at an early age, knowing things her naive classmates didn’t.

She’s a lower status now, prone to making bold pronouncements such as declaring the days of ‘blessed are the meek’ over with loads of irony, just pleased with the daft logic that got her there. And in a sort of fake bro-style comedy, she’ll tag the occasional ambiguous comment with ‘that’s part of my marriage vows’ – her personal alternative to something like ‘… that’s what she said!’

It’s all charming and funny, a light-touch show, rooted in Regan’s general happiness in life as a relatively newly-married woman and delight at playfully silly theories.

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Published: 28 Aug 2023

Agent

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