Talk about magic!
British comedy actors Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner have distilled all 4,200 pages of J. K. Rowling's seven Harry Potter novels into one brilliantly hilarious 70-minute show. Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience is a lovably loopy two-person performance in which a Potter know-it-all teams up with a rebellious Harry newbie to create a show about -- you guessed it -- Harry Potter.
Clarkson and Turner conceived the show in 2005 as a five-minute sidewalk synopsis to amuse customers queued up for Rowling's sixth Harry novel. They expanded it to an hour the following year and opened at Edinburgh's Zoo Southside. European tours ensued, and in 2012 Potted Potter was nominated for two Olivier Awards, the highest honor in British theater. The show made its off-Broadway debut the same year and has since toured all over the United States and the world. After opening in 2018, the family-friendly Las Vegas production won Best of Last Vegas Awards for Best New Production and Best Value Show.
One actor channels a bookish Harry in Potted Potter while another plays every other character -- including Ron and Hermione, Draco Malfoy, Snape, the Weasleys, Sirius Black, Mad-Eye Moody, Dumbledore and, of course, He Who Must Not Be Named -- with wild abandon. Loads of wigs and other goofy props are employed in a nonstop laugh fest that also features a fire-breathing dragon, countless costume changes, brilliant songs, a plethora of props and even a Quidditch match encouraging audience participation (but no brooms, alas).
Accessible to Potter freaks and newbies alike, Potted Potter blends slapstick in the Laurel & Hardy vaudeville tradition with the wildly witty dialogue associated with Monty Python's Flying Circus. "Potting" is a British term for "the art of summarizing something into a digestible form," and, like all the best parodies, Clarkson and Turner's Harry experience is both splendid spoof and heartfelt homage.
