About the Show
★★★★
It’s the single funniest thing I have seen in ages.You’re gonna love this show!
Toronto Star
★★★★
A fabulously funny parody.
Will tickle the funny bone of every age group.
The London Daily Telegraph
PLAYING TO SOLD OUT HOUSES all over the world, the Olivier Award nominated POTTED POTTER – The Unauthorized Harry Experience – A Parody by Dan and Jeff takes on the ultimate challenge of condensing all seven Harry Potter books (and a real life game of Quidditch) into seventy hilarious minutes. Even if you don’t know the difference between a horcrux and a Hufflepuff, POTTED POTTER will make you roar with laughter.
Created by two-time Olivier Award-nominated actors Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner, Potted Potter is perfect for ages six to Dumbledore (who is very old indeed).
★★★★
Blissfully funny, a winner in every way.
This show is a crowd-pleaser.
The London Guardian
★★★★
Cleverly appeals to both ardent fans and parents.
The London Times
Tour Dates
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20 – 21 DecIndianapolis, INSchrott Center for the ArtsBOOK NOW26 Dec – 5 JanNew Orleans, LAJefferson PACBOOK NOW26 Dec – 5 JanPhiladelphia, PAPenn Live ArtsBOOK NOW
The Team
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Daniel Clarkson
WRITER & CO-Creator
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Jefferson Turner
WRITER & CO-CREATOR
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Lottie Bell
PERFORMER
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Amelia Gann
PERFORMER
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Scott Hoatson
Performer
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Jacob Jackson
PERFORMER
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Liam Jeavons
PERFORMER
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Brendan Murphy
PERFORMER
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Josephine Starte
PERFORMER
The Creative Team
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Richard Hurst
Director
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Hanna Berrigan
Associate Director
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Jared Harford
Line Producer
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Andrew Haden
Production Relighter
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Simon Scullion
Designer
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Tim Mascall
Lighting Designer
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Phil Innes
Composer
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James Seabright
Producer
Lottie BellLottie Bell
Performer
Lottie trained at Rose Bruford College, recently appearing in Quiet Rebels (UK tour), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Acorn Music) and Anarkja (Hightide). For screen, Lottie’s credits include Just William (BBC), Entrance No Exit (Aston), Night Moves (RCS) and Tea and Cake (Kirsty Robinson). After previously joining the Potter Potter gang in Dublin and Toronto, she is looking forward to making more mischievous magic!
Amelia GannAmelia Gann
Performer
Amelia is an actor, writer and comedian from Essex, who trained in acting at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts. She toured her solo comedy show Dreamworld at Pleasance London & Edinburgh, Queens Hornchurch, Rich Mix London, Wardrobe Bristol and Camden People’s Theatre, receiving several four-star reviews from The Stage, A Younger Theatre, British Theatre Guide and The Independent and an OffFest nomination for Best Theatre. After debuting in Potted Potter in Toronto, Amelia is excited to leaping back into the Potted Potter madness and to discover what silliness shall ensue!
Josephine StarteJosephine Starte
Performer
Josephine is an award-winning actress, writer and improviser, who trained at Cambridge and Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art. A BAFTA Connect member, Josephine won Best Actress at the NoBudge Independent Film Awards, and her scripts have been shortlisted for Screen Australia’s ROAR Award, and longlisted for the Bruntwood Prize and the BAFTA Rocliffe Prize. As a writer-performer, Josephine is a regular collaborator with RSC Creative Fellow Lily McLeish including the acclaimed Killing It at Vault Festival.
Josephine is a long-time associate to Kristine Landon Smith, and is a regular in indie art films. Josephine has worked with the Potted Potter creative team before in The Pirate, The Princess and the Platypus and in Potted Potter in Dublin. Her theatre credits include work for Southwark Playhouse, Bristol Old Vic, Camden People’s Theatre and Polka Theatre.
Liam JeavonsLiam Jeavons
Performer
Originally from Birmingham, Liam trained at The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA), where he graduated in 2012. Since then Liam has worked across Theatre, TV, and Film, as well as performing on the stand-up comedy circuit.Theatre credits: Park Bench Plays (Birmingham Rep); Loveplay (Minack); Mischief Theatre’s The Comedy About A Bank Robbery (West End & UK Tour); Where Yow Frum (Birmingham Rep); Potted Panto (Garrick); The 39 Steps (Lyric Belfast); Accidental Brummie (Birmingham Rep); Primetime (Royal Court); Owen Wingrave (Aldeburgh Music Festival); Threeway (Old Red Lion); Around The World in 80 Days (Vienna’s English Theatre). Film and Television: Ruby Speaking (ITV); Casualty; Sherwood; My Name is Leon; Goodnight Sweetheart; Doctors; Father Brown; and WPC 56 (all BBC); The Library; and A Stolen Moment (both Independent Films).
James SeabrightJames Seabright
Producer
James Seabright is an Olivier Award-winning commercial theatrical producer and general manager based in central London. Current productions include the worldwide tour and Las Vegas residency of Potted Potter by Dan & Jeff, UK and Australian tours of Black Is The Color Of My Voice by Apphia Campbell, the immersive Trainspotting Live, Buffy Revamped by Brendan Murphy, Cold War drama FIREBIRD and Potted Panto by Daniel Clarkson, Jefferson Turner and Richard Hurst. Other productions include new musical The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Richard Hough and Ben Morales Frost, which premiered as a digital show in 2021 and can now be seen globally via BroadwayHD. James chairs the boards of the League of Independent Producers and is an associate artist of Wilton’s Music Hall. His book, So You Want to Be a Theatre Producer, was published in 2010 by Nick Hern Books. www.seabright.org
Andrew HadenAndrew Haden
Production Relighter
Jared HarfordJared Harford
Line Producer
Jared is a graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. He trained in performance, business management and French, and worked as a professional musician alongside some of Australia’s top music and theatre artists. He has worked as a producer for various fringe artists in both Australia and the UK, as well as line producer for the previous Potted Potter tour of Australia.
Brendan MurphyBrendan Murphy
Performer
Brendan is an actor, writer and voice-over artist. He has written and performed two critically acclaimed shows: FRIEND (The One With Gunther) which won Best Play at the World Wide Comedy Awards and has played in North America and Adelaide Fringe and toured the UK. Buffy Revamped won multiple awards at Edinburgh Fringe before visiting Adelaide Fringe and playing a Christmas season in Toronto alongside multiple UK tours.
An experienced improviser, Brendan is a member of BBC Radio One’s BattleActs! and a guest player for Second City and Monkey Toast. Regularly performing in Potted Potter, he has toured extensively across the US and Canada including a residency at Bally’s, Las Vegas, which won Best New Show in the Best Of Las Vegas Awards. He is co-creator of the ARIA award-nominated satirical comedy podcast NonCensored with Rosie Holt. Other writing credits include The Mawaan & Emily Show (BBC Asian Network), SO! Beano (Sky Kids) and Comedians In Quarantine (Comedy Central) with co-writer Kiell Smith-Bynoe. You can keep up to date with Brendan and say hello via X at @NotMurphy.
Jacob JacksonJacob Jackson
Performer
Jacob has been professionally acting and directing theatre since graduating from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in 2015. As well as performing for West End, Fringe and international audiences, he is a regular contributor to the UK’s largest satirical newspaper The Daily Mash and its associated BBC and Dave TV shows The Mash Report and Late Night Mash. Theatre credits include: Doctor Who: Time Fracture (BBC); Margaret Thatcher: Queen of Soho (UK Tour); Potted Panto (Garrick Theatre); Little Miss Sunshine (UK Tour); Jurassic World: The Exhibition (Universal); NewsRevue (Edinburgh Fringe & Canal); Feel More (Proforca); The Tiger Who Came to Tea (UK and International Tour); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Unicorn); Monopoly Lifesized (Selladoor); In Soft Wings (Seven Dials Playhouse); The Kissing Dance (Rose & Crown); and Absent (DreamThinkSpeak). You can keep up to date with Jacob and say hello via X @JacobJackson_JJ.
Lizzie TollemacheLizzie Tollemache
Resident Director
Lizzie is a sideshow stuntwoman, theatre maker, and the Associate Director of Centrepoint Theatre in Palmerston North, New Zealand. After training as an improviser, she spent six years freelancing as an actor and tutor, before discovering circus. In 2014 she co-founded Rollicking Entertainment to make carnie-infused theatre which tells New Zealand stories, and has created, produced and toured nine original shows with the company to date, performing across seven countries and dozens of festivals. Lizzie has also worked as a director and motivational speaker at universities across NZ, Australia, UK and Spain.
Adam BrownAdam Brown
Performer
Raised in beautiful Aotearoa, Adam’s journey as a performer started when he was very young. After studying at the Universal College of Learning in Palmerston North he then moved on to the big guns; Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School where he got his degree in acting (it’s kinda like the NIDA of NZ). Since then he has had the pleasure of working in a handful of great projects across the ditch from the Canada/NZ collaboration ‘The Sounds’ to the Netflix smash hit ‘Sweet Tooth’. Adam is an avid fan of all things games with his greatest obsession being the number one game of all time ‘Dungeons and Dragons’. If you are ever looking for common ground just mention D&D and the rest will be history. Adam is looking forward to exploring the centers of Australia and can’t wait to witness the sites this beautiful country has to offer. If you want to see more of Adam, follow him on Instagram @adambrownbum where you can catch pictures of himself and the apple of his eye; his cat Jellybean, self claimed “cutest cat in the world” who he misses most of all.
Tama JarmanTama Jarman
Performer
Originally from Whangārei in New Zealand, Tama has been working in the performing arts industry in Auckland for over 14 years. First teaming up with Red Leap Theatre Company on their award winning show The Arrival that toured to Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Australia. He then co-created the mischievous White Face Crew with Jarod Rawiri and Justin Haiu which has created numerous shows including La Vie Dans Une Marionette which was toured to Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He appeared at Centrepoint’s 2019 season of Niu Sila before joining the Potted Potter company there in 2020. Tama is an avid B-Boy so check out some of his dance moves on insta @tamajarman
Phil InnesPhil Innes
Composer
Phil is a composer, sound-designer and sound-artist. Many of his projects combine these disciplines. Credits include The Ordinalia Cycle of Plays, The Alchemist, The Trench (Collective Arts), Barabas (Hall for Cornwall), Walk With Me (Kneehigh), The Magic Beanstalk (Light Theatre), Potted Pirates, Potted Panto (with Dan & Jeff), How Long Would You Wait?, The Cold Truth, I Am Not A Robot and Poison (Effervescent). www.philinnesmusic.co.uk
Tim MascallTim Mascall
Lighting Designer
West End credits include: Why The Whales Came (Pinter), Well (Apollo), Ruby Wax: Losing It (Duchess), The Vagina Monologues (Wyndhams), Potted Panto (Garrick and Vaudeville), Eric And Little Ern (Vaudeville), Derren Brown: Enigma (Adelphi), Evening Of Wonder (Garrick), Infamous (Palace), Miracle (Palace) and Something Wicked This Way Comes (Old Vic). Other London credits include: Breakfast With Jonny Wilkinson, Ruby Wax: Out Of Her Mind, Fully Committed, Without You (Menier Chocolate Factory), The Importance Of Being Earnest (Regents Park Open Air) and Invincible (St James). Further UK credits include: Lionboy (Complicite), Long Days Journey Into Night, A Taste Of Honey, Kill Jonny Glendenning, Faith Healer (Royal Lyceum Edinburgh) The Real Thing and Good Grief (Theatre Royal Bath). Opera credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Garsington), Aida (Opera Holland Park), The Gamblers and Peter Grimes (Royal Festival Hall). www.timmascall.co.uk
Simon ScullionSimon Scullion
Set Designer
Simon trained at Wimbledon School of Art and was Theatre Design Finalist for the Linbury Prize. Most recent credits: Peter Pan Goes Wrong (Apollo and National Tour), Showstoppers! (Apollo) and Out There on Fried Meat Ridge Road (Trafalgar Studios). Other theatre credits include: The Father (Belgrade Theatre Coventry), The Leisure Society (Trafalgar Studios), Potted Panto (Vaudeville), Murder on the Nile (UK tour), Alarms and Excursions (UK tour), Peppa Pig Live (tour), Lazytown Live (tour), Quartermaine’s Terms (UK tour), Quartet (UK tour), Larkrise (tour) and Elizabeth and Raleigh: Late but Live (Edinburgh Festival). www.simonscullion.co.uk
Hanna BerriganHanna Berrigan
Associate Director
Directing credits include Public Property (Trafalgar Studios), Slowly (Riverside Studios, The Wrestling School), The Lover (Gale Theatre, Barbados), Paradox (RSC), The Real Thing (Osip), God is a DJ (Theatre 503), One Minute (RADA), The Nature of Things (The Place), La Musica Deuxième (Gate), Teenager of the Year (Latitude) and The Bald Prima Donna (Etcetera). Hanna worked as Associate Director on The 39 Steps for three years, which involved directing West End casts, the regional tour and new productions in Israel, Italy, and Australia. She has worked as an assistant director at the RSC, the National Theatre and the Royal Court and for Howard Barker. Hanna is an associate of The Wrestling School.
Richard HurstRichard Hurst
Director
Recipient of the RSC’s Buzz Goodbody Director Award and short-listed for The Guardian Award, two Olivier Awards and RTS comedy writing award. Directing includes Potted Panto, Potted Pirates, Girl and Dean, Pegabovine, Moon the Loon, The Edinburgh Love Tour, Bill Hicks: Slight Return, The Art of Success, Hamlet, Women Beware Women, Phaedra’s Love, Twelfth Night, Ripley Bogle and The Tempest. As a writer: Potted Pirates and Potted Panto (with Dan and Jeff); The Edinburgh Love Tour and Bill Hicks: Slight Return (with Chas. Early); and Hard Times and Ripley Bogle (adapted). For television, co-creator/writer of Bluestone 42 (BBC3), as co-writer Miranda (BBC1), The Rebel (Gold); as writer, three episodes of Secret Diary of a Call Girl (ITV2 / Showtime).
Scott HoatsonScott Hoatson
Performer
Scott trained as an actor at QMC in Edinburgh, Scotland. Scott’s recent theatre credits include: Henry V, The Tempest (Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre), Potted Potter (US, Canada and Asia), Out Of This World (DTP), The Man Who Followed His Legs (Wee Stories), Woman In Mind (Birmingham/Dundee Rep), The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe (Royal Lyceum), The Wall, The Chooky Brae (Borderline Theatre), Recovery Position, Self Contained, Oedipus (National Theatre Scotland), Kidnapped, A Christmas Carol (Cumbernauld Theatre), Aladdin (Brunton Theatre). Recent screen and radio: Outlander (Starz), Bluestone42, Case Histories, The Leaving of Barra, Secrets and Lattes, The Boy Who Ran Away from the Circus (BBC), Taggart (ITV), The Wicker Tree (Tressrock Films), MacMillan’s Marvellous Motion Machine, Idle Hands (BBC Radio 4), Sybil Law (BBC Radio Scotland). Scott can also be heard as the voice of BBC TV in the UK. He is delighted to be appearing in Potted Potter again! Say hello to Scott on X at @scottwhoatson.
James PercyJames Percy
Alternate performer
James was born and raised in Doncaster, England. Following a Law Degree at The University of Liverpool, he trained classically at Birmingham School of Acting. Since then, James has worked internationally as an actor and stand-up comedian. Recently, James appeared Off-Broadway in New York City with Potted Potter, followed by a tour of the USA. In 2010, James became the youngest actor to ever play the role of Wilbur Turnblad, in Hairspray:The Musical (USA), a role he reprised in 2011. He has also starred in a variety of productions, including title roles in Julius Caesar (UK Tour) and Romeo & Juliet, The Importance Of Being Earnest (Derby), Snow White (Doncaster), Sleeping Beauty (Wimborne), Edward VIII (National Trust), Dick Whittington (UK Tour), St. Trinian’s: The Musical (London), The Memory Of Water (Birmingham) and Iago in Othello (Birmingham). James also appeared in the American comedy improv show, Throw Me A Line and was the resident comedian on the world’s largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of The Seas.
Twitter – @james_percyJoseph MaudsleyJoseph Maudsley
Performer
Joseph was born and raised in Derby, England. He trained at Birmingham School Acting gaining a BA Hons in acting. Since graduating, Joseph has toured theatre internationally, and starred in a number of British independent films, as well as TV and music videos. Most recently Joseph has been working with Oddsocks Productions as an actor musician, touring the UK with outdoor Shakespeare, including Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, Demetrius and Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Orsino and Agucheek in Twelfth Night, with his chosen instrument, the keytar. His TV work has seen him appear as lead role Ben in pilot sitcom Jobseekers. As well as commercials, he has worked on music videos including Union J, Kilter and Toploader.
Film credits include, Memoria, The Grand, The Open Door, Distal and Hiding Father Graham. Theatre credits include, Sweeney Todd (Birmingham Crescent), Jane Eyre (Birmingham Old Rep) and Assassins. You can keep up to date with Joseph and say hello via twitter @JosephMaudsley.Jefferson TurnerJefferson Turner
Writer & Creator
Jefferson has been messing about with Dan both on stage and screen since 2005. He has appeared on TV with the tall one on such shows as Blue Peter (BBC), Richard & Judy (Channel 4), The Slammer (BBC) and Big Brother’s Little Brother (Channel 4), amongst others, as well as residing in the CBBC Office for all of 2009 and a little of 2010. On stage he has co-written and starred in Potted Potter, Potted Pirates, and Potted Panto with Dan. This has led to multiple US, UK and global tours, critical acclaim, Olivier nominations, ‘Best of Las Vegas’ Awards, and sell-out West End runs. He also thoroughly enjoyed training with Second City, when they ventured across the pond to his City, here in London.
Jeff thinks he did other work before he met Dan, but Dan says anything Jeff did without him doesn’t matter anymore. Say hello to Jeff on X at @actorjeff
Daniel ClarksonDaniel Clarkson
Writer & Creator
According to Wikipedia, Daniel is a “British comedy actor, playwright and director with two Olivier nominations and a Blue Peter Badge”. Graduating from Bretton Hall, Daniel is probably best known for being one half of the comedy double act “Dan and Jeff”, renowned across the globe for their “Potted” stage shows as well as an 18-month residence in the CBBC office as their in-house presenters.
With four “Potted” shows now under his belt (Potted Potter, Potted Pirates, Potted Panto and Potted Sherlock), he has received both audience and critical acclaim, having had sell-out seasons in both London’s West End and New York, and completed several successful international tours including an on-going residency for Potted Potter in Las Vegas (in its fifth year) where it won the Best of Las Vegas award for “Best New Production”.
He co-wrote and co-directed acclaimed children’s show The Pirate, The Princess and The Platypus (Polka Theatre) in 2022. He also wrote (and latterly directed) The Crown Live – a comic parody of the Netflix series The Crown – which opened in London in 2019 and more recently toured the US.
Daniel has made regular appearances on BBC, ITV and Channel 4 – writing, performing and directing his unique brand of condensed comedy, and over lockdown he co-wrote and performed ‘Judge Smudge’ in Monster Court (BBC) filming the entire series in his dining room!
Find Daniel on X at @daniel_veronica
Reviews
- ★★★★
A fabulously funny parody.
Will tickle the funny bone of every age group.
The London Daily TelegraphRead more - ★★★★
Blissfully funny, a winner in every way.
This show is a crowd-pleaser.
The London GuardianRead more - ★★★★
Cleverly appeals to both ardent fans and parents.
The London TimesRead more - ★★★★
Even the purest of Potter fans would find it hard to object. My Potter experts loved it.
London Financial Times - ★★★★
Gloriously irreverent. A very lovable romp through Rowling’s back catalogue.
Time Out London – Critics’ ChoiceRead more - ★★★★
The single funniest thing I’ve seen in ages.
You’re gonna love this show.
Toronto StarRead more -
You could do no better than to see Potted Potter.
Toronto Globe & Mail -
The duo casts the perfect spell over the audience.
The New York Times – Critics’ PicksRead more - ★★★★Its infectious pandemonium is sure to please. Truly magical.
The Public Reviews
- ★★★★Deliberately daft but utterly delightful
Sunday ExpressRead more - .
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Timeline
2005
Dan and Jeff are asked to create a five-minute street show recapping the plot of the first five Potter books, for performance to queues of fans waiting for the midnight release of the sixth book.
2006
Potted Potter is born as the street show expands into an hour-long performance in which the first six books are parodied. The show premieres on August 4 at Edinburgh’s Zoo Southside venue. Forging a partnership with producer James Seabright and director Dominic Knutton, Dan and Jeff premiere a new version of the show at Pleasance Islington in October.
2007
Under the guidance of director Richard Hurst, the show tours the U.K. including Pleasance Edinburgh, where the seventh book is incorporated just a few days after its release. The tour finishes with a Christmas run at Trafalgar Studios in London.
2008
More U.K. touring, again playing Edinburgh Fringe and London. Dan and Jeff also launch their second show, Potted Pirates.
2009
Owing to their commitments as Children’s BBC presenters, Dan and Jeff hand over the show to a new cast, David Ahmad and John Helier, who take it on tour to Adelaide Fringe, Melbourne Comedy Festival, and New Zealand Comedy Festival. Dan and Jeff wrestle the show back from them for a third and final Christmas run at Trafalgar Studios.
2010
The show takes a well-earned rest while Dan and Jeff create their new show, Potted Panto, premiering at the Edinburgh Fringe and transferring to the West End’s Vaudeville Theatre for Christmas, where it is nominated as Best Entertainment in the 2011 Olivier Awards.
2011
Potted Potter returns for another tour, starting at Bury St. Edmunds Theatre Royal and including runs at Pleasance Grand and London’s Garrick Theatre.
2012
Potted Potter is nominated for the Best Entertainment and Family Olivier Award and Potted Panto is nominated Best New Comedy in the Whatsonstage Awards. Potted Potter makes its North American premiere in Toronto at the Panasonic Theatre. Following Toronto, Potted Potter opens off-Broadway at New York City’s Little Shubert Theater, followed by eight weeks in Chicago. The show tours across Australasia and South Africa.
2013
The show continues touring in the US and Canada, including a second season off-Broadway and a return season at London’s Garrick Theatre.
2014
Following its Mexican premiere, the show plays its first tour of Ireland, prior to dates on board cruise ships and across Australasia later in the year, concluding with a second season at Toronto’s Panasonic Theatre. Meanwhile, Dan and Jeff created their fourth show, Potted Sherlock, which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe and transferred to London’s West End for a Christmas season.
2015
A new tour of the US ran throughout the year, concluding with concurrent Christmas seasons at Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse and San Francisco’s Palace of the Fine Arts.
2016
Dan and Jeff began the year with a tour of Potted Sherlock in the USA, before Potted Potter hit the road with locations including the show’s first trip to Kuala Lumpur, a return visit to DUCTAC in Dubai, and an extensive, coast-to-coast tour of Canada in the Autumn, concluding with seasons in Vancouver and Toronto.
Sunday Express★★★★
The deliberately daft but utterly delightful Potted Potter is an unauthorised attempt to condense all seven Harry Potter books into one hour’s stage time, and saves you an awful lot of reading. There’s sure to be an authorised stage version one day that will take the stories altogether more seriously, but they will be hard pressed to summon such genuine affection and wit – let alone get the audience to play a game of Quidditch with just a bouncing ball.
Mark Shenton, Sunday Express
Time Out London★★★★ Critics Choice
Things begin a little ominously for this fearless duo of reduced Rowling, writer-performers Jeff and Dan, who promise to deliver all seven Harry Potter books on stage, in just over an hour. Jeff is a Harry Potter expert/addict. Dan, however, is entirely ignorant of everything Hogwarts-related. Thus he has kitted out the stage with two fluffy warthogs, and a shabby wardrobe, through which he’s expecting all the characters to disappear to Narnia. And the audience is faced with the tiresome prospect of an hour of Jefferson Turner’s very straight man, whipping himself into a fury at the unfailing ineptitude of wacky odd-ball Daniel Clarkson.
But when Jeff picks up the first Potter instalment to boil down to five-minute size, dramatic matters take several turns for the better. Jeff is an overly enthused, bespectacled Harry, while Dan, a limitless supply of bad hats and dodgy plastic puppets to hand, plays everyone else, with increasingly anarchic, persuasive charm.Their dealings with hecklers, like the treatment of the Potter series in general, is always cheekily rude, rather than snearingly mean, and it’s the buoyant geniality of the near impossible task at hand that renders it so endearing to the all-ages audience. That and the raucous game of quidditch, involving a blow-up globe, two large hoops, and a larger-than-life snitch that flies with the aid of flapping Marigold gloves. Voldemort’s refrain, ‘I Won’t Survive?’, marks a gloriously irreverent finale to a joyous, unarguably thin, but very lovable romp through Rowling’s back catalogue.
Time Out London
The London Daily Telegraph★★★★
There was an alarming moment when my 14-year-old son and I entered the foyer of the Trafalgar Studios only to find the place bursting at the seams with tiny tots with ages ranging from five to eight.
I’d persuaded Edward to come to Potted Potter on the basis that this was going to be a devastating parody of JK Rowling’s books, and that it would be mocking, sophisticated and clever. In fact it, looked as though we were going to be in for the theatrical equivalent of Jackanory. Edward assumed that martyred look of the self-conscious teenager with an unreliable parent. Forty years earlier, I would have adopted an identical expression myself.
But, in fact, the show turns out to be a bit of a blast. The two performers Dan and Jeff are a classic double act, with Jefferson Turner playing the Ernie Wise role of the perennially hopeful yet permanently aggrieved straight man, while Daniel Clarkson adopts the Eric Morecambe persona of the dotty surrealist who knows exactly how to wind his partner up.
Initially, I found Dan’s wild-eyed, manic manner and constant shouting a touch fatiguing, but surprised myself by greatly warming to him as the show progressed.
What’s remarkable about Potted Potter is that it genuinely seems to appeal to audiences of all ages, as Dan and Jeff attempt to race through all seven Harry Potter books in just one hour.
After a slightly tedious opening, in which Jeff berates Dan for not securing the props, sets and actors he’d demanded, the duo get cracking on the books. Plump and amiable, Jeff plays the boy wizard, and Dan plays all the other roles, heroically undeterred by the fact that he seems to have only the most distant acquaintance with Rowling’s epic oeuvre.
The pair whip up an atmosphere of crazy delirium with glove-puppet monsters, enjoyably awful jokes, quick changes, silly accents and frenzied slapstick. And the audience participation proves riotous, especially in a frenzied game of Quidditch, in which poor Jeff finds himself absurdly dressed up as the golden snitch and the adults in the audience behave even worse than the kids when it comes to gaining possession of the Quaffle.
As someone who gave up on the Potter books (along with my wife and son) when faced with the dauntingly long fourth instalment, deciding that life was too short for quite so much turgid prose and repetitive plotting, the irreverence of this show comes as a blessed relief. And while adults can enjoy seeing JK Rowling’s disappointingly ponderous and po-faced fiction so gleefully sent up, the tinies are manifestly, and audibly, getting a real buzz out of the sheer anarchy of it all.
It will be a some time before I forget mild-mannered Jeff suddenly cracking and complaining about just how boring the character of Harry Potter actually is, even longer before the spectacle of Dan as Dumbledore, “the only wizard in the village”, fades from the memory as he sings the great gay anthem I Am What I Am. Listen out, too, for Voldemort’s version of the disco classic I Will Survive.
For those looking for an alternative to pantomime which will tickle the funny bone of every age group, this bonkers and blessedly brief show is just the ticket.
Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph
The London Guardian★★★★
Sublimely potty and done with the lightest of touches, this daft two-man parody of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter novels is a bliss fully funny 75 minutes for anyone with a passing acquaintance with the boy wizard and He Who Must Not Be Named. Like all really good parodies, Dan and Jeff’s “unauthorised Harry Experience” is both a send-up and a heartfelt homage. It also incorporates recent revelations, so that the outed Dumbledore becomes “the only wizard in the village”.
In fact, it is all terrific family entertainment, as performers and writers Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner “muggle” along with just the right mix of boyish exuberance and cack-handed charm. Dan, in particular, often seems a trifle confused between his Potter and his Lord of the Rings and Narnia adventures. Then there is his misunderstanding about the difference between Hogwarts and warthogs. And when he plays the Defence of the Dark Arts teacher, Lupin, the werewolf has inexplicably transmuted into an elephant. These mixups weigh heavily on self-appointed Harry Potter expert Jeff, all the more because Dan has used all the money set aside to employ 20 actors on the dragon in Book Four. The dragon, needless to say, turns out to be a severe disappointment.
At moments, there is a touch of the National Theatre of Brent in the prickly relationship between Dan and Jeff. This is also the only show in town in which the audience get to participate in a game of quidditch, even though Dan appears to think that a vacuum cleaner can be substituted for a Nimbus 2000 and Jeff has a trying time as the Golden Snitch. A winner in every way.
The London Times★★★★
The cleverest thing about this two-man parody (updated, book by book) is that it appeals both to the ardent fan as an in-joke, and to parents… Precision disguised as incompetence is a perennial form of comedy. These guys are good.
Toronto Star★★★★
Even if you don’t know your wand from a hole in the ground, I guarantee you’ll go positively potty over Potted Potter. Muggle or master wizard, you’re going to love this show.
The New York TimesCritics Choice
With all the Harry Potter books and movies done, and no new material to pore over, where can a devoted Muggle get a fix? You could fly to Florida, to the Universal Studios Orlando theme park. Or over to Britain, where tours of the films’ sets, at Leavesden Studios outside London, have begun. Online, there’s always J. K. Rowling’s Pottermore Web site.
Or you could make your way to the Little Shubert Theater, where the gloriously goofy “Potted Potter” is being staged. Billed as “the unauthorized Harry experience,” this parody makes the perfect claim for the Twitter age: all seven books — roughly 4,000 pages — in 70 minutes.
Potted Potter is the antic creation of Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner, better known in Britain as Dan and Jeff, onetime presenters on CBBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation’s children’s network. In the best two-man comedy tradition, Jeff, the shorter one, is the straight man, the expert on all things Harry; Dan, the taller one, is the one who’s faking it, confusing the series with The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia.
Using bad wigs and Silly String on a set so cheap it might have been furnished by Craigslist, Mr. Clarkson and Mr. Turner do indeed tell an abbreviated, ridiculous version of the Boy Who Lived. Mr. Turner plays Harry, though when he wears those signature glasses, he looks more like that pinball wizard, Elton John. Mr. Clarkson, channeling a caffeinated Robin Williams, plays everyone else, including, among others, Ron and Hermione; Draco Malfoy; Snape; the Weasleys; Sirius Black; Mad-Eye Moody; Dumbledore; and, of course, He Who Must Not Be Named.
Dobby, the house elf, makes an appearance, as does Nagini, Voldemort’s snake; Death Eaters and — crucial to Mr. Clarkson, at least — the dragon from Book 4. A highlight is the game Quidditch played with audience participation. And a very golden Snitch.
Potted Potter grew from a five-minute street sketch recapping the first five books that the two created in 2005 to entertain Potter fans lined up for the release of the sixth, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. When they expanded it with runs in the West End in London and in Toronto, they no doubt took some cues from the popular Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged) by the Reduced Shakespeare Company.
The flavor is Monty Python meets vaudeville, ragged and thrown together in a spirit similar to fan-created homages like Potter Puppet Pals and A Very Potter Musical. You don’t need to know all the plot twists and nuances of Hogwarts to enjoy the in-jokes, though clearly most of the delighted crowd does. (On the off chance you’re in the middle of the series, be warned: spoilers lurk throughout, though the original does not include a disco ball.)
Besides, if you miss something, another laugh will be along shortly. Clearly Mr. Clarkson and Mr. Turner attended Professor Flitwick’s charms class, because the duo casts the perfect spell over the audience: Reductio ad absurdum.