‘Potted Potter’, the unauthorized two-man parody of the Harry Potter books, has already made its way to the West Coast. Presented by Dan Clarkson and Jeff Turner, ‘Potted Potter’ revolves around all seven books by J.K. Rowling, which means that the duo has compressed 4,000 pages of fiction into 70 minutes of family-friendly presentation.
Complete with a Quidditch match, the appearance of Dobby the elf, and waving of wands, the show may just be enough to entertain reminiscent Potterheads all over the world, especially with the eighth and final movie in the 'Harry Potter' film series released several years ago.
“Jeff plays Harry Potter, which leaves me playing all 350 other characters,” Clarkson shared about the show at Beverly Hills’ Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, which runs until March 1. “So I’m playing everyone from Ron Weasley to Hermione to Voldemort. And seeing a six-foot-five grown man playing Hermione Granger as an 11 year old school girl, that’s worth the ticket price right there.”
The concept for such parody began when Clarkson, who is a Harry Potter fan himself, was asked to keep readers entertained during the launching of ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.’
Along with fellow standup comedian Turner, Clarkson was able to come up with creative material which became a success among the customers. The duo thought it was going to be the last time that they will have a hilarious Potter play.
Following their sensational show, the two were invited to Edinburgh where tickets to their program had been sold out. After this, they were also asked to perform in London and North America with which majority of their shows were considered a huge success.
“I’m waiting for people to realize it’s two best friends messing round,” Clarkson joked. “Immigration is going to send us home again.”
During their shows, participation from the audience is encouraged and those who are interested can show up in their favorite Potter costumes. As a Quidditch match is carried out in every show, the entire audience is given an opportunity to take part in the game.
According to Clarkson, fathers in the U.S. can be more persistent at Quidditch compared to those in the U.K.
“I’ve watched full grown men push children to the ground so they could score a goal,” he shared. “I think they think it’s the Super Bowl and they’re going for the touchdown, and their wives are like, what are you doing!?”
Despite being an unauthorized show, there have been no complaints raised by J.K. Rowling’s lawyers against ‘Potted Potter.’ Even Warner Bros. has stayed mum regarding the considerable success of this two-man parody.
After ten years of doing ‘Potted Potter’ shows, Clarkson and Turner confirmed that they will be adding more properties to their parody plans, such as ‘Potted Sherlock’ which compresses sixty mysteries by Conan Doyle into 80 minutes. The duo may also be taking on the worldwide hit series ‘Doctor Who’ by BBC.
