Reviews

Potted Potter: The Unauthorised Harry Experience – A Parody by Dan and Jeff

A playful and colourful romp through the seven books of J.K. Rowling’s wizarding series, Potted Potter: The Unauthorised Harry Experience is a wonderful piece of children’s theatre.

Comedy duo Jeff and Dan have created an immersive and engaging series of sketches which lovingly parody the adventures of The Boy Who Lived. Gently prodding the books’ characters and plot holes, Potted Potter is as informative as a lesson with Professor McGonagle, delivering a digestible and madcap lecture on Rowling’s hero.

If Harry Hill parodied Harry Potter, it would be a lot like this. Through dance, original song, magic and puppetry, Potted Potter captures its audience’s attention like gold seized from a Gringotts vault. Dan and Jeff are excellent comic performers, exaggerated enough in their huge gestures and silly voices to entertain children without alienating adults.

There is, of course, plenty of room for audience participation, and it is here that our hosts excel. Dan, the fool of the pair, comfortably breaks character quickly and cleverly reading the audience’s reactions to his skits, finding another level of unpredictable comedy and creating an atmosphere of utmost ease between crowd and cast.

Bright, exuberant and endlessly endearing, Potted Potter bubbles with creativity and a shameless sense of fun.