REVIEW: ‘Potted Potter’ goes wild over Harry

Saturday, 02 June 2012 10:39

Silly two-man parody of the “Harry Potter” series aims entirely for fans

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

OFF BROADWAY REVIEW

For the record, I am not especially conversant with the Harry Potter series so I cannot approach “Potted Potter” with the insights of devotees, who likely are the people most inclined to see the little attraction that opened on Sunday at the Little Shubert Theater.

Billed as an “Unauthorized Harry Experience,” this two-man parody written and performed by Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner affectionately kids the entire Potter chronicle.

Expect to watch two sweetly goofy guys skimming through the Potter saga’s key plot points while they skitter around aping its major figures. Working on a bargain basement budget, they employ toys, tacky props and corny wigs in their (intentionally) fumbling process to tell the story in 70 minutes flat.

Whenever they’re at a loss, one of them yells at the audience, “Who wants to play quidditch?” A beach ball is thrown into the auditorium at one point and spectators bat it around in simulation of the game. One of the actors even appears in a drolly frumpy costume as the Golden Snitch.

It’s all very tongue-in-cheek in style and totally silly in all intents and purposes.

Dressed in jeans and T-shirts, Clarkson and Turner are exceedingly pleasant and energetic young fellows who ad-lib amusingly when their interactions with members of the audience occasionally go south. A bunch of the verbal gags and asides that obviously tickled the audience flew right over my poor Muggle head, so obviously this show is aimed strictly for Potter aficionados.

“Potted Potter” continues at the Little Shubert Theater, 422 W. 42nd St., New York. Call (212) 239-6200 or visit www.telecharge.com.