Review: POTTED POTTER at Starlight Theater

Running now until completion of two performances on Sunday on Starlight's Cohen Stage is a massive condensation of the seven volume, 4000 page, JK Rowling, Harry Potter young adult book series into just 70 minutes. "Potted Potter" is a parody in the best British Music Hall - Vaudeville tradition. Or, as the Chicago Tribune summarized it, "When Harry met Silly." Pretty good line stolen from the Tribune.

Potted Potter has evolved from a five minute sketch ten years ago into a 70 minute extravaganza that entertains Potter fans of all ages and levels of sanity. Directly behind me several women suffered from acute attacks of belly laughter repeated time after time for the entire 70 minutes.

A pretty fair estimate of the situation is to call it "gloriously goofy" as did the New York Times. The audience laughs in spite of itself. The two man comedy team who presents the Potted Potter reminds you of someone you've seen somewhere. At first, it seems like Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy and then it hits you... this is a British version of Laugh In and the duo in front of you is Dan Rowan and Dick Martin with the Dick Martin character performing the entire joke wall.

They do tell an abbreviated version of the Potter tale. Each book represents one year in the life of Harry and his friends while students at the Wizard's Academy in a castle at Hogwarts, Scotland. The Dan Rowan character pretends to be an expert on all the books and plays Harry. The Dick Rowan character takes a shot at all the rest.

There are four set pieces, a collection of bad wigs, a puppet or two, and a few props. Somehow, they bring it off with absurd references to everything from a reduced version of William Shakespeare to a song or two from Annie.

Ably portraying these two messes in a vaudeville of Harry Potter are James Percy and Joseph Maudsley direct from Birmingham UK. These guys work together very well. They perform a show originated by Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner. It is interactive and it is fun.

Tickets for Potted Potter are available on the Starlight website, at the box office or by telephone at (816) 363-7827.

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