Harry Potter is one of the most well known characters on Earth. The books and movies are extremely popular and well loved by your average magic fanatics as well as just about everyone else. Theme parks and all sorts of different locations have been created so that people can go and have a true Harry Potter experience but for some, this is not enough.

Despite all of the places people can see, all the books one can read, and all of the movies one can watch, people still want more. And so, theatrical productions have been put on for people of all types to come watch. There are musicals, and even a play based around the future of Harry Potter’s children. Not as well known, but just as inventive as these different shows is Potted Potter.

When my mom told me that I was going to have the chance to see Potted Potter, I was a little skeptical. I didn’t know what to expect. A play about Harry Potter, or a play based on gardening clubs? As it turns out, Potted Potter is a parody created by Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner, put on by Potted Productions and based on Harry Potter. Once I finally discovered this, I was sold.

At last it was time to watch the show. So, my family and I left for Minneapolis and approached the theatre. The moment I walked through the doors to see the show, I was greeted by an usher handing out scrolls in place of programs. It felt like I was walking into one of the Harry Potter books! But, that is where the traditional Harry Potter experience ended. Once I was comfortably seated and the show began I realized it wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be. Remembering that a poster in front of the theatre had advertised a parody, not a play, I sat back and got ready to enjoy the show.

In Potted Potter, two actors take just eighty minutes to go through all seven Harry Potter books. Anyone who has read the books, or seen the movies for that matter, knows that the books take forever to read, and the movies take forever to watch. Not to mention that there are seemingly hundreds of characters in Harry Potter. So, I couldn’t help but wonder how two people were going to go through seven Harry Potter books in eighty minutes while portraying all of the characters necessary for the show to be, well, Harry Potter.

Throughout the entire show, my family were on the edge of our seats, waiting to see what would happen next. All of us, except for my dad, had read the books and we were excited to see a new take on one of our favorite stories. Based off of my dad’s opinion about the show, we agreed that if we had not read the books we may not have understood some of the references, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying the show. There wasn’t a single line that didn’t make us want to laugh. My sister and I don’t agree on much, but we shared the same favorite scene. Much to our delight, it included several hilarious (if not insulting) jokes regarding Trump. Multiple other nods to a variety of different people and things had us practically falling out of our seats with laughter. One of the more shocking scenes involved a “magic show”, and like every magic show bunnies were involved. Thankfully the bunny was a stuffed animal so, when its head was torn of no one was injured. My cousin even went so far as to say, “I thought it was funny when they were doing magic and the bunny’s head was ripped off.”

Overall, the unexpected take on characters combined with jokes that made me laugh so hard I wanted cry kept me hooked from the beginning of the show to the end. I was thrilled to find a Harry Potter experience that delighted me just as much as the books.