Interview: Actor Brendan Murphy Talks POTTED POTTER

POTTED POTTER, a Harry Potter parody play by Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner, returns to Houston, this time starring Brendan Murphy and Scott Hoatson. Hoatson's character knows everything to know about Harry Potter. And Murphy's knows nothing at all. Over the course of 70 minutes, the duo reenacts all seven books in J.K. Rowling's series in spite of Murphy's mishaps. As a bonus, the production features a live quidditch match and a fire breathing dragon. See below for my conversation with Murphy, who plays the hopelessly foolish and hapless friend.

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I'm a diehard Harry Potter fan who takes myself way too seriously. Will I be able to enjoy this show?

I would say, absolutely! [Laughs] You do have to come with a willingness to see something that isn't perhaps quite the authentic retelling of the Harry Potter canon. But we're making fun of it in a loving way. It all comes from the heart and it comes from a great love of the original books and films. And I think if you're into it or if you haven't seen any of the films or read any of the books, then you can still enjoy it.

So no mean spirited humor?

No, no! We're always punching up, never punching down.

What sort of humor does the show feature?

A classic double act. We've got, in this case, it's Scott, who is effectively the Harry Potter expert. He knows absolutely everything. There's me, his best friend, trying to put everything together and not always working out with the best of results.

So would you be Laurel and he would be Hardy?

[Laughs] I suppose so, yeah. It's very Monty Python-esque. Very silly, surreal. I think that sort of classic British humour.

Which comedy duo do you think you and Scott most resemble?

Well, let's see physically-- [Laughs] I'm not sure. I suppose I'd like to think we're sort of like the Flight of the Conchords or maybe The Mighty Boosh. But I'm not entirely sure. Maybe Morecambe and Wise?

I was going to say Morecambe and Wise but I didn't want to be the American dropping British double acts--

No, no! It's very much like that. I think [Scott's] a little shorter than me and a little more sensible. And I'm a little more chaotic, let's say. [Laughs]

Because you've got The Mighty Boosh and Morecambe and Wise, it feels like a mixture of traditional humor and modern humor.

Yeah, absolutely.

How much improv is there in the show?

I should always stress that we do have writers and creators that spent a long time working on the show. They, originally, started [working on] it about 10 years ago, so the script has grown and built. But that said, they're also really flexible and they allow us space in every show to play with the audience, follow whatever comes up. We're allowed to adlib and improvise here and there. But it's always weighted and given its balance by the script.

You have an extensive improv background. How does that help you with POTTED POTTER?

It's a playful energy, you know, being able to react to the audience. Because you get a lot of people reacting to us and sometimes trying to start conversations halfway through the show, which is both lovely and endearing because it means that they care and are engrossed but also, you know, we've only got 70 minutes to tell all 7 Harry Potter books. [Laughs] So we need to get in there, have that conversation, improvise with them and then get straight back to the script.

That sounds terrifying to me. But I'm not trained in improv.

[Laughs] It's good fun. It's good fun. And I think that's the biggest thing improv brings to it is that sense of play.

That sort of leads to my next question. The show is suitable for young audiences and adults. How did you do that--outside of having clean humor?

I suppose in the same way that the Harry Potter books still capture the imagination of all the readers. The humor, generally speaking, if it's silly, then kids can get into that. They can just go wild with that. But it's also an amusing, surreal little nudge to adults, giving them, maybe, a little taste of something that they used to enjoy and now feel a little guilty for enjoying. There's also elements of it that play on different levels, like Shrek, as in there's something that the kids are laughing at but there's also an additional joke that the adults--should you choose to see it that way--would have a laugh at too.

I very recently took a slide and fall and what I learned is that people really find someone falling very funny. Adult people.

Oh, yes! [Laughs] There's nothing more instantly hilarious. It's almost visceral. There's something inbuilt into our genes to laugh at these fail videos. It also lends back to clowning, watching someone get a cream pie to the face or fall over in a puddle. That's just never going to stop being funny. It shows our vulnerability and we can all relate to it because one of our biggest fears as humans is to be seen as ridiculous, to be laughed at. So we can all cringe and laugh and see the humanity in it.

I assume that's similar for POTTED POTTER. There must be some elemental things in the comedy that just makes everyone laugh.

Oh, definitely. Ultimately, I'd say the show--obviously it's about Harry Potter and we attempt to tell all of the books in this constricted time limit--but it's also about friendship and it's about trying to do a task that is beyond your own personal abilities. And it's fun to watch people struggle. It's fun to watch people slipping over but trying to get back up again and trying to do all of this in front of, I don't know, a room full of a thousand people scrutinizing your every move. [Laughs] So hopefully, it's likeable, endearing, and relatable to the audience as well.

Brendan Murphy attended drama school at Arts Ed London before going on to train in improvisation with Second City and iO alumni David Shore, and The Free Association. Recent theatre includes: Potted Potter (US & Canada), King Kong: A Comedy (The Vaults) Twelfth Night (Orange Tree Theatre), The Adventure (The Royal Exchange), Lost Property (Soho Theatre), Accomplice: London (Menier Chocolate Factory). TV and film includes: Broadchurch (ITV), Doctors (BBC), Comedy Shorts (Sky Arts). Brendan is co-founder of improvised theatre company The One Hour Plays and a member of the award-winning short-form group BattleActs! (as heard on BBC Radio One). He has written and performed two solo comedy shows: Bagman (2015) and Enter The Bagman (2016) and will be bringing his latest offering, The Crooners, to Edinburgh Fringe 2018. @notmurphy

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Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience - A parody by Dan and Jeff. Produced by The Hobby Center Foundation in association with Starvox Entertainment and Potted Production. December 11 - 30, 2018 . Hobby Center - Zilkha Hall, 800 Bagby. For information, please call (713) 315-2525 or visit www.thehobbycenter.org/PottedPotter. $49.99, $80.99 and $111.99.