Potted Panto
Looking to shake up the festive season without Grandma giving you the side-eye for breaking tradition? Meet Dan & Jeff, co-writers, performers & Olivier-nominees for their Potted series. Through uproarious sketches, wild costumes & puppetry, the dynamic duo’s “Potted Panto” offers a turbo-charged, tongue-in-cheek salute to the #pantomime festive cosmos … 🎄🤪 🎭
✨The timeless: Jeff Turner & Dan Clarkson’s “Potted Panto” speed runs seven beloved pantos in just 80 minutes. Think Cinderella, Aladdin, Dick Whittington, Sleeping Beauty, and even the less than canonical classic A Christmas Carol, whose inclusion sparks some heated debate among the duo as they aim to stitch these timeless stories together. While this could be a chaotic blender mishmash (looking at you, #TikTok chefs 🧑🍳), fear not, as the spot-on pacing makes the most of every tale…
🪄 The jolly: The comedy & audience interaction are perfectly fine-tuned. We LOL at the silliest gags, filling our cold hearts with the joys of Saturday morning cartoon bliss. A standout moment? 3D Cinderella’s Carriage Ride. Picture the whole audience pretend-galloping, Santa armed with a water pistol, a candy-flinging T-Rex, and Dan brandishing a poo bucket around. If that doesn’t put a smile on your face, then maybe skip the pantos this year #Scrooge…
🦹🏽♂️The villain boos: Despite Dan & Jeff’s 20-year creative bromance, their larger-than-life personas shine brighter solo. Dan steals the spotlight as the rebellious storyteller & #fuckboi Prince Charming, while Jeff, the reliable straight man, keeps Dan’s chaos in check & embellishes the story with his epic narrator’s voice. We’d love to see more of the pair’s natural chemistry— the well-trodden trope of “odd couple” comic duo feels a bit shoehorned at times…
But hey, ultimately, we love the puppets, the gags, the epic costume-changes, and the clever story twists that provide a contemporary update without a hint of virtue signalling. #PottedPanto is an adventure drenched in seasonal joy. Now at @wiltonsmusichall, we guarantee it’ll turn your Chrimbo Scrooge into a merry elf! 4/5 ⭐
#panto #londonpanto #panto2023 #festivefamilyfun #festive