“IT’S fabulous to get paid for messing around,” English actor and writer Jefferson Turner, says.

He’s co-creator with Daniel Clarkson of “Potted Potter”, all seven Harry Potter books in 70 minutes, and coming to Canberra soon.

The title says it all. Devised by a pair of cash-strapped English actors in 2005 when they were asked to put together a little show for a bookstore to coincide with the launch of the sixth Harry Potter book, the West End and Broadway hit sensation has been playing for more than a decade all over the world.

It’s also won an Olivier Award nomination and made its astonished creators very comfortable indeed.

The show has never been to Canberra and English actors Scott Hoatson and Joseph Maudsley will play all the roles here, as Clarkson and Turner rarely take to the stage these days.

When “CityNews” catches up with Turner by phone to “dear old London town”, as he puts it, he’s keen to reminisce.

“Back in 2005, it was supposed to be five books in five minutes… actually it took about 15 minutes as we messed around with hats and silly voices… it was intended to be for one day,” he says. But then they decided to turn it into an hour-long show for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2006.

“It took us about six weeks editing words from inside dad’s office and our parents’ homes,” he says. “Again, we were just messing around.”

Condensing all the “Harry Potter” books and a game of Quidditch into just over an hour, they’ve included all the well-known characters, a fire-breathing dragon, silly hats, songs, absurd props and a dose of magic.

“The format was a bit rough around the edges 13 years ago, but now we’ve presented it so many times and we found that there is a huge fan base out there and if we forgot a character we were in trouble,” he says.

That’s exactly what happened with Helena Bonham Carter’s character, Bellatrix Lestrange, so they finally relented and put her in.

Turner was about 16 or 17 when the first Harry Potter book came out but had a younger brother who could advise him.

“I’ve always enjoyed children’s books,” he says. “I watched a lot of cartoons as a child but my taste has matured and I love reading Roald Dahl, especially ‘Matilda’ and ‘The BFG”, which takes me back to when I was young.

“Potted Potter” is one of four “Potted” shows created by the pair – the others are “Potted Panto”, “Potted Sherlock” and “Potted Pirates”. Sherlock is his favourite.

Before this success, they were both doing it hard. Clarkson was a properly trained actor but Turner was more of a beer-drinking BA student.

“We had to work hard and the mere fact that we are making our living in this profession shows how incredibly lucky we are,” says Turner.

He put it down to the mania for “Harry Potter”, likening the phenomenon to similar crazes for Dickens, “Star Wars” or the Beatles.

As for author JK Rowling who, he says, “found a bit of magic and caught the world’s imagination” – have they ever met her?

Well, once. “She was doing a doorstop for her charity and her producer introduced us… she said: ‘Oh, you’re the “Potted Potter” boys,’ and carried on.”

“Potted Potter, The Unauthorized Harry Experience, A Parody by Dan and Jeff”, Canberra Theatre, April 4-7. Suitable for ages six and above. Book at canberratheatrecentre.com.au.