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“I believe the world needs a magic dragon,” says John van der Put, better known as Piff the Magic Dragon. The words come out flat, delivered with a kind of sarcastic deadpan that makes you wonder if he’s trolling you. But we both know, under that thin veneer of cynicism, he’s serious. Yes, the world does need a British guy in a dragon suit, lobbing out magic tricks and zinging one-liners while surrounded by Mr. Piffles 2.0, a clone of his late chihuahua sidekick, and Jade Simone, his hyper-performative showgirl assistant turned fiancée.
A decade ago, Piff’s breakout appearance on America’s Got Talent didn’t win him the crown, but it secured him recognition. After that breakthrough and an invitation to Penn & Teller’s TV show Fool Us, the Flamingo tapped him to become the quirky poker-faced antidote to the typical Vegas glitz. What started as a midweek solo show in a smaller theater has grown into a successful staple at Flamingo’s showroom six nights a week. The comedy, magic and stunt spectacle has won various local awards. In 2023, Piff was voted Magician of the Year by LA’s historic Magic Castle, and he recently renewed his show contract for another three years.
We caught up with Piff to discuss his decade-long journey in Vegas, how his show has evolved and what’s next for this dragon.
How much of the Piff character is a reflection of your own personality, or is it all a bit?
I was unemployable before I found the dragon outfit. I was saying the same terrible [jokes], mostly to children, and one day, I went to a costume party and I didn’t have a costume to wear, so I asked my sister, “Do you have anything?” She said, “Yeah, I got a dragon outfit under my bed.” I didn’t ask any questions. I didn’t really want to know the answers. And I got to the party in the dragon outfit. No one else is in costume, just me of course and a friend [told me] you should do your act in this. And I did and it just connected all the dots.
Then Mr. Piffles came along?
I got Mr. Piffles a year into the act, which wasn’t very good at that point. And when I got Piffles, he was the turning point. I got on TV, I got these breaks. We would tour all over the U.K. and Europe. I was smuggling him all over the country, in and out of hotels. I spent more time with him than anyone else, so he and I forged this super tight bond. He was way more than a co-star in the show, but also more than even a pet. We’d been through everything together, so it was very brutal when he passed away last year. But knowing that a part of him continues in these new [cloned] dogs, it helps a lot. Doesn’t replace him, but it helps.
Your show has been going strong for a decade now. How do you keep the material fresh?
When we moved to the showroom [in 2020], we rewrote the show from scratch and we did any trick we could think of. We do a trick where something ends up in 25 pounds of Jell-O. Mr. Piffles pees any drink the audience names, like really crazy stuff. It’s our Super Bowl show. Magic is a visual medium … some magicians do straight magic and they say funny things, but it’s never as funny as when you make the trick funny but also completely unbelievable. And then you know, you’re adding me shouting at strangers. It’s a winning combination.
What are you planning on doing to celebrate this 10-year milestone?
We’re going to fire Mr. Piffles II out of a cannon … you never know! No, we’ll have a big party. For 10 years in Vegas, we’re going to celebrate, get all our friends together, see if I can get Penn Jillette back in his dragon outfit [as Pop the Magic Dragon] and probably do a big show. We’ve worked really hard to make it good. I spent all my life making this show good … it’s one of the hidden gems in Vegas, and there’s nothing like it on the Strip.
PIFF THE MAGIC DRAGON Saturday-Thursday, 7 p.m., $49-$103+. Flamingo Showroom, ticketmaster.com.
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