Piff the Magic Dragon retiring his canine co-star
Many years ago, John van der Put adopted a dog that would change his life. In turn, Van der Put says, “I’m blown away by how much Vegas has adopted me.”
Van der Put on stage is Piff the Magic Dragon, suited in satin and spinning mirth and magic at Flamingo Showroom. His chihuahua sidekick, Mr. Piffles, and Showgirl Jade Simone have delivered a hit on the Strip, closing in on 1,700 shows at the Flamingo.
Last month, Van der Put signed a three-year extension with the hotel, carrying into October 2027.
Piff is also hot on tour. This weekend, the act headlined at The Show Theatre at Vancouver’s humbly titled Great Canadian Casino.
But the act is losing a co-star. Mr. Piffles is being retired formally on Nov. 13, his 17th birthday.
The current understudy pooch, also known as Mr. Piffles, is taking over the role. The new chihuahua, who turns 2 in January, is also known as 2.0, as in, Mr. Piffles 2.0, and also Fourtune, because that’s what he cost.
The “Four” spelling because this is the fourth Mr. Piffles Van der Put has attempted to use as a replacement for the original…
Van der Put claims he spent $60K to have Piffles “cloned” this summer. Whatever the outlay or reason, it’s money well-spent. Piffles has been an indispensable component in the act since Van der Put added him 15 years ago. He was booked at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, performing his first hour-long shows in the Piff costume, and noticed a lull at about the half-hour mark.
“We needed a change of pace, a gimmick, because just me in a dragon suit wasn’t cutting it,” Van der Put says. “The woman who was running the venue in Edinburgh had a Chihuahua, so we put this dog in the show and it was hilarious.”
Van der Put adopted a full-time assistant Chihuahua on Gumtree, Scotland’s version of Craig’s List. The dog who would become Mr. Piffles was a mess. “He had matted hair, horrible teeth, barking at everything that moved, trying to bite everyone,” Van der Put says. “I thought there was no way he was going to work in the show. He was a nightmare for three months.”
But on stage, Mr. Piffles was a natural.
“In the show, he was hilarious,” Van der Put says. “He crushed it, from Day One. People loved him from the start.”
Over the years Mr. Piffles seems to have gained a sense of the stage, though he is not required to do much outside of just existing as a dog. Van der Put once performed a bit where he pretended to “break” Piffles’ paw.
“When I would do that, he would just, like, stare straight ahead with this incredible deadpan,” Van der Put says. “He didn’t do that at the beginning. He developed that over the course of being in the show.”
Van der Put has kept the Chihuahua through his remarkable run in Las Vegas, and even before. The dragon character gained fame on the inaugural season of “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” in 2011. In 2013, he was cast as a side act in Spiegelworld’s “Vegas Nocturne” at the Cosmopolitan, which ran for six months. Piff was a breakout contestant on the 10th season of “America’s Got Talent” in 2015, a finalist on the season ventriloquist Paul Zerdin won the championship.
Piff marketed to great effect being the “loser” of “America’s Got Talent,” keeping with his dour, self-deprecating personality. In that stretch, Van der Put had been signed by Stabile Productions after his run in “Nocturne” closed. Piff appeared in “X Comedy” at Bugsy’s Cabaret at Flamingo, rotating with such veteran comics as John Bizarre, Nancy Ryan, Joe Trammel, Dennis Blair and James Bean.
Van der Put proved uniquely entertaining, quirky and edgy with crafty magic skills. He won over skeptics who wondered if he could hold a Vegas crowd for a full show. Bringing Simone’s comic showgirl into the act and dressing Mr. Piffles in a replica dragon suit is a proven winner. Van der Put and Simone, who are more than just partners on stage (see next item), are giving Mr. Piffles a fair, formal and deserved sendoff.
Mr. Piffles’ Magical Playground, the hotel’s expanded and renovated dog park, is debuting on Mr. Piffles’ final day and birthday. There will be a formal ribbon-cutting. Perhaps there will be a key presentation.
“I reckon Piffles has done 3,000 shows, overall,” Van der Put says. “We’ve done about 1,700 at the Flamingo. He did all the shows at Rose. Rabbit. Lie., all the touring shows I’ve ever done and every other gig I’ve done. If you count all the personal appearances, it must be 5,000. It’s amazing, and he’s just blossomed into this amazing dog.”
Love is in the air
Van der Put and Simone were engaged in May, as Van der Put was being honored as Magician of the Year at The Magic Castle in L.A. Simone is an adept comic performer, emcee and one of the few actual showgirls working full-time in Strip production.
Astutely, Van der Put asked her to be in the show. Also astutely, he hit on her.
Van der Put was invited to accept the award, issued by the Academy of Magical Arts, in person. He was all done up in a tux. Taking advantage of the attire, he invited Simone to The Magic Castle’s rooftop and proposed.
There is more to this story, concealed for the moment. As is the case with Piff, be ready for the Big Reveal. It’s pretty cool.
New Music Alert
New to the column is New Music Alert, (NMA, as the kids say), a vehicle to plug original music in VegasVille. We’ll start with “Santa Fe’s Gotcha Hooked,” from the gold-standard band that headlines 7:30 p.m. Mondays at The Copa at Bootlegger Bistro. It’s a double CD, which the band recorded over about 17 years (maybe it was five) and was finally issued a few months ago.
The release is not streaming – yet – but you can order a version on USB, CD or digitally at santafeandthefatcityhorns.com. Of course, CDs are available from Lorraine Fidler at the band’s shows at the Santa Fe Superstore (store, store, store ) …
Kats podcast
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.