{"id":804148,"date":"2020-02-13T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-13T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=378943"},"modified":"2020-02-13T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-13T19:00:00","slug":"piff-the-magic-dragon-performs-sold-out-valentines-day-show-in-silverthorne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/piff-the-magic-dragon-performs-sold-out-valentines-day-show-in-silverthorne\/","title":{"rendered":"Piff the Magic Dragon performs sold-out Valentine\u2019s Day show in Silverthorne"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
John van der Put, aka Piff the Magic Dragon, performs in Silverthorne on Friday, Feb. 14, as part of the town\u2019s annual Valentine\u2019s Day comedy show. Joining van der Put is his dog Mr. Piffles and assistants Jade Simone and Brett Alter. The show is sold out.<\/strong>
Courtesy Piff the Magic Dragon<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

SILVERTHORNE \u2014 Piff the Magic Dragon knows he\u2019s gimmicky. It doesn\u2019t bother him. He wears a green dragon costume and has Mr. Piffles \u2014 a 12-year-old, long-hair Chihuahua \u2014 as a sidekick. He\u2019ll keep using both as long as they continue to work in his routine.<\/p>\n

\u201cGimmicks are only bad when they\u2019re crutches, when they\u2019re there to support something that doesn\u2019t work,\u201d said John van der Put, the magician and comedian inside the suit.<\/p>\n

The costume was an accident, and van der Put had no idea it would last a decade more than a five-minute bit. He went to a costume party but didn\u2019t have anything to wear, so he borrowed the outfit from under his sister\u2019s bed. Piff the Magic Dragon, the younger brother of Steve, was born and became a surprise hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always thought I would stop doing it when I run out of ideas, but every day I wake up with new ideas for it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The deadpan comedy, however, was more intentional. First came the magic. Van der Put grew up in London watching \u201cStuff the White Rabbit\u201d with Jerry Sadowitz and was inspired to do close-up, sleight-of-hand magic. He never connected with big, illusionist-style magic and saw card tricks as more affordable and accessible. Then van der Put found he could improve his act by telling jokes to clear the air and lighten the mood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was doing magic for groups of like five or 10 people,\u201d van der Put said. \u201cWhen five people are laughing out of 10, that\u2019s pretty awkward, but when you\u2019re on stage and half the room is laughing, that\u2019s a big laugh. I realized what I was doing was much more suited to comedy clubs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Piffles, alongside van der Put\u2019s assistants Jade Simone and Brett Alter aka Francis the Squire, will be making an appearance in Silverthorne for the town\u2019s annual Valentine\u2019s Day comedy show. In addition to Sadowitz, van der Put is inspired magicians Mac King, David Copperfield and Penn & Teller. On the comedy side, he appreciates the work of Jerry Seinfeld, Demetri Martin, Chris Rock, Steve Martin and Las Vegas-based comedians like Carrot Top and Brad Garrett. <\/p>\n

\u201cMost people associate (Copperfield) with bigger, more serious magic, but if you look back, he\u2019s also got some of the funniest set pieces,\u201d van der Put said. \u201cHis singing tie and his routines with a duck, those are great. He\u2019s always an inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n

A resident of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas for about four years, <\/strong>van der Put got his start at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2009, Piff debuted there with a rescued Mr. Piffles after van der Put saw a different Chihuahua at the venue.<\/p>\n

The 5-pound dog turned out to be a good addition and straightforward to incorporate into his act with tricks that involve shooting him out of a canon or guessing what box he\u2019s in.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can smuggle him in almost any venue or any hotel,\u201d van der Put said. \u201cHe sleeps 25 hours a day, and he\u2019s hilarious.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rest of the Piff crew doesn\u2019t get jealous of the popular pup, but van der Put joked that they do get tired with having to clean up after him. Only a few times did it happen on stage, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been three dark days,\u201d van der Put said. \u201cOne of them was in Denver, actually, at the Comedy Works. I don\u2019t think they\u2019ve ever forgiven me.\u201d<\/p>\n

His initial big break came with his television appearance on the first season of \u201cPenn & Teller: Fool Us.\u201d The reality show tasks magicians from all over the world to perform a trick that the legendary Penn Jillette and Teller can\u2019t deduce how it\u2019s executed. The competitors who are successful get the honor of opening for the two.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
Seen on \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent\u201d and \u201cPenn & Teller: Fool Us,\u201d Piff the Magic Dragon\u2019s act blends deadpan comedy and close-up magic. He\u2019s had a residency at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas since 2015.<\/strong>
Courtesy Piff the Magic Dragon<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

He didn\u2019t officially fool them, yet it started a long-lasting relationship. Van der Put has come back on the show multiple times \u2014 even with Jillette donning the persona of Piff\u2019s bass-playing dad, Pop \u2014 and consulted for the magicians. The three have appeared on \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent\u201d though van der Put lost to magician Mat Franco in 2015. The exposure on NBC is what led to the Las Vegas residency, where he\u2019s performed 250 shows a year. <\/p>\n

Van der Put has been able to hone his craft staying at one venue, working on tricks and business in the morning and performing at night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI count doing this show as my relaxation time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In 2017, van der Put started a podcast, which allows him to unwind post-show even more as he documents the experience with his team. They take the tapings on the road as well when they escape the Las Vegas bubble and interview other people in show business.<\/p>\n

Recently, Teller had back surgery, so Jillette invited van der Put, King and Matt Donnelly the Mind Noodler for a \u201cPenn & Friends\u201d show instead of canceling performances as Teller recovered.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
Magician and comedian Piff the Magic Dragon grew up in London and was inspired by watching \u201cStuff the White Rabbit\u201d with Jerry Sadowitz. Piff opened for the band Mumford & Sons during its 2012 tour.<\/strong>
Courtesy Christopher DeVargas<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

A more unusual professional pairing, however, was when van der Put opened for the indie-folk band Mumford & Sons during its 2012 tour. It might have been awkward or unusual, but he loved it. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo one expects it, hardly anyone wants it, and you get to win over the audience each night, which is fine with me,\u201d van der Put said.<\/p>\n

Van der Put likes the challenge and figures that there\u2019s rarely a night when 100% of the audience is happy to be there in the crowd watching him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s usually a small handful that\u2019s been dragged along by either their partner or children, and those are the people I like winning over still. \u2026 I just batter them down over an hour and a half,\u201d van der Put said. \u201cIt\u2019s like Stockholm syndrome.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a chance he could encounter a similar group on Valentine\u2019s Day as he performs tricks both old and new. Feeding off everyone\u2019s energy live on stage is a delight, he said, and he is looking forward to possibly lightly ribbing couples on a date.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the nice thing is that the show is different every night,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s based around not only the tricks but also the audience there and my interactions with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show is sold out, but chances are van der Put has at least another decade of entertaining before him \u2014 though he said Mr. Piffles wanted to go off into the sunset three years ago. Only time will tell when Piff the Magic Dragon will be retired.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs a 60-year-old man in a dragon outfit still funny? We\u2019ll find out over the years. We\u2019ll find out when that starts becoming no longer funny but more poignant,\u201d van der Put said, laughing.<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John van der Put, aka Piff the Magic Dragon, performs in Silverthorne on Friday, Feb. 14, as part of the town\u2019s annual Valentine\u2019s Day comedy show. Joining van der Put is his dog Mr. Piffles and assistants Jade Simone and Brett Alter. The show is sold out.Courtesy Piff the Magic Dragon SILVERTHORNE \u2014 Piff the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-804148","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-22 20:56:58","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=804148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804148\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=804148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=804148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=804148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}