“Nobody actually likes a dickhead, however a dickhead in a dragon outfit is hilarious.”
So says Piff the Magic Dragon, aka John van der Put, a performer whose act has conjured up awards for Finest Comic, Finest Magician and Finest Headliner in Las Vegas and a nine-year residency at Las Vegas’s Flamingo Lodge and On line casino that reveals no indicators of vanishing. Working alongside his sidekick Mr. Piffles – The World’s Solely Magic Performing Chihuahua™ — the deadpan dragon has earned a faithful following of superfans, together with Penn and Teller and David Copperfield, who calls him “a real authentic.”
I caught up with the self-described “loser of America’s Acquired Expertise” by way of Zoom at an hour that appeared cheap for this New York-based interviewer however was maybe a bit sooner than a Vegas performer would like. We talked about how he constructed his empire, his new tour, “It Cost $60,000 To Clone My Dog And Now I Need To Make The Money Back,” and his recommendation to anybody hoping to drag success out of a hat.
You are into your ninth 12 months of residency in Las Vegas, and you’ve got executed 3,000 reveals. Did you envision this all once you first began out?
Sure. I had a imaginative and prescient board, and primary was speaking to you from my dressing room on the Flamingo at 7 a.m. or no matter horrific time that is. That is the one motive I obtained within the sport, Dan.
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How did this all begin?
After I was a child, I noticed anyone doing close-up magic. That is magic that occurs proper beneath your nostril, and it is unattainable. Regardless of how jaded you could be, you are like, “Wait, how did that occur?” So I liked it. I began practising, however my mother and father stated I ought to have a backup career. So I very obediently went to school and obtained a level in pc science, which, as you may inform, has not been very helpful.
How did you go about making the soar from pc science to magic?
I used to be doing magic part-time and it was positive, however I wasn’t giving it my full focus. About 30%, you realize? However if you wish to do something nicely, it’s important to give it at the least 100%. After which it’s important to begin forgetting how math works and begin ratcheting up these numbers. I really obtained very sick after I was in my mid-twenties, and I used to be out of motion for 2 years. And throughout the two years, I assumed, What am I doing with my life? I am doing what I need to do as a side hustle, however with none kind of dedication. So, after I obtained higher, I went to drama faculty to discover ways to stroll round on a stage. Then I went out and began doing all this.
And had been you an on the spot success?
I used to be not. I used to be doing close-up magic for all these wealthy and well-known folks at events, and I obtained fired all over the place I went as a result of I’ve this resting bitch face. And I am unable to do something about it, Dan. Think about you are getting married to the love of your life, and also you ebook this man to do close-up magic, and he seems like Eeyore moping round. I began operating out of choices, and I used to be all the way down to my final two gigs, and my good friend stated, “Hey, do you need to come to my social gathering? It is a costume social gathering.” I did not have something to put on, so I spoke to my sister, and he or she stated, “Yeah, I obtained a dragon outfit underneath my mattress.” Now, I did not ask any additional questions, Dan.
So I am going to the social gathering within the dragon outfit, proper? And nobody else is in costume. No one. It is simply me. Oh my God. It is a nightmare. Everyone seems to be like, “Why are you a dragon? That is not Christmassy.” So I used to be talking to my good friend and he stated, “Hey, you would do that in your present. You possibly can be Puff the Magic Dragon.” And I stated, “Wait, I might be Piff the Magic Dragon. You would possibly’ve heard of my older brother…Steve.” It took me three or 4 months to really do it. Now, here is the factor: All this time, I had all of the methods and tips — I simply did not have a socially acceptable approach of doing them. However doing it as Piff, all of the sudden, immediately, everybody liked it. As a result of nobody actually likes a dickhead, however a dickhead in a dragon outfit is hilarious.
You have been tricking folks for a really very long time. What is the secret of creating folks do what you need them to do?
Oh, oh yeah, positive. Let me simply inform you all of my secrets and techniques proper now, Dan.
Okay, I’ll rephrase. How do you get folks to actively interact with you?
Somebody stated that magicians are probably the most sincere folks you may ever meet as a result of they inform you they’ll misinform you, after which they misinform you. However it’s important to get folks . For instance it is a card trick. They are going to decide on a card, and you will find it once more. That is not that attention-grabbing, actually. Except they have $100 on it. Now they’re watching each transfer, and then you definately make a mistake, and so they assume they received $100, and then you definately tear the invoice in half, and inside is their enjoying card — all of the sudden, they’re hooked. After I see great entrepreneurs, they might be promoting laundry detergent, however the nice ones have a story that they hook me in with. And all of the sudden, I am on Instagram spending $432 plus delivery on some fancy new laundry detergent. It will change my life, Dan. I will be blissful!
You’ve gotten fairly a well-known co-star, Mr. Piffles.
Sure, he is 17 years outdated. He is executed 3, 000 reveals with me. I obtained him when he was a few 12 months and a half. He is a rescue canine, which is, um, cheaper.
And I hear you’ve got enlisted science to present him some days off.
Sure. Time marches on, and we needed to present him a bit break. So, a few years in the past, we obtained a second canine known as Twoey, quantity two. We obtained Twoey off eBay, one other rescue canine. He seems equivalent, however he has stage fright, and when the lights hit him, he simply begins shaking. It was terrible, so he simply grew to become a buddy for Piffles. Then we went to a breeder and obtained Threeodore. He was good on stage and the identical measurement as Piffles, however then he saved rising. Mr. Piffles is about four-and-a-half kilos; Threeodore is now 15 kilos. So he is out; he is too fats to slot in the props. So, it was time to take drastic steps. I might heard Barbra Streisand cloned her dog, and I used to be like, “Properly, buckle up. That is what we’re doing.” Everybody stated it was a horrible concept, however eight weeks later, this pet arrived, and as he grew up, he was not solely equivalent, however he was really easy to coach and began doing the present precisely like Piffles. He is known as Fourtune, trigger he is quantity 4 and break the bank. He is also referred to as Mr. Piffles 2.0.
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Let’s speak about being ready for giant moments. Once you had been ready within the wings of America’s Acquired Expertise, what was going via your thoughts?
The primary time I went on America’s Got Talent, I wasn’t that nervous. I watched each magician who’d ever been on the present, wrote down each query the judges requested and had a humorous reply for every part. I used to be ready. And I knew the trick inside out as a result of I might executed it like 2,000 instances or no matter. I scripted no matter I might script, so after I went on, I might kick into that gear. To succeed, the perfect factor for me is to have good preparation. Then issues are inclined to go okay. Not at all times, nevertheless it tends to go okay. However after I go on the market with out that preparation? Oh, buddy, it is brutal.
Profitable folks typically speak about how failure is an effective factor. However it feels horrible. Do you subscribe to that philosophy?
It is easy to say, and it is laborious to do. It’s primarily what I did for 15 years. I failed as a magician as a result of I had all these silly guidelines and concepts after I began the act. For example, I needed all of my props to slot in a bag so it was straightforward to journey. However then, a few years later, I did a gig with anyone who ended the present by producing a reside rooster, and so they simply crushed it. And I noticed that I used to be holding myself again with this self-imposed rule and determined I might do something I wanted to succeed. I subscribe to that facet of failure as a instructing software. However if you happen to’re failing trigger you are unhealthy at issues? In that case, you have to get out. I went to drama faculty and realized within the first week I might by no means be an actor. Being a lead actor will not be in my wheelhouse. However the position of a grumpy dragon? That I might do.
See Piff the Magic Dragon and Mr. Piffles live in Vegas or on their national tour — ticket info here