With over 100 million online views, sold out shows across the U.S. and Canada and a residency at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas, Piff the Magic Dragon has proved he’s here to stay.

Joined by Mr Piffles, The World’s Only Magic Performing Chihuahua™, the dynamic duo have performed all over the world in iconic venues such as Radio City Music Hall, Shakespeare’s Globe, the O2, London and Sydney Opera house. He was the opening act for Mumford & Sons on their 17-date U.K. tour and graces the cover of their Grammy award winning album Babel.

Magician and comedian from the United Kingdom, Piff the Magic Dragon is the winner of multiple awards from British magic societies and appeared on “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” and “America's Got Talent.” In 2019, Piff the Magic Dragon was named one of Variety's 10 Comics to Watch for 2019.

Regarding his comedic influences, Piff the Magic Dragon said "It was the people who are a little more irreverent. It was people like The Amazing Johnathan, Penn and Teller, Harry Anderson … and also if you look at some of the Copperfield stuff, like with the singing tie, he’s got amazingly funny routines as well. But obviously, the other stuff that Copperfield does is very straight and serious. And that was what I was reacting against."

And when asked which is harder, doing the magic or getting the comedy right, Piff said: "It is, without question, getting the magic tricks to work. That is the hardest bit. Because for the comedy, you can rewrite a joke pretty quickly, but to make a magic trick work it’s usually at least a month or two in R&D prototyping. And if it doesn’t work, then you have to really go back to the drawing board. Because now you spent all this time on something that nobody even cares about. So, you have to start again."

In 2008, John van der Put created his stage persona of Piff the Magic Dragon, dressing in a green, red and yellow dragon costume, with self-deprecating humor and deadpan delivery. He is assisted by "Mr. Piffles," a chihuahua in a dragon costume. The Magic Dragon persona was created by happenstance, when he went to a costume party in a dragon outfit, and nobody else turned up in costume. "It was just me. And one of my friends who knew that I was a magician said to me, 'You should do this in your act. You could be Puff the Magic Dragon.' And I said, 'Wait, I could be Piff the Magic Dragon. You might have heard of my older brother, Steve.' And that's where that came from."

When asked in an interview why he is a dragon, and not some other mythological being, Piff the Magic Dragon responded:

The first question is, “Am I even a dragon?” Because, well I don’t have wings … I can’t even fly. So, I don’t know. What happened was: I was a regular human magician for many years. And it never really worked out for me … I had a sort of very grumpy face, and I was getting fired everywhere. And then I had to go to a costume party, and I didn’t have a costume to wear and I said to my sister, ‘Do you have anything to wear?’ And she said, ‘Yes, I have a dragon outfit under my bed.’

So, the fact that it’s even a dragon outfit is solely down to my sister and her interpretation of the facts. And, I did ask her recently, ten years later, ‘Was it definitely a dragon outfit?,’ and she could not authenticate that. So, it was definitely some sort of lizardy, reptile-ish creature that I prefer to look at as a dragon.”

Piff the Magic Dragon has appeared regularly in shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, debuting at the 2009 Free Fringe Festival with a solo show that broke the record for highest takings in one night and being nominated for the inaugural 2012 Time Out and Soho Theatre Cabaret Award. His show at the 2009 Buxton Fringe won the award for Best Comedy Show the same year that Love and Other Magic Tricks won. He has had national tours of the UK and Australia and now Piff is on tour across the U.S. and headed to the Walton Arts Center for The Fun Size Tour.

Piff the Magic Dragon

The Fun Size Tour
featuring Mr Piffles, The World’s Only Magic Performing Chihuahua™

DATE: Sunday, Jan. 12, 7pm

“Piff is the best! A true original!” -David Copperfield

“A stunningly good magician!” -Penn & Teller