SALT LAKE CITY — It’s a good formula for a hilarious evening: a YouTube magician, a comedian in a dragon suit and a Chihuahua that reads minds.
Piff the Magic Dragon, a comedian and magician known in the U.S. for his 2011 appearance on "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" and his 2015 appearances on “America’s Got Talent,” is performing at Wiseguys Comedy Club in Salt Lake City from Aug. 31-Sept. 1, and he’s bringing his dog, Mr. Piffles, and YouTube star Stuart Edge with him.
Piff — who’s real name is John van der Put — is originally from London but currently lives in Las Vegas, where he spends about half his time performing at the Flamingo Casino. He spends the other half on tour.
“This is our second time back to Salt Lake,” Van der Put said. “We came in summer 2016, so we're bringing an all new show back with all the tricks, all new jokes, same dog. It's still the same dog.”
The dog, an adorable Chihuahua named Mr. Piffles, is a mind-reader and a fortune-teller (of sorts), who joins Van der Put onstage for "The Dog Who Knows" 2018 tour, a mix of dry comedy and impressive magic tricks that require audience participation.
“Almost every trick that we do needs somebody on stage to help,” Van der Put said. “In this show, the audience gets to ask any question they'd like answered to the dog. So anyone in the audience might end up onstage helping.”
While Van der Put's website describes him as "Larry David in a dragon suit performing jaw-dropping magic tricks," the dragon suit happened by chance. As he told the Independent in 2013, Van der Put, then working as a professional magician, went to a costume party dressed in a dragon suit only to discover he was the only one dressed up.
"I spent the whole night getting more and more grumpy. And then my friend said, 'You should do this in your act,'" he told the Independent. In time, he worked the costume into his act, giving birth to his stage name "Piff the Magic Dragon."
“I was doing regular shows as a magician. I was getting fired at work because I was too grumpy," Van der Put told the Deseret News. "And so this just happened to be the only way that I could actually be employed — as a dragon. It made my grumpiness socially acceptable. It's very difficult to get upset by a guy in a dragon outfit.”
The costume has worked in his favor. After a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2009 (and many more since then), Van der Put toured with the band Mumford & Sons in 2012 as their opening act, appearing on the cover of their Grammy award-winning album "Babel." He's performed at the Sydney Opera House, Shakespeare's Globe in London, Radio City Music Hall in New York City and many other prestigious venues. And then there are his over 100,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel.
While his show isn't always family-friendly, Van der Put's Utah stop will showcase his dry wit and genuinely amazing tricks — and mind-reading dog — as well as YouTuber Stuart Edge, the Utah native who Van der Put called a “YouTube legend.” According to Van der Put, Piff the Magic Dragon first toured with Stuart Edge about a year ago.
Knowing a local helps — prior to their show, Edge will also serve as a tour guide for Piff the Magic Dragon and Mr. Piffles, showing them around Salt Lake City.
“We're very excited to be working with him again,” Van der Put said. “He's a great, great magician.”
If you go …
What: Piff the Magic Dragon
When: Aug. 31-Sept. 1, times vary
Where: Wiseguys Comedy Club, 194 S. 400 West
How much: $30
Phone: 801-532-5233
Web: wiseguyscomedy.com
Note: This show is only for those ages 21 and over.