LYNN — Piff the Magic Dragon, a comedian and magician who was once featured on the 10th season of the hit-show “America’s Got Talent,” will be appearing at Lynn Auditorium at 8 p.m.
Piff — whose real name is John van der Put — has made an icon of himself in his now-famous “dragon onesie,” and intricate, mind-bending tricks that leave audiences speechless. Aside from also appearing beside renown magicians Penn and Teller, Piff has headlined the Flamingo Hotel and Casino since 2015, where he’s performed for over 500,000 guests.
What sets Piff aside from a sea of performers, magicians and influencers, perhaps, is the slow-burning culmination of his persona — which is anything but hard to miss. Garbed in his now classic “dinosaur onesie,” he shares the stage with “Mr. Piffles the 2nd,” (the only magic performing chihuahua, according to his website) and performer Jade Simone, who has been touring with the two nationally for years since they met in New Orleans.
Besides his taste for theatrics and tricks that leaves the mind of the audience rattling, he has his very own special on youtube titled, “Reptile Dysfunction,” as well as his book, “Piff the Magic Book, Vol. 1,” which is also available on his website (https://piffthemagicdragon.com/).
He recounted how he first got into magic while growing up.
“The first time I saw a magician was when I was much younger, and he did this trick with these big metal rings — and they were separate, I clicked them together — and then they were linked,” he said. “I thought I had magical powers. … But when I found out that I didn’t, I wanted to learn how to do it myself.”
He cited Penn and Teller and Amazing Johnathon as some of his earliest inspirations that encouraged him to pursue his passion.
Then, he took a moment to consider the two main elements in his show — comedy and magic, explaining how the components feed off each other and differ in the moment-to-moment basis of the show.
“The thing is, if you’re not laughing, hopefully it’s because I’m doing a trick,” Piff explained. “The two are pretty interlaced, and the difficult part, as I’ve found it, is the magic. … You have to do something that’s not possible — you have to create something that can’t be done, otherwise you don’t have an interesting trick.”
For Piff, the countless performances don’t become monotonous or routine — instead, he tries to find the differences between each event, what makes each show unique for the audience.
“I love how different the show is for each different audience,” he said. “We do 250 shows a year in Las Vegas, we do about 50 on the road, and every one is different.”
Piff continued, “It’s crazy, all the things that have happened over the years. … Going on ‘America’s Got Talent,’ becoming friends with Penn and Teller, touring all over the world, doing shows in Vegas. All of that’s just pretty crazy, really.”
According to Piff, the shows in Las Vegas “are completely different from the tour shows.”
He added to his point, saying that when the time comes to perform for Lynn audiences — and the time is quickly approaching, as his Lynn debut is set for June 27 — he just hopes the audience enjoys himself.
“I just hope that everyone has a really great time. … That’s definitely the name of the game, to give people a great night out,” Piff said. “And it’s something that’s for everyone — it doesn’t matter what age you are, or your political views — everyone can get together and have a good time.”
