Piff the Magic Dragon is Bringing His Vegas Variety Show on the Road

Although John van der Put has been performing magic since his teens, most people know him by his stage name: Piff the Magic Dragon. He often introduces himself as the brother of a much more famous dragon…Steve.

Currently, Piff is bringing his wacky comedy tour to Seattle as part of his 2025 All-Star Vegas show. As a fan of comedy and magic, I was thrilled to be given the chance to interview John.

“Is John or Piff available?”, I asked at the beginning of our phone call. “We’re both here,” he replies. If you’ve seen his act, you understand that he projects a grumpy, disinterested personality and that came through during our phone conversation. But still, how often does one get the chance to speak to a real, fire-breathing magical dragon?

Piff, his dog Mr. Piffles (“The world’s only magic performing Chihuahua”) and showgirl wife, Jade Simone are on the road with the Piff the Magic Dragon’s All-Star Vegas Tour which features circus artists and comedians in addition to great illusions.

“My friend runs this big magic show, and I really love working with him,” says John. “And we said, hey, Let’s do something together. So, we put on this all-star show, which is me and my friends from Cirque du Soleil, from America’s Got Talent, all over the place. And, uh, it’s one big night of magic and variety.”

These include comedian magicians Paul Dabek and Brett Alters from Cirque Du Soleil, circus artist Tanya Gagné (who appeared as “Goldie Hen” during America’s Got Talent’s 20th season) and self-described “Clown Boss”, Chad Damiani (who appeared on the show during its 15th season).

The All-Star Vegas Tour isn’t your typical magic show. It’s a variety show of talent that is actually family friendly – age eight and up! That doesn’t mean that it won’t contain some adult humor, but it will go over your kids’ heads. The show has gotten some high praise from celebrities too. (Image: piffthemagicdragon.com)

In the Beginning

Like many others, I had never heard of Piff the Magic Dragon until he performed during the 10th season of NBC’s America’s Got Talent and I have been a fan ever since.

Believe it or not, John didn’t always aspire to play a magic dragon. He grew up fascinated by magic. As an evangelical Christian, John performed “gospel magic” shows where he would use standard magic tricks while sharing the gospel at local churches. It was a pretty sweet gig.

“It was what I did for a long, long time when I was younger. It gave me some performance experience. I got to do hundreds and hundreds of shows before I was 21.”

John also became a member of The Magic Circle, an organization created to advance the art of magic. He was one of the youngest magicians to have lectured there.

“What was it like to lecture magicians there older than you?”

“It was crazy. But, they were a very nice organization, and they gave me a lot of help when I started out, and I wouldn’t be a magic dragon without them,” says John.

Master magicians and gospel magic, it seemed to me that John’s parents have been pretty supportive of his endeavors. I ask him if they had any restrictions or reservations about him wanting to become a magician full time.

“No, no, no. They were amazingly supportive, you know, considering how crazy the world of this business is and how difficult it is to get a job. They said to me, go to university and get a degree so you have something to fall back on should you ever need it.”

And he did. He finished a computer science degree and worked in IT.

“That sounds completely the opposite of what you do today,” I say.

“It is. Yeah. It really is.”

“Was it soul-crushing at all?”

“Not really. It kept the bills paid, and I was able to, keep going out and do magic, but I wasn’t earning enough money to survive [performing magic alone].”

In 2011, Piff appeared on Penn & Teller: Fool Us and were so impressed with his skills, they described his act as their favorite of the season and dubbed John, “a stunningly good magician.” In 2022, Penn Jillette appeared as Pop the Magic Dragon for the Piff the Magic Dragon: Reptile Dysfunction special.

In 2012, Piff toured with the band Mumford & Sons and in 2014, he moved to Las Vegas to appear in a show, but according to him, it wasn’t meant to be. “That show went down in flames. It did not last as long as I thought it was gonna last.” and I wanted to stay in America. So, I went on America’s Got Talent and got all the way through the finals but didn’t win. (Image: Steve Allen)

On his website Piff boasts that he’s “The Loser of America’s Got Talent”. That’s a bit of a misnomer. John was a finalist, but he wasn’t crowned the top winner. Even so, he has done alright for himself.

“The very next day, literally, I got a show in Vegas,” says John.

John was later offered to perform as a residence entertainer at Flamingo in Las Vegas. In fact, one of the venues is even renamed after him. In 2023, he was awarded Academy of Magical Arts Magician of the Year. But that is where he is today.

The Birth of Piff

There is a funny story about how John had been invited to a costume party. He didn’t have a costume, so he borrowed one from his sister, which just so happened to be of a dragon. When he arrived at the party, he was the only one wearing a costume.

“It is true that Piff was ‘born’ after you attended a costume party and …” before I could finish the question he interrupted saying “Yeah, it’s true.”

“And were you inspired that night or afterwards? I read somewhere that some people talked to you and said that you should make an act out of this.”

“Yeah. It was kind of like that night. I was like, okay. I thought that I’d give it a go and see what happens. And it turned out to be the best thing that I ever did.”

“What was your first performance like as Piff? Did you wonder if they were going to accept you wearing the costume rather than traditional magician wear?” (I don’t know what “traditional magician wear” is, but it sounded good at the time.)

“I didn’t really know whether it was gonna work out at all. I just thought I wanna see how it goes, and it went amazingly well.”

Piff, Mr. Piffles and Jade Simone on *America’s Got Talent (NBC)*

The Dragon, the Dog and the Girl

It’s Piff’s name on the marquee, but John will tell you that it’s a team project. In fact, he thinks Mr. Piffles is really the star of the show. According to Piff’s website, that poor pup has been levitated, laminated, shackled in a strait jacket and shot out of a cannon. (Relax everyone, it’s magic.) The dog on the road is actually Mr. Piffles II as the first dog passed away 15 years of performances.

Piff’s other co-star is his wife Jade Simone who he met while performing for a charity show. On the website she is described as “The Girl with the Dragon to do List.”

“She was a showgirl, and we were doing a show,” says John. “Somebody asked me to do a show as a favor. She was the female guest act, and I was the male guest act. So that’s how we met.”

“And then what happened?”

“I asked her to dinner. She said no, and then eventually, she said yes. I think I would have been leery of a guy in a dragon outfit too.”

“I’m assuming you left the costume at home.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

John and Jade have been performing together for ten years now. So, what does Mr. and Mrs. Dragon do when they’re not performing?

“I like watching movies, video games, all that sort of stuff. Nothing too exciting unfortunately.”

Lastly, I ask, “If something happened to you and you could no longer work as a magician, what would you do?”

“I’d go back to doing IT support.”

“Really?”

“Yeah…No, I’d be a writer.”

Actually, John has already written one. He has an interest in writing a novel, but he has published Piff the Magic Book, Volume 1. At 430 pages, it’s huge – and it’s just volume one! In addition to sharing some magical secrets, it talks about the magician’s entire life.

The Tour

Just when you think that all magic acts are the same, Piff the Magic Dragon proves that thinking outside of the magic hat can lead to some great things.

Piff the Magic Dragon’s All-Star Vegas Tour continues into May 2026. Here are some of the upcoming stops.