If the phrase “magic performing chihuahua” didn’t have you clamoring for tickets on our website, maybe this down-and-dirty Q&A with said pup’s pet human—wacky magician Piff the Magic Dragon—will give you a little more hype for this unusual show arriving in early April.
The Straz Center’s INSIDE magazine managing editor Carol Cohen caught up with Piff, who is unrecognizable as his alias John van der Put, for a rapid-fire interview we’re posting exclusively on the blog. Piff and Mr. Piffles toured with Mumford and Sons, also scrounging up quite a bit of acclaim a few seasons ago on America’s Got Talent (he’s British but lives in Vegas, so.)
How did you get started in the business?
I started off as a magician, working in bars and restaurants before moving on to private parties, corporate dinners and other calamities.
What’s always in your refrigerator?
I have no idea. Last time I looked, there were three bottles of root beer and something possibly resembling cheese. Or cake. Or bacon. That was six months ago, and I haven’t dared since.
What is your worst quality?
Refusing to open the refrigerator.
What music is on your playlist?
That new Mumford & Sons album, Delta.
What’s your sign and what does it say about you?
My sign is Gemini, which loosely translated from the original Latin means “don’t touch me.”
Read any good books lately?
Yep. Fox 8 by George Saunders.
Cat person or dog person?
More like a Chihuahua person. Which is somewhere in between. It’s like a cat with love.
What’s the greatest thing since sliced bread?
Sliced cheese.
What’s your “guilty pleasure” television show?
Adventure Time. Why would they cancel it?
In the movie version of your life, who would play you?
I heard the Geico Gecko is interested in the part.
What are your thoughts about our great state of Florida?
Why do you have so many snakes and crocodiles? The only reptiles that should be allowed are magical mythical ones, I.e., me.
Who or what inspires you?
Mr. Piffles. Every day. His endless optimism that chicken is just around the corner at any given moment.
What do you consider your greatest successes – personally and professionally?
Professionally, being the first magic dragon to headline my own show in Las Vegas at The Flamingo Hotel and Casino. Personally? The discovery of Bacon Cheese Cake.
If you hadn’t chosen a career as an entertainer, what other career path do you think you’d have followed?
Maybe fronting a series of adverts for Geico.
The magic man in the dragon suit appears with his chihuahua in Ferguson Hall on April 4. Check ‘em out!