Piff the Magic Dragon in... Piff-Tacular! |
Published on Wednesday, 14 April 2010 | |
Oh my goodness, what are we doing? We're recommending a conjuring show. Performed by a man in a dragon suit. Who calls himself Piff, has a mind-reading fish... and according to the Fringe programme, suffers from a "penchant for princesses". Have we taken leave of our minds? We don't think so. Over the last year or so, Piff The Magic Dragon has been a breath of fresh fire on the Fringe comedy circuit, with standing-room-only houses greeting his last few shows in Edinburgh. Imagine Jack Dee as a stage magician, and you’ll have an idea of Piff’s style; he’s bored rigid by it all, and that makes it all the funnier. The man inside the dragon suit is John van der Put, actually a highly-talented magician with a prestigious prize for close-up magic to his name. Reviewing the 2009 show, FringeGuru’s Trystan Davies admitted he’d been bemused by the idea, but pleasantly surprised by the execution: van der Put’s variety and sophistication, he wrote, kept the humour going and the audience on its toes. Piff does a good line, too, in well-judged ad-libs, as the self-declared princess-hunter plays cheekily with the ladies in the front row. It is, of course, a novelty act – and if you just don’t get the joke, you’re in for a long hour. But most people find one glance at the grumpy dragon enough to raise a smile; and if you’re anything like us, you'll love that rascal Piff. |
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FROM OUR ARCHIVES
These are archived reviews of shows from Brighton 2010. We keep our archives online as a courtesy to performers, and for readers who'd like to research previous years' reviews.