For the last 12 years, John van der Put has performed as Piff the Magic Dragon. Though it pays the bills, I’d think he’d be tired of the persona by now. It only took me about ten or fifteen minutes, the time at the top of the show he boringly bantered with willing audience members in the guise of humor as he searched for his first on-stage victim.

To be fair, he is widely acclaimed, has solid magician skills, and is funny in spurts. But I wonder if he would be as popular if he weren’t wearing a cheesy Halloween costume. Or is he merely following in the hallowed footsteps of Bette Midler and her wheelchair-bound mermaid alter ego Delores Delago.

The other thing that sets his show apart is his sidekick, Mr. Piffles, the World’s First Magic Performing Chihuahua™. There was a point where I thought, and hoped, that Mr. Piffles might shuffle a deck of cards, but, alas, the height of his powers was being put into a bag with a Rubik’s Cube.

As further proof that Mr. Piffles is not all that special, Piff replaced him on short notice for a show in New Zealand with a dog that had previously starred as Bruiser in a stage production of Legally Blonde. Clearly that dog has some range.

Piff’s act also makes good use of Las Vegas comedic showgirl Jade Simone, who is not to be confused with Nina Simone, who performed in Vegas in the 1960s, or Simón Bolívar, who never made it to Vegas.

Piff has appeared on television on Penn & Teller: Fool Us and America’s Got Talent, but hasn’t made it to the list of the Top Ten Most Famous Dragons of All Time, though his almost namesake Puff comes in at number 18, which magically is part of the top ten.