Comic magician Piff The Magic Dragon has landed a Las Vegas residency with a cloned dog after appearing on America’s Got Talent with his Dundee-born rescue dog Mr Piffles in 2015.
After being in the limelight for over 15 years and travelling all over the world to perform, Mr Piffles, 17, is getting ready to retire due to old age.
Piff, real name John van der Put, has been desperately searching for Mr Piffles' replacement for over seven years, however couldn’t find a dog who had the same high standards as his beloved pooch.
Taking things a step further to find a like for like copy, Piff has forked out £47k ($60k) to have scientists use DNA from Mr Piffles to create a clone - a doppelgänger, Fortune, or, as he’s nicknamed, Mr Piffles 2.0, writes The Mirror.
Both pooches will appear together on stage next week before the original pup begins retirement.
Speaking to our sister paper, John, 42, explains: “Vegas has spawned many firsts from Elvis’s residency to The Sphere, but never in the history of entertainment has there been a cloned performer.
“It was either me or Mr. Piffles. And fortunately we went with the dog.
“He is a hundred percent genetically identical - so that’s why he’s called Mr Piffles 2.0!
“Actually we call him Fortune, because he cost a fortune to create at $60,000. But he is worth every cent.”
Piff has been on a rollercoaster ride since he appeared on Penn & Teller show Fool Us in 2011 and went into overdrive when he was a finalist on America’s Got Talent in 2015, earning standing ovations from judges Howard Stern and Heidi Klum.
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John got his four-legged performing companion from Dundee during his first visit to the Edinburgh Festival in 2008.
He and Mr Piffles have went on to appear at the Edinburgh Fringe several times.
Speaking to the Daily Record previously, he said: “At that time, Mr Piffles was being kicked around by an eight-year-old boy. I rescued him and gave him a new life in showbusiness. He took to it like a duck to water and we’ve been inseparable since. We’ve been together for seven years now. It’s my longest relationship.”
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