From the sharp-suited The Rat Pack launching casino entertainment to a tassel-clad Elvis Presley doing the first ever residency, Las Vegas loves to gamble on the next big thing in entertainment.
In the 80s and 90s it was the place where Siegfried And Roy introduced the world to their white tigers. In the 2000s, Celine Dion was so popular, they built her her own arena. And in the 2010s, Michael Jackson made his debut - as a hologram.
But now the Sin City is about to unleash an British act that’s not only a world first but one that’s really and truly.... barking.
Because for the first time ever, the latest headliners will see a talented British star in a new double act - with his very own clone.
Fortunately the duo are not Elon Musk’s latest terrifying sci-fi project. Just a pair of chihuahuas with a remarkable tail to tell.
Comic magician Piff The Magic Dragon is a Londoner who remarkably became one of the biggest names on the Strip after appearing on America’s Got Talent with his Dundee-born rescue dog Mr Piffles in 2015.
But after 15 years working side by side in London and the US, Mr Piffles, 17, is getting ready to retire from the biz. For seven years Piff, real name John van der Put, has tried to find a suitable replacement co-star - but he just couldn’t find a dog with the same X Factor.
So he splashed 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.
Both pups will appear together on stage next week before the original pup trots off into retirement.
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, 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.”
John, 42, from Forest Hill, had begun his career “crashing and burning” on the UK stand up circuit. Then everything changed in 2008 when he went through a divorce, saw a severely depressed and underweight Piffles in a Dundee shelter, adopted him and realised they could do great magic tricks together. Their story is like a “weirder Turner And Hooch”, laughs John.
After working the London and US club circuits, the comic then took a big bet on America’s Got Talent in 2015. He wowed the judges, became a Stateside hit and is now the most successful ever UK comic in Vegas history. Since 2015, he has been a headliner at The Flamingo, and has his own theatre - which was once a key spot for icons like Tom Jones, Donnie And Marie and Gladys Knight.
It’s in this theatre that Fortune and Piffles will soon be making history.
“[Mr Piffles] started my success in this business,” admits John. “Here I am 15 years later and what I have done I’ve never thought it was possible.
“That is all because that dog has helped me come up with that.
“Nothing good happened in my career until I got that dog.
“[But] He is 17, slowing down and it’s nearly time.”
“So a couple of years ago, my heart was breaking about it and I thought I can’t make him live forever, but if I can make a part of him carry on.
”Nothing’s ever going to replace Piffles because you just can’t replace that attachment. But [this] is a way of keeping the spirit of him alive.
“I cannot make him live forever, so I made a part of him live forever. It’s unbelievable what science can do,
“When Piffles does finally go to the great doggie park in the sky, I’ll still be able to have a piece of him and all the performances that we had.”
Piffles 2.0 will be unveiled on stage officially - after a series of preview performances - at a celebratory night at his Flamingo Theatre on November 13. The same night will see the original Piffles take his final bow-wow before retiring.
John had initially begun the search for a doggy replacement seven years ago.
The first pup, who they named Two-ee was bought through eBay. But he was too anxious and suffered too much stage fright but loved to play off stage, leading to him being made “head of morale”.
“Then we approached every single rescue dog centre in the world before we found another puppy we felt was perfect,” explains John. “But after he got to five pounds, the same size as Piffles, he kept growing. He ended up 15 pounds and was too fat to fit in the costume or in the props. So he became Head of Security.”
Piff then read a story about how law enforcement clone the best bomb detection dogs as they “have a 80% success rate”. Barbra Streisand had previously cloned her late dog Sammie to create Miss Violet and Miss Scarlett in 2018.
So John turned to a Texas DNA company, Viagen, as a last resort. At 18 months, it was clear Fortune displayed the exact same traits as Piffles.
“He was a spitting image.
“You cannot tell them apart,” says John. “I still confuse him for Piffles It’s crazy.
“Three months in he started doing a couple of things similar and then year and a half in, he was on my lap, driving and he put his head on my arm just like Piffles does.
“And he was kind of done with life, which is what Piffles did from the moment I got him. And I was like, ‘Oh my Gosh, it’s the same dog’.
“We did some training, and he took it to it like a duck to water..or chihuahua to a magic dragon act.”
Laughing, John added: “[So] We told Piffles, ‘Alright buddy, thanks so much for buying me a house, pack your bags, you’re out’. And he’s been on the streets ever since.
“Just joking!”
In actual fact, pampered Piffles was honoured with a Key to Las Vegas last year, while John was simply his guest. Soon his days will be what every showbiz luvvie wants putting his paws up - while driving around in his fancy toy sports car, a well-earned treat after doing nearly 1,500 shows.
It’s been a long road for John too. The star endured “dark times” during his 20s.
A debilitating pancreas defect prompted him to rethink his life goals, studying drama at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He faced “a 25% chance of dying” after having the top of his pancreas removed,
But that setback, which was four years in and out of hospital, made him pursue his comedy.
In 2008 John’s life took a twist when he borrowed a dragon outfit from under her sister’s bed for a fancy dress bash that was cancelled. However that moment of embarrassment inspired him to use the costume for his shows, adopted into his cheeky personality and magic.
After getting Piffles, they started out on the London circuit before America’s Got Talent came calling in 2015. Stand-in judge Neil Patrick Harris gave him the golden buzzer through to the final and while they didn’t win but they did get the last laugh - when Piff’s exposure saw Flamingo Resort hire them as resident performers.
Clearly the Vegas bosses knew.... Piffles was truly one, or should that be two, of a kind.
For more information visit piffthemagicdragon.com.
English (US) ·