– Sian Borrill contributed to this report.
As part of the Lincoln Comedy Festival, Piff the Magic Dragon came to Lincoln’s Performing Arts Centre on Friday, October 5th for what was to be his second performance in the city, and he certainly didn’t disappoint.
Piff started his act with a few small magic tricks, while commenting on the price of each object used. After introducing his angry-looking assistant, Amy Sunshine, on stage, he revealed that she is there on a mix between “work experience/community service/part of David Cameron’s ‘back to work’ scheme” which explained her untoward attitude.
The act made reference to several well-known fairytales, as Piff toasted a marshmallow on a stick using his magical dragon flame breath, then tried to entice a member of the audience with it to join him on stage. This person would be his princess whose kiss would turn him into a Prince.
After struggling to find anyone brave enough to join him, Piff told the Lincoln audience that he “expected more” from them.
After finally finding a volunteer, Piff used a series of tests to see if the girl was a real princess or not, using tricks such as finding a pea under her seat and taking her shoe for a Cinderella-type plot, while incorporating magic tricks along the way.
Mr. Piffles, the chihuahua who Piff “rescued from chavs,” also played an important part in the performance. He was used to try and fool the audience into thinking that he also had magic skills, by following a line of dog treats to find the correct card used in a magic trick.
Mr. Piffles was also part of a vanishing act, where he seemingly disappeared then appeared in a parcel, which had previously been given to a member of the audience. This was another great example of audience interaction during Piff’s performance, who managed to keep the onlooker’s attention for its entirety.
Other impressive tricks before the interval consisted of Piff asking a member of the audience to guess Mr. Piffles’ first name though they were warned that, if they got it wrong, the dog would explode. Feeling under pressure, the name “Stanley” was randomly chosen. Funnily enough, the name printed on his collar was in fact Stanley, and the audience were left wondering how.
After a short interval to get refreshments, Piff began his second half by inviting three, now less-shy, audience members onto the stage and asked them to choose a card each from a shuffled set. Piff went on to guess all three of their cards by impressive ways, such as using a toaster to reveal the eight of diamonds which had been burnt onto the toast.
Finally, to conclude his performance, Piff got a kiss on the cheek from his confirmed Princess and he turned into Prince… the singer. Mr. Piffles was then placed in the “cannon of certain death.” This brilliant finale saw Mr. Piffles reappear in an angel costume, having been brought back from the “dead.”
Incorporating comedy into a magic act was always going to be a tricky task, not to mention having to train a dog into the act as well, but Piff did a marvellous job and the vibe from the audience after the show was brilliant. If Piff the Magic Dragon returns to Lincoln, he should not be missed.