One of the first Las Vegas stars to return to the Strip stage is also one of the performers who may have been the most active during the temporary pause in entertainment. Piff the Magic Dragon never really stopped performing, revving up virtual shows to stay connected to his fans and followers and making several significant TV appearances over the slow summer. Now he’s excited to bring an all-new show to live, in-person audiences that will include special Vegas guests and a new headquarters: the classic, spacious Flamingo Showroom. Let the comedy and magic resume!
How does it feel to be one of the first Vegas headliners to return to performing on the Strip?
You know, it’s an amazing time because it’s so mixed. It’s exciting to be back in front of a live audience, which is great, but it’s a very difficult time for everyone. We’ve really struggled in the seven months since we’ve lost our shows. Everyone has found it very difficult and kind of depressing and people are still in that. The way I’m looking at it is, we can come back and we can give people an hour away from all of that. They can come in, they can laugh, they can enjoy themselves and hopefully be in a better mood to go back out and the face the difficulties that everyone is facing.
You were very active during your time away from the stage at Flamingo.
I was! I won something! I won this TBS show called Tournament of Laughs where we went up against other comedians and somehow we prevailed and emerged the victors. I’ve been doing virtual shows as well, and also … when we were shut down, I thought there was a chance this would go on for a while and when we’d come back, we’d have to do some shows with people sitting farther away. I thought there was a chance we might end up doing the show in the big room for less people, so why don’t we spend six months working on a brand-new show that will fit in a larger showroom. It turns out that was a good idea.
What was that like, the process of moving from the smaller cabaret room to the big Flamingo Showroom?
For the last two years, we’ve been playing these larger theaters on the road and coming back to the small room (at Flamingo). I’ve always loved playing those comedy clubs because of how close the audience is, but it does limit what you can do. Suddenly we can do all these huge things we’ve been doing on tour, which are much more like the material we’ve been developing. Creatively it’s great.
Was it difficult to develop that new material and stay creative when you were basically stuck at home for months?
It was difficult to stay positive. That’s what I found. Speaking to my friends from all walks of life, performers and people outside the industry, no one was doing OK. The creative part was easy because we had a two-year to-do list and finally had the time to make it happen, even though it felt slightly crazy to be working on those things. It was a bit like building Noah’s Ark. I would be, “The shows are coming back!” And everyone was like, “Really?” But we did it, we built the ark, and we’re ready to sail.
Did you bake bread or plant a garden or develop other quarantine skills?
I realized I was either going to put on a hundred pounds and never leave the house again or I would have to get healthy; there was no in-between. So I got a trainer, put a gym in the other garage and over the last seven months I lost 40 pounds and learned how to do pull-ups. I’m glad I went in that direction.
Flamingo, 13+, 702.777.2782, Ticketmaster
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