Review- Piff the Magic Dragon- Udderbelly
11-2-16
By: Meaghan McGurgan
Sometimes you see a performer who is very talented but they're having a bad night. This was the case when I saw Piff the Magic Dragon at the Udderbelly. A bad show can be caused by various factors: technical glitches, performing in a new space, a weird audience vibe or Murphy's Law. With this performance of Breakfast at Piffany's, everything that could go wrong did.
But the one thing that stayed solid and showed promise was the star of the show, Piff. Piff the Magic Dragon is a magician made famous by his performance on America's Got Talent and Penn and Teller's Fool Me. He was also ripped off by another magician on a Russian show called Surprise Me!, which led to a humorous cut scene during the show. Piff is a very talented performer. He is excellent at slight of hand and entertaining a crowd. His show is definitely NOT kid friendly. His sardonic wit and dead pan delivery of words helps carry through the jokes. But sarcasm can only carry you so far when it feels like the walls are crumbling down around you.
His assistant, Sophie Sunshine, added some much needed energy to the night. She worked hard to amp up a crowd that was less than enthusiastic. Hong Kong crowd's are notorious for being hard to work when it comes to audience participation, but she did an excellent job dealing with hiccups in the prop department and other areas. (And can she run in heels!)
I'm hoping that this show will work out their obvious technical glitches with the lights being out of focus and sound levels being uneven. It would be nice to be able to hear Piff's words clearly when he's explaining the tricks and asking questions to the crowd. The soundtrack choices for the performance were clever but not as important as the narration.
This was a show with incredible potential and a wonderful performer. There were some humorous moments but overall, I wouldn't recommend Piff based on what I saw last night. However, if he can work his magic on the technical problems the show had, it will be a truly entertaining evening.
Piff the Magic Dragon has now closed. For more information, click here.
Comments
Monica
Was this the opening night? Yeah... It was awkward to say the least.
11 February 2016