‘AGT’ Alum Piff The Magic Dragon Reveals How a One-Armed Baby Joke Went Horribly Wrong
Photo by Jim Spellman/WireImage Reading Time: 3 minutes
America’s Got Talent season ten saw the memorable performances of the funny magician Piff the Magic Dragon. Piff was recently a guest on Howie Mandel’s podcast Howie Mandel Does Stuff, where he talked about how a one-armed baby joke went horribly wrong. He also talked about his friendship with world-famous magicians Penn & Teller.
Piff the Magic Dragon Revealed How a Joke Went Wrong
Piff’s magic acts often include hilarious jokes that make his act more entertaining than it already is. Unfortunately, performances in front of a large audience do not always go according to plan, and coincidences can happen that can lead to an awkward result like what happened to one of Piff’s live showings.
The magician revealed to Mandel and co-host Jackelyn Shultz about an act during one of his Vegas live shows. The joke of the act involves a baby doll dropping to the floor from the ceiling of the room and it only has one arm. The joke went into poor taste however because coincidentally, an actual one-armed baby was brought to the show by an audience member.
“This was a doll and it drops in the middle of the show. Then I say “somebody pick up the baby,” and I say “is it just me or is that baby missing an arm?” Piff said. “As I look to the audience I see a baby in the second row, and everyone in the audience sees this one-armed baby. I’m like ‘God there’s no way out’.”
The lady holding the baby, who is probably the child’s mother, said that she didn’t actually take offense to the joke and actually enjoyed Piff’s magic show. Other audience members however, were unhappy with Piff calling out the joke amid the disabled child present at the show.
Piff The Magic Dragon Hangs Out With Penn & Teller
When asked whether he knew the iconic magic duo, Piff simply replied that they’re “BFFs,” and that they hang out together after the show. Piff looks back at how he competed in Penn & Teller: Fool Us and how the show’s creators gave him his first big break.
“They’re like my BFFs so Penn & Teller and I were hanging out of the shows,” Piff said. “They gave me my first break. They did a TV show called Penn & Teller: Fool Us, I went on and I didn’t fool them, but they loved it.”
The episode with Piff aired and blew up a couple months later prompting Penn & Teller to reach out to him. Penn Jillette recently appeared as a guest on the same podcast and spoke very highly of Piff The Magic Dragon.
“Penn was here the other day, and he could not say and he can’t say enough good things about you,” Mandel said. “He absolutely loves you.”
“Well he plays my dad in the special.” Piff said.
The magician spoke about how the BGT: The Ultimate Magician judge played as his father in the one hour special they did together titled Reptile Dysfunction. The special can be watched on Piff The Magic Dragon’s official YouTube account.
Piff Mentions Penn Jillette in an Instagram Post Reacting to his “Hunk” Compliments
Jillette gave the costume-wearing performer his best compliments during his guest appearance on the podcast. Piff reposted a clip of Jillette regarding his as one of his “closest friends,” and that he is a “great man.”
He captioned that it was “such an honor,” to get mentioned and spoken highly of by one of the greatest magicians alive. Jillette on the other hand, praises Piff in a way that shows the Magic Dragon’s, closeness to the most entertaining magicians there are.
