For anyone who knows me well, they know I’ve watched a lot of magic. Finally this week I got to see Piff perform with the bonus of Penn, also on stage (who I have seen perform with Teller). The show is currently touring the UK for a couple of weeks and I got to see the Birmingham show. I bought my tickets last year and had a great seat just four rows back and central in the stalls. Just one show per each tour stop.
While I had seen comments online that the show was generally good, others had noted disappointment and claimed it wasn’t suited for children. Some also said it was too long. What would I think?
Pre-show I was also able to buy a signed poster for my collection. That was a win as it was signed by Piff, Penn and Jade Simone. I also bumped into magic act Cannon and Raymond in the foyer! No doubt quite a few magicians were in the audience. The merchandise was limited but also on sale were T-shirts and magnets.
The theatre was buzzing before the show. Once started, it was great to finally see Piff the Magic Dragon and cast. Two acts, the first entertaining solo spots for Penn and then Piff and then act 2 being the joint Magic Shoppe show with both acts as Piff and Pop.
The best part of the show was actually act 1. Both Penn and Piff were excellent. Smooth and decent magic. The anticipation of seeing Piff was high for me and watching Penn with the nail gun routine was classic Penn and funny. Piff being joined by Mr Piffles 2 and Jade was also fun. The magic with Mr Piffles was a highlight and Jade Simone was fab. She is very funny with all her mannerisms. I expect for the normal Piff show in Las Vegas, Jade likely has a bigger part. I would love to see the standard Piff show. Mr Piffles is of course a show stealer as well when on stage.
Piff is very natural, ad-libs a lot and is funny, of course presenting magic in his own way. For me personally, the humour was as you would expect. I didn’t think that there was too much swearing and maybe as this show was midway, perhaps it has been cut down. Yes, some cheeky humour and language but all fitting for the show.
Act 2 is where I have some issue with the show. Whereas act 1 was very well executed and well rehearsed, act 2 felt chaotic and too long. The theatre advertised that the 1930 show start would have a 20 minute interval and finish at 2205. However, the show finished at 2230 and it did drag a little at the end. Part of the issue was that audience volunteers had too much time on stage and therefore some effects featuring audience members went on for too long. Ideally, the show would have been 1 hour per act plus the 20 minute interval.
Overall an enjoyable evening and on reflection I am glad I had the opportunity. Having seen Penn perform before, the main highlight was Piff, Jade and Mr Piffles. Hopefully one day I can get to see the standard show which I imagine is also shorter!
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