Piff clones his assistant, Mr Piffles

Comedy magician spends $60,000 to get a new sidekick, with the same DNA

comedy Comedy magician Piff The Magic Dragon has cloned his assistant, Mr Piffles.

The British performer – now based in the US following his success on America’s Got Talent – spent $60,000 (£47,000) making a new version of his chihuahua sidekick to allow the original to retire.

Puff said: ‘Mr Piffles has earned the right to a royal retirement, and for the past ten years I’ve been looking for a replacement.

'I searched rescue shelters far and wide for a chihuahua able to live up to the legacy. I needed a dog who could do card tricks, read minds, and withstand being shot out of a cannon nightly.

‘After a decade of fruitless searching, I gave up and googled Barbra Streisand. For the very reasonable price of an Audi Q7, I now have the dog of my dreams. Again.’

Six years ago Streisand revealed that her two puppies, Miss Violet and Miss Scarlett, are actually clones of her Coton de Tulear Samantha, who died the previous year, based on cells taken from her mouth and stomach.

In what’s described as ‘a groundbreaking and possibly barely legal move’, fans can also get their own cloned Mr Piffles, a snip at $120,000.

Meanwhile, Mr Piffles 2.0 will co-star with his owner and a glamorous showgirl in a weekly show at the Flamingo Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Piff - real name John van der Put – is also hoping to cover the cloning costs with a tour he’s calling the It Cost $60,000 To Clone My Dog And Now I Need to Make The Money Back tour.

Kicking off in Alberta, Canada, next month it will feature both Mr Piffleses and showcase ‘impossible yet undeniable talents of telepathy between the two twins’.

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Published: 31 Jul 2024