Piff, Tape Face in new ‘AGT Fantasy League’ series

Las Vegas Review-Journal

12 months ago

Piff The Magic Dragon, Showgirl Jade Simone and Mr. Piffles are shown on an episode of "America ... — Piff The Magic Dragon, Showgirl Jade Simone and Mr. Piffles are shown on an episode of “America’s Got Talent.” (Trae Patton/NBC)

Piff The Magic Dragon is shown amid stage smoke at Flamingo Showroom on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022. (Stabile Productions)

Piff The Magic Dragon (John van der Put) and showgirl Jade Simone are shown in a publicity photo. (Tom Donoghue)

Tape Face opens at Underground Theater at MGM Grand on Sept. 1. (Colin Boulter)

Sam Wills aka Tape Face at Harrah’s, and Christina Balonek are shown on the Blue Carpet prior to “One Night For One Drop,” held at O Theater at the Bellagio on Friday, March 8, 2019. ( John Katsilometes/Las Vegas Review-Journal @JohnnyKats

Billy and Emily England of “Absinthe” have advanced to the semifinals of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.” (NBC)

Brother-and-sister Billy and Emily England of “Absinthe” perform during Caesars Palace’s 50th anniversary celebration Friday, Aug. 5, 2016, at Garden of the Gods Pool Oasis. (Tom Donoghue)

Piff the Magic Dragon of the Flamingo has another shot at losing. New MGM grand headliner Tape Face is ready for mime time in prime time. Spiegelworld’s vaunted skating siblings Billy and Emily England are back in the spin zone. And piano virtuoso Kodi Lee of “Americas Got Talent Presents Superstars Live” at Luxor is returning to the national stage.

Those Strip-centric performers are cast in “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League,” premiering New Year’s Day on NBC. Executive producer Simon Cowell, Mel B., Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel are judges/team captains. Terry Crews is back as host.

Ideally, the new series will shine a light on the Vegas production, which is filled with ex-“AGT” contestants. The show opened at the 1,500-seat Luxor Theater in November 2021.

“Fantasy League” is what the title outlines, a competition in a fantasy-league format to crown a new “AGT” champ. Some 40 acts have been drafted for the new series, all of them “AGT” and “Britain’s Got Talent” alumni and several past champs.

Piff, legal name of John van der Put, has used “The Loser of America’s Got Talent” in his show’s marketing since he was a top-10 finisher in 2015, the year ventriloquial star Paul Zerdin claimed the title. The non-fire-breathing dragon’s career has since heated up.

With co-stars Showgirl Jade Simone and Mr. Piffles the magic canine, Piff has headlined Flamingo Showroom since the COVID reopening. Last month, the Stabile Productions show celebrated his 1,500th performance. He released “Piff the Magic Book — Vol. 1,” charting his career and revealing some of his favorite tricks. Piff fans will love it.

Tape Face, aka Sam Wills, moved from Harrah’s into House of Tape Theater at MGM Grand’s Underground promenade in September. The silent (black gaffer tape over his mouth to make sure of that) comic performer reached the top 10 in 2016’s Season 11. He kicked off his residency run in the original House of Tape at Harrah’s in March 2018, before moving to Harrah’s Cabaret in 2021.

During COVID, Wills also performed in Harrah’s Showroom set for a socially distanced capacity of 250. Wills placed 100 mannequin heads over seats in the front section to fill space.

The daring skaters Billy and Emily England performed for Spiegelworld in “Absinthe” at Caesars and later “OPM” at Cosmopolitan. The pair reached the semifinals of Season 12 in 2017. Two years later they were eliminated from “AGT Champions” in preliminaries.

In 2014, Emily England debuted an aerial sphere act in the inspired but short-lived “Vegas Nocturne” at Cosmopolitan. She spent a decade with Spiegelworld before her and Billy’s contract with Spiegelworld expired in October.

The brother-sister act texted they want to win “Fantasy League,” and are also available to appear in Las Vegas, as they are not currently cast in any production.,

Lee is the 2019 Season 14 “AGT” champ and slotted as the show-closer in the live show at Luxor. Certainly whatever team he reps in “Fantasy League” would be a favorite.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.