Piff thinks out of the box, Heidi Klum doesn’t; Village people expect Route 91 return

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Shania Twain, Piff the Magic Dragon and Mr. Piffles at the Colosseum on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, in Caesars Palace.

Published Fri, Oct 16, 2015 (5:14 p.m.)

Updated Mon, Oct 19, 2015 (11:40 a.m.)

The Kats Report Bureau at this writing is an enclave of serenity just around the corner from Mayweather Boxing Club.

All I’ll say about these respective training centers is those inside are apt to slug it out and hug it out.

Onward …

• The city’s favorite breath of fresh air, Piff the Magic Dragon, is returning to the Las Vegas stage in “America’s Got Talent Live” from Thursday through Oct. 24 at Planet Hollywood’s PH Showroom.

The show’s Season 10 champion, ventriloquist Paul Zerdin, headlines the production, and finalist comic Drew Lynch also is scheduled to perform at the former “Peepshow” venue.

Under his given name of Jon van der Put, Piff and his Chihuahua sidekick, Mr. Piffles, appeared on Friday’s episode of “Kats With the Dish.” He said he did not want to win the show, as his dour and deadpan character plays far more effectively as a loser than a winner of the show.

“There is nothing about my character that screams ‘champion,’ ” Van der Put said during the show. “As a comedian, it’s far better for me to have lost the show.”

Van der Put said his magic may have been a bit too convincing for at least one of the judges. After one of his tricks, in which Mr. Piffles is ostensibly stuffed in a little box, Heidi Klum complained to him, “I think it’s cruel to put a dog in a box like that.”

“You do know what I do for a living?” Van der Put replied, not bothering to add that the dog was not actually trapped in a box for the entire trick. Fortunately, for him and for Klum, he didn’t saw Mr. Piffles in half …

• On the topic of magic, stuff being cut and put together again …

The relaunch of Criss Angel’s “The Supernaturalists” is official: The show returns to the stage Nov. 11-15 at Fox Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino (or Felix’s Funhouse, so named by me for hotel President and CEO Felix Rappaport). The show returns to the sprawling property in Connecticut from Dec. 16-20.

“The Supernaturalists” halted its U.S. tour this week after a stop Tuesday and Wednesday in Toledo, Ohio, during which Angel appeared onstage rather than in video clips from Las Vegas. He joined the tour in the days after one of the nine magicians in the lineup, Krystyn Lambert, dropped out because of an Achilles’ tendon tear, which was the reason given for the tour’s truncation. Knocked out were dates through Pennsylvania; Washington, D.C.; Baton Rouge, La.; and San Antonio and Austin, Texas.

Angel also is performing in “The Supernaturalists” shows at Foxwoods, where his live show “Mindfreak Live” did sold-out business this year. No word on whether Krystyn (her singular stage name) will be ready to return to the stage then, or if Angel is to summon a new female magician — and there is one, Chloe Crawford, who leaps to mind — to the cast.

• The zeal for a move by Route 91 Harvest Country Music Fest from Las Vegas Village to Las Vegas Festival Grounds for its October 2016 return seems premature. MGM Resorts officials, expressly Senior Vice President of Entertainment Chris Baldizan, have envisioned the festival’s move north from the 15-acre Village to the 50-acre Las Vegas Festival Grounds (that figure counts the entire space, not just what has been used for Rock in Rio).

Route 91 Harvest’s ticket sales did show a marked improvement over 2014, selling out at 25,000 fans per night over three nights on a tightly packed parcel across from Luxor. The robust sales led to the reasonable expectation that the next festival would be given some room to breathe and grow at the larger Festival Grounds venue on the Strip and Sahara Avenue.

But more recently, in the days after the second Wine Amplified Festival last weekend (which drew a respectable 5,000 on Friday night and 7,000 Saturday), word is that Route 91 promoter Live Nation favors returning once more to the Village.

The Route 91 options are simple: Grow the festival at its current ticket price with the characteristically strong lineup and move it north, boosting attendance by a few thousand and adjusting the festival space accordingly. Or, keep the ticket sales capped at this year’s level and boost ticket prices, thus improving revenue and keeping the show on a space that, most festivalgoers agree, is more viscerally appealing than the Festival Grounds.

The Village’s terrific view of the resorts on the south end of the Strip has become a significant drawing component for the Village (check out my groovy Instagram photos of the Village view during shows there). Unless Live Nation and MGM Resorts expressly agree to move the show north, expect the same sort of Route 91 Harvest festival next year — and to pay more for that experience.

• “Alice — A Steampunk Rock Concert” blew up Brooklyn Bowl on Tuesday night, and not unexpectedly. Production founder Anne Martinez delivered on her promise of inventive aerial acts, a smoking pre-show (much of that aerial) carrying the “Alice” theme, and even impressive LED complements from the bowling lanes on house left.

In terms of quality and quantity, the turnout was great, about 360 paid with tickets set at $30 a shot, $15 a ticket for locals and an industry-heavy audience on hand.

Martinez and co-lead Ashley Fuller made it over just after 11 p.m. from their respective shows (Martinez in “50 Shades! A Parody” and Fuller in “Jubilee,” both at Bally’s).

Martinez its still “in talks” (and really, aren’t we all?) with the bookers of the room and is optimistic she can parlay Tuesday’s performance into a more recurring role at the Bowl. A residency has always been the objective.

The trick is to find the tipping point where “Alice” can pull in the break-even numbers each time out — and Martinez wants a for-real, sit-down, nightly residency at such a venue as Brooklyn Bowl. The talent, dedication and execution of the performers is undeniable. Finding an audience of Las Vegas visitors that “gets” this musically muscular, steam-punk rock show is the next task.

• Word is filtering through the scene about an intriguing venue being built at New York-New York. This is a convention space with entertainment options, a seating capacity of 300 or so, in the unused area atop Tom’s Urban facing the hotel’s sports book. It is to be open in early 2016, with no firm plan of programming yet determined.

• A great moment Wednesday night from Gordie Brown’s media performance at Golden Nugget: I took my seat in the showroom while carrying a glass that was formerly filled with sparkling water. As I settled in, the guy next to me dropped a $1 bill atop the ice in that glass.

“Here,” said comedy legend Marty Allen, cracking wise at age 93. “You’ve earned it.”

Say this for Allen: He still has the shtick. But he no longer has his first dollar …

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.

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