Coming into Coney Island Comedy, I had my reservations. Watching people with a liking for razor blade diets and rubber band masks wasn’t my idea of a beer and a laugh.

I walked out pleasantly surprised but for different reasons. It would be misleading to approach the show expecting some of the world’s finest comic talents.?? Instead, you’ll meet an assembly of talented – and bizarre – street performers, like a young man from a town called Penguin who learnt how to swallow swords over the internet (Is there anything you can’t learn over the web?).

The show’s linchpin is the seasoned comic and magician Nick Nickolas – think a slightly steadier Ozzy Osbourne plus magic – who, as the master of ceremonies, gives each performer their deserved rev up. Nickolas is a natural showman, as dry as sticks but undoubtedly beguiling.

The rest of the show is a bit of hit-and-miss. The best of the nine acts find a balance between tricks and quips, such as New Zealander Tony Roberts and Philadelphia lad Tim Motley. The others try but don’t stray too far from their comfort zones; that is, what most of us might find, excruciatingly uncomfortable (lifting beer kegs with one’s nipples, for example). While moments of head scratching marvel and stomach churning nausea do punctuate the show, the laughs rest firmly with Nickolas.

Coney Island Comedy has its fair share of potential. But if Coney Island Comedy is their goal, then more practice with the microphone instead of the juggling pins should be on the cards.

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