This performer has become an absolute must see for me over the last few years. As soon as I discovered he was bringing his ever-increasing bag of trick to this year’s Fringe the tickets were bought.

Nick Mohammed’s character “Mr Swallow” takes a page from the late great Tommy Coopers playbook and then cranks it to 11. You see Tommy was a very accomplished magician, yet he would spend entire sets getting tricks wrong and lulling us all into a complacent sense of comical inability before somehow pulling a rabbit from a hat – in some cases literally.

During his last show (Mr Swallow: Houdini) Mr Swallow pulled this off beautifully, but instead of using card tricks and sleight of hand he decided to try escapology. It was one of the funniest shows I had ever had the pleasure to witness and yet the risks were incredibly real and the skills that were required to perfect the routine would have taken some serious drive and dedication to perfect.

This year Mr Swallow has taken it far easier and he has just decided to make an Elephant vanish! This feat is made far easier when, due to issues with suppliers, the elephant never actually arrives. Of course, this is all part of the shtick and begins us on a merry dance through all of the drama that is regularly involved in Mr Swallow trying to put together a show.

A skit where Mr Swallow tries to saw himself in half had me almost in tears and the running gag of his attempts to magically summon crisps with his wand is well used in order to keep things moving along at the hectic pace required.

Hidden among the chaos are moments of genuine skill. Mr Swallows has always used magic but in this year’s show he has added an incredible collection of memory tricks – all performed in his now patented down-to-earth fashion. He playfully drags three audience members on stage to sit at a fake café and order menu items by number alone from three well known chain restaurants. It would be impressive enough if he just gave us the names of the items but once again this clown decides to push things to 11 and he tells us the price, the combined order total from across different menus and in one case the square route of that figure!

And yet this is still not the big trick or the grand finale.

I won’t give away either but suffice it to say that the only thing more incredible than the feats themselves is Mr Swallow’s ability to downplay them. A few years ago either one of these tricks would have been enough for a TV magician to build a show around and drag out for an hour with a scantily dressed assistant and some unnecessary interpretive dance.

Nick Mohammed is a fiercely talented clown and I can only hope that rumours of him getting a crack at his own TV show are true. Whilst he is still touring and performing however, I can only suggest that you grab a ticket and find out exactly what all of the fuss is about.

Clown Stars: * * * * *

@Pleasance One, Edinburgh