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Comedian/magician John Shaw appeared to pound a nail up his nose during his free stage act Thursday at the North Dakota State Fair. A volunteer from the audience drew it out - complete with snot - with a pair of tweezers.

"How ya doing, Carol?" Shaw joked to the slightly grossed out lady on the stage. "If I sneeze, I could kill you."

Or, he could nail her, he concluded. The audience roared.

Shaw, who is performing at 2, 4, and 6 p.m. on the Flickertail Gardens free stage through the end of the fair, is very, very funny. His act is also definitely R-rated.

"It's called the sideshow, people," warned Shaw. "It's not the Hannah Montana Christmas special. I hate her (Hannah Montana.) I want to club her like a baby seal."

Anyone who's offended, he suggested, should probably leave, since the act got more graphic from there.

Shaw proceeded to do stunts such as the "Tongue of Steel," which involved putting his tongue in a metal mouse trap and a variation on the sword swallowing trick, which involved swallowing a four-foot long latex balloon, chased down with a glass of water.

To certain members of the audience, the balloon bore a certain resemblance to parts of the anatomy unmentionable in a family newspaper. Guffaws and applause accompanied Shaw's jokes about the balloon and the balloon-swallowing trick.

Shaw later made an Anamoose woman's 25th wedding anniversary ring disappear, only to reappear in the center of a lemon, which Shaw noted he bought at a local store.

"I am a trained idiot," said Shaw. "Don't try this at home."

Shaw told the kids and adults in the audience that he has spent years learning how to perform the tricks safely and they would be dangerous for people to try on their own.

Shaw, 37, is from New York City, but has performed frequently in Las Vegas and in European venues. He's also appeared on a number of shows, including "The Tonight Show," and "Howard Stern."

He's been performing since he was 8, he said, and he enjoys getting to see the country when he travels around, as he is doing this summer.

"They're fun shows to do," said Shaw.