Mark Nizer brings 3-D show to Suffolk

Most people have seen clowns juggling at a circus, but few people have seen a juggler like Mark Nizer.

The dynamic comedian and juggler is coming to Suffolk for a 3-D show at the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts at 2 p.m. Saturday.

“I’m a comedian and a juggler,” Nizer said in a phone interview Wednesday. “I’ve sort of taken the two and merged them together into a one-man show.”

Nizer will play music while juggling balls on a piano, he’ll juggle lit laser beams in a fog, he’ll transform himself into a three-dimensional robot and do stand-up comedy — all while controlling all the lights, video and music with “little buttons stashed here and there on my person,” he said.

There’s even a video clip of him juggling underwater surrounded by sharks.

“It’s really one of the more extraordinary things on the road right now,” said Paul Lasakow, executive director of the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts. “The way this guy engages audiences is really something to behold.”

Nizer, who has judged the world juggling championships in the past and got his start on the college circuit, said even people who don’t like jugglers will love his show.

“Sometimes I get bored after 10 minutes, so it has to be more than juggling,” Nizer said.

He is perhaps best known for juggling ping-pong balls with his mouth. There’s also the dangerous combination of a 16-pound bowling ball, a lit propane torch and a buzzing chain saw — though that one won’t be performed at the Suffolk Center, which already suffered the effects of one fire since it opened in the renovated Suffolk High School.

He also performed at the Suffolk Center in a prior season, but that was a different show than his 3-D version.

“I do some weird stuff with toilet paper that you probably haven’t thought of before,” he said.

Audience members will have 3-D glasses to use during parts of the show.

“This is the best family show of the year, hands down,” Lasakow said.

Nizer’s exploits have landed him on MTV, HBO’s Just for Laughs and Bob Hope and Other Young Comedians. He has opened for Gladys Knight, The Temptations, Ray Charles, Barry Manilow, Jerry Seinfeld and Bob Hope.

Tickets to the show are $15 for adults or $7 for students. For more information or for tickets, call 923-2900 or stop by the box office at 110 W. Finney Ave.