You’re never supposed to tell, but the secret to a bed of nails is that it hurts. It hurts a lot. But generally speaking, you’re on your back for fewer than 90 seconds, and by the time the tender flesh of your back meets the cold, sharp tines of the nails, your brain has downshifted into pure animal machismo, since your showmanship is on the line, and you just keep talking. You have to, you’re committed now — you’re wearing a ton of makeup and some frilly underwear, and you’ve already explained to a room full of people what you’re doing there with a medieval torture device (which, per your particular style, is painted pink-and-black and shaped like a corset), and that what they are about to see is 100 percent the genuine article, not unlike those used by the very fakirs of India… In industry parlance, this is known as spieling. READ MORE