Review: The Pain Game//Jon Allen


EFFECT//
This is what happens: A six inch nail confirmed as being solid and indeed sharp. The nail is pushed through a hole in a block of wood so it stands upright. This is placed into a paper bag which is then closed and sealed. Three more identical bags are introduced. The bags are mixed up so nobody knows where the nail is hidden. An audience member selects a bag and you slam your hand down on it. This is repeated with a second and a third bag. The final bag is opened and the nail is revealed. Your hand lives to fight another day!


WHAT I SAY//
When I was young (8ish years old) I saw a performance of a Russian roulette (with a knife) routine on a magic special. Without any exaggeration – that performance has stayed with me to this very day. Even when I went through my teenage years having nothing to do with magic, it still stayed with me. It perplexed me. It was dangerous. I loved it. I figure that if this trick has had this effect on me the last 16 years – maybe I could give my spectators a similar feeling.
I didn’t even want to toy with the idea of using a nail roulette version that was not ‘100 safe’ and after doing some research and looking at a few other options I decided on The Pain Game. I read all TheMagicCafe threads about TPG and did a lot of searching and sent a few emails to Jon Allen asking questions about his trick (his customer service was fantastic by the way).

Unfortunately – this trick was really hard to purchase. I had a limited budget so I was waiting for Penguin to get back in stock – Tannens wouldn’t budge on the price (no worries there) and nearly EVERYWHERE was out of stock. Oh and I couldn’t use a site that converted into pounds because that would screw me due to the conversion rate. Luckily for me I saw a second hand version of TPG come in the For Sale section here at the café and I was all over it.
It took 12 days to get here and it’s safe to say that I have never been so excited in my life for a trick to arrive. I was making several trips a day to the letterbox to check

MY THOUGHTS//
I thought that I had an idea how this would work and I was pretty much dead wrong. It’s very very VERY clever. It will take me a little bit of practice to get down the routine and the moves (there are 3 in total) and I believe that after a weeks practice I will be ready to perform it. The packaging was nicely presented and the DVD is very clear and concise. More on that now

DVD//

The DVD is very nicely produced – clear instructions, great quality and great explanations. I was left with no questions at the end of the DVD. Jon uses an “exposure bag” so that you can see the inner details and intricacies of this trick easily. No problems there. Jon is very funny and explains everything that I could think of. He goes into alternate handlings, alternate presentations and covers the works. When I finished watching the DVD I had absolutely no questions to ask.

WHAT YOU GET//
You get the solid six inch steel nail
Precision made gimmicks
Four blocks of wood
Paper bags
The gimmicks are perfectly well made, not a chance I could make them myself or even know somebody that could make them. Definitely not something that I would think “oh yeah I should have thought of that.”

FINAL THOUGHTS//
If you are interested in this type of trick, I am of the opinion that you cannot get a better version of the Nail Roulette. This version was exactly what I wanted, a simple looking version of the trick, the nail looks BRUTAL and is very sharp and can be examined by the audience, it’s so clean and so fair, as you can see by the multiple demos of it online.

I think this is my best purchase ever along with my recent Multi-Dimensional purchase and there is no reason that I can’t give this 10/10

BUY IT NOW.

P.S

I would love to hear from people who have bought and are still performing The Pain Game and how it's going for you

I have it a couple of years. You were spot on, it is superb. Jan

Thanks Jan,

Anybody else still using this great effect?

Would anyone care to compare and contrast the Pain Game and the T2 Sterile by Randi Rain.
My understanding is that they are the top 2 effects for safety, and that is my primary motivation when looking at these type of effects.
I have looked at both and read some reviews, but still can't quite make up my mind. There seem to be pro/cons for both?
My biggest issue with T2 is that it appears to need to be set up ahead of time, whereas the Pain Game gives a more impromptu feeling. (of course, with the Pain Game there is the hassle of getting suitable paper bags).
I would be thinking of performing this in an outdoor street show or festival type of venue, as well as corporate type shows. Which would be better for these varied type of situations? (I can only afford to buy one).
Finally, every effect has those moments when we have to rely on out performance skills to "cover" something - if possible (without revealing), what are the limitations or hurdles with these two?

Please feel free to PM if you are willing to discuss your thoughts openly.
Thank you

Great effect, but sadly Penn and Teller tipped the method on TV. Hopefully people will forget about this though. Really sneeky method - fooled me but not P and T!

I was in a similar situation to you and I do not own T2 Sterile but I am aware of it's workings and decided it was not for me. I will give you some pros of The Pain Game though which I decided was the superior product

Although The Pain Game isn't impromptu, because of the nature of the props it looks like it might be. It looks like it's a nail sticking through a piece of wood (although it's so much more ) I believe T2 has a kind of surreal futuristic magic-y look to it, and I know people may disagree but that's how I feel and I didn't like that.

I thought that I was going to have some issues getting appropriate bags but there were handfuls of businesses in Christchurch (my home city) that had the appropriate bags available. I was spoilt for choice in fact! If you do a simple google search for block bottom paper bags or "sos" paper bags and your hometown/city then you will find heaps of options, I am sure. Most of the places I looked at were open to public so I took the nail and block into the store to try the different sizes out. In the end I got a box of 500 paper bags which will last me aaaaaaaages, and they are cheap as chips so really there is no hassle. Also I think Jon provides you with an amount of bags to get started.

The Pain Game is more expensive, but you are getting precision made gimmicks that you couldn't even dream of making or getting manufactured (well at least I wouldn't know how to approach it) and the method is so so clever and it just makes you smile inside

I know I sound biased but as I put in my review, I can't see any cons in this trick, it really is quite a perfect trick in my opinion. There are TWO moves (if you can even call them that) in TPG but if you've seen the full uncut demos of Jon Allen performing this trick you can see for yourself that there is nothing fishy or unmotivated going on.

Good luck, with The Pain Game, you definitely will NOT be disappointed

Scott

Not correct!

The method that Jon Allen used on Penn and Teller IS NOT the method to The Pain Game. It's COMPLETELY different in fact. The REAL method is 100x sneakier

Excellent news..... Jon is a top guy and great magician so I'm delighted that it's not the same as on Penn and Teller.... That fooled me so I'm sure this one will totally rock!

Jupiter47
Thank you for your insights. I'll keep an eye out for this effect, as the OP mentioned, it's not that easy to find.
I think it can be a bit more versatile than the T2 version.

Anytime.

At last check I know that Tannens still had some in stock and if you're in the UK I believe that there were a couple of online stores that still had stock. I just checked Penguin Magic and they have a NEW restock date of September 25th which is less than 2 weeks away.

Good luck finding it, as I've said, it really is just a fantastic effect

Scott

Hi Guys,

Jupiter47, thank you for your review. I am happy to hear you appreciate all the work that went into The Pain Game and are enjoying it.

Just to clarify a few things:

The version I performed on 'Penn & Teller: Fool Us" was slightly different to my marketed version. I know it has caught out many people (unfortunately not P&T... entirely).

It has been out of stock for a while but I am happy to say that the next batch will hopefully be shipped out to me early next week. I would think that dealers may have them by the end of the month, depending on how long they take to get to me in the first place.

Jon

Thanks Jon

One thing I have been doing is reusing the bags that I crush in practice over and over again, they are just a bit crumpled but it saves using news bags for actual performances!

It's good news that these are coming back in stock - get in fast guys

I am glad P & T method was not the actual method shown on Tuber. I watched videos several times and hand is completely *****.

Anyone know where to buy bags in USA? Also, Jon, will Penguin get these in stock in Nov like it says on website?

Thanks

Decomp

Just had a quick look on ebay and found bags on there - the term you want to look for is "block bottom" bags, these are the ones that have the flat bit at the bottom to stand up straight

Believe me the ACTUAL method is FANTASTIC!

Thanks Jupiter.......

Sorry to bump this up - but I have just noticed that The Pain Game is FINALLY back in stock.

Get in quickly before there is another year long wait

I bought this about a year ago with the intention of putting it into a set I was working on at the time, but it got sidelined and forgotten about. However, I have a Thursday residency at a club in London and was looking for something new to put in the other night and decided to give it an outing. The reaction was amazing! Now I've used Spike for years and always felt the spike and its cups had a contrived magic prop feel about them and this allowed the audience to take solace in you ability as a magician which, in turn, lessened the tension. The Pain Game, on the other hand (no pun intended), could not be less like a magic prop. It really does look like something you gathered together from bits you found in your garage or tool shed. It is this lack of glamour, its complete ordinariness, that makes it so effective. There is no sign of magic here, no net beneath your high wire act to allow an audience a sense of security. Yes, it isn't cheap, but I'd say it is one of the best buys I've made in years and I'm kicking myself for not having put it into my set sooner.

Ouch!

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mag......-6815924