Review of Electric Play Workshop at Mack IX

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Dragon was one of the conference organizers, so starting with the first workshop on Saturday morning was above and beyond the call of duty.

Electric play is advanced play. If it's done badly this kind of play can kill someone so it's very important to know your stuff before you start. It's also important to locate good sources of information and good teachers, and to check their information. Dragon has been a paramedic. I checked his information with a Seattle electro-enthusiast who is a nurse and who attended the workshop, and with an electronics technician who attended the workshop.

To start with, you should not receive electric play if you have: a heart condition, a pacemaker, a skeletal disorder, or a nervous system disorder. Whether you're a top, bottom or switch, it's important in electric play to understand how electricity conducts, how it conducts in the body, how each instrument handles electricity, and where it can be used safely. Dragon spent some time describing the function of the heart, which is regulated by an electrical impulse which can be interrupted by electric play.

Some devices conduct electricity on the skin's surface. Paddle bug zappers are currently popular. The violet wand falls in this category too. Some devices conduct electricity into the body. These should only be used below the waist. And electricity should never be allowed to arc from nipple to nipple in the area of the heart.

In addition to covering the safety basics, Dragon gave us a short and fascinating history of electric implements. At the turn of the century manufacturers of electric devices claimed a wide range of healing properties for them. Dragon showed some of his extensive collection, including electric hairbrushes and combs, a shock box, and violet wands dated to 1904 and 1938.

Dragon demonstrated his implements on a series of delightful "stunt bottoms". He held a violet wand in one hand and touched the bottom's skin with the other. The free hand provided the path for current, conducting the electricity to the bottom's skin. Dragon noted that the top could also feel some stimulus. He demonstrated the effect of electricity on metal, such as nipple rings. He showed how a muscle stimulator like a TENS unit can cause the muscles to jump involuntarily.

Dragon pointed out that the charge doesn't have to hurt. Most devices have an intensity control that allows the top to vary the strength of the kick.

After the workshop Dragon demonstrated the feel of the implements on volunteers. A good deal of flirting went on at the demos. Interest was so high that I didn't get a chance to check it out there.

My electro-enthusiast friend offered to demo his devices for me, so I took him up on this at a play party at the Wet Spot. He briefly exposed me to a violet wand, a TENS unit precursor, a bug zapper, and a hand cranked magneto generator. NOTE: tops into electricity tend to make their own equipment! For myself I found the static devices, like the bug zapper and the violet wand on a high setting, to be anerotic and unpleasant. I found out why when my friend used the magneto. It's the short duration of the shock and the sudden intensity. The TENS like unit soothed my muscles, and I liked that one a lot, my friend ran it up to 10. I didn't try any of the insertion devices with the violet wand, I'd need one of my regular doms to run a sexually charged scene.

As a top I'd hesitate to borrow a violet wand. Dragon pointed out during his workshop that one of his friends had broken an attachment. They're fragile and accidents do happen. I don't feel educated enough about yet anatomy and electricity to use a TENS unit. I'd use a bug zapper though--they're portable, relatively safe, and nasty.

For further information:

Juice: Electricity for Pleasure and Pain, Uncle Abdul, Greenery Press 1998

My electronics technician friend highly recommends this book. He says it has very readable information about basic electricity, and about electricity and physiology, and gives enough information to allow people to play safely.

Electro Sex from Paradise Electro Stimulations

As advertised, this film is both an art porn flick and a demonstration of some of the devices in the PES catalog, including vaginal and anal dildos and cock rings. The camera gets good close-ups of the insertion of the devices but the film doesn't deal at all with how to handle the controls. I wouldn't recommend this film as a stand-alone demonstration of electric play, but it's both hot and charming, and the ending scene with four women and a lot of control boxes is wet, noisy fun.