I first met Frank or "Unc" as he is known in the SF Bay Area scene some eleven years ago at a Society of Janus orientation being held at his house, a normal looking one bedroom place in the south part of San Francisco. Besides being a "vet" of the community, "Unc" also has a long association with electricity play. He is one half of the "Battery Boyz" who periodically teach classes on this subject, and also is author of the book "Juice."

In their classes, Unc starts off with two "demos" that illustrate the potential dangers of this kind of play. The first is his "20 dollar bill" trick. He invites an audience member to try and catch a 20 dollar bill he dropps. Usually, the person fails to to grab it once Unc drops it. This isslutrates Unc's first point: It only takes 200 milliseconds for it to drop, much faster than most people can react. And yet 2 milliseconds or even one millisecond is all it takes for damage to result if something goes wrong with an electrical until you're using on somebody. It is for this among other reasons that electricity play can also be considered "edge play."

The second "demo" is where Unc brings out his "9 inch piece of meat," a slab of raw beef that he sticks two electrodes in that are hooked up to a light bulb, to demonstrate the electrical current that can run through you. The light remains on as long as the electrodes are connected.

The main point of these two demos is to remind people to have a very healthy respect for electricity and be aware of the dangers of it. As he puts it so very bluntly, "Understand electricity because you can't turn it off fast enough."

I chatted with him recently and asked him a few questions about his "interest." First off, I wondered what had originally prompted him to get involved in this kind of play? Unc responded by saying, "Actually it started with a Fakir Musifar program at the Society of Janus back in the early 80's. He was demonstrating his electrical play techniques using equipment he made out of doorbell transformers and such."

"When I was watching that demo, it appealed to the inner 'techno-sadist' in me. Being an electrical engineer, who had some years before worked on medical electrical safety projects,I naturally started thinking of the safety implications of such play."

I really didn't start doing electrical play until some time later when Russell Budd, an SM video film maker (in the 70s and 80s with such credits as "The Story of K," "S/M Home Movie," etc.) started making what he called 'The Tittillator.' It was a homemade TENS Unit from a circuit he got out of an electronics magazine. Well, I just had to get one. It was so primitive, but PES, Folsom, and others got their start the same way."

I then asked him what he "got out" of doing this kind of play. Unc remarked, "Like I said, I'm a techno-sadist. In all my play, electrical or not, I go for the intense intimacy and emotional sharing with my partner as I top/dominate/torture/whatever them. I want their mind, body, and spirit, and I give the same in equal fashion. I also get a tremendous amount of satisfaction of being the master craftsman of that scene."

"In electrical play, mental planning and awareness are the critical components of the safety of electrical play. Physical skills are less important. I like crafting with my mind, and my partners seem to appreciate that. I tell you, the tremendous feeling I get from watching my partner dance to either the pain and/or pleasure sensations at the twist of a dial is... well, there's nothing else like it."

Spoken like a true Top. I think any of we Doms can appreciate and understand what Unc is talking about there. Finally I asked Unc about the type of precautions people should take before engaging in it to ensure their chances of playing safely with it?

Unc responded first with a "joke," then went on to answer.

"You mean apart from reading Juice--Electricity for Pleasure and Pain and looking at my website at www.UncleAbdul.com kidding--kinda. Actually in electrical play people should always remember that when something goes wrong in electrical play, you can't act fast enough to turn off the switch and save a life. Electrical play is not a physical skill like flogging or single-tailing. You need to understand what is happening, things like all electrical play involves current going through the heart--and plan ahead around that. Fortunately you don't need to be a rocket scientist for that, and Juice gives you the basic information you need to know."

Yes a not so subtle plug for both his book and his web site, but they both contain quite a bit of valuable information for anyone interested in this type of play. As I stated before and "Unc" would agree with me on this, electrical play can truly be called "edge play."

Until next time,