Culture

“We trans-morph modern and ritual craft forms, interweaving them into an artistic experience with you as part of the pattern.” – www.skinpuppets.co.nz

Although practically no one will admit it, most of us have a fetish of some kind. Maybe you’ve got a normal-ish one, like enjoying having your ass slapped in bed, or maybe you’ve got a not-so-normal-ish one, like wanting nothing more than to cover your partner’s feet in peanut butter and then lick it off while they sing songs from The Lion King. Hey, consenting adults and all that. The Dunedin Fetish Ball is coming up on 3 May and incorporates pretty much every fetish you’ve ever heard of, and a whole heap you haven’t. Nina Harrap caught up with organiser Richard Parker, a.k.a “Night Dragon,” to discuss suspension, strippers, and the shaping of pain into pleasure.

Is this the first Fetish Ball held in Dunedin? I can’t say I’ve ever heard of one until now!
I’m told there have been other fetish balls in Dunedin, but to the best of my knowledge this is the biggest, most flamboyant, most adventurous fetish ball that Dunedin’s had. It’s not something that’s hidden behind another event or saying, “This is something to be ashamed of.” It’s a reasonable display of various forms of art and we’re quite proud of what we do. This ball is going to be a bit of a plethora, a complete range, of some of the more interesting forms of fetish that are currently available that people find entertaining.

Would you say this is an event that appeals to students?
I hope so! Some of the performers are students. I’ve always been interested in this, and presumably I was student-age at one stage, although not at university. It’s not a matter of a student being interested in it, it’s a matter of people wanting to test their limits, people wanting to enjoy an alternative evening out, people seeing things that they didn’t expect to normally see.

What’s the most extreme act that you’ve got planned for this year’s ball?
Probably the hook suspensions and needlework that’s going on. We’ve also got Sideshow Steve doing a glass walk. I’m going to be doing the commentating, and I’m going to give him a bit of a hard time from stage while he bounces up and down on the broken glass, and then I’m going to say, “the theme of this ball is supposed to be fire and ice; I don’t see any fire and ice here!” So he’s going to set the glass on fire and then proceed to walk back down it. That’s reasonably extreme! [laughs] And the most extreme suspension that’s definitely going to be done is with Michelle (Needles NZ) – we’re going to be having her bounce up and down on somewhere between 2 and 4 metre bungy cords, and then she’s going to come down and do a hook in her back and somebody else will pull her across the stage.

What makes this ball different to other fetish balls?
This ball is different because we have some acts specifically lined up for [people attracted to men]. Usually fetish balls consist of guys hitting girls, guys doing things to girls, girls running round semi-naked, and it’s a very [straight] guy-orientated atmosphere. This year we have a male stripper coming along; we have Mr and Ms Bobbitt, which is going to entertain hugely, because it’s essentially torturing a male; and we’ve got Serenity coming along from Stilettos, and she’s hopefully doing a pole act then selecting a “random” individual – who obviously isn’t at all random – from the audience, and taking to him with a stock-whip. However, to be fair, the stock-whip is fairly soft and it’s going to be coated in cochineal so the red lines aren’t actually going to be blood, because I don’t really want to spend half my evening stitching up somebody’s back for entertainment. That’s an example of fetish where it’s going to be partially illusion rather than reality.

Are there any common misconceptions about fetishes that you’d like to address?
A lot of people see [fetishes] as somebody spanking somebody or hitting them or doing that type of thing. I don’t get off on that; it’s very basic, primitive, in my opinion. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just not what I’m interested in ... I think everybody has fetishes of one form or another. Some of my fetishes are definitely not for everybody; some other people’s fetishes are definitely not for me ... I’m more interested in “what can we do that’s extreme, that’s not common, and that scares the hell out of a lot of people.”

What sort of reaction do you get when people find out about the sort of things you’re interested in?
In my business, I get to talk to five or six clients a day. I’ve got various “things” hanging around the place and at least one every day will ask me what it is we’re involved in, and I’ll tell them. And usually, they’re extremely interested. We don’t get anybody going “Satan, get thee behind me;” we do get people going “I never thought of that,” or “that would be interesting,” and things like that ... The worst we get is “Oh no, that’s definitely not my thing.” We have barristers, lawyers, accountants, professionals say, “Oh, I’m really interested in it but no, I’m not going,” because it affects their standing. But we’ve had others that have gone along regardless!

So if you don’t mind me asking, what’s your fetish?
It’s important to remove the word “fetish” from “sexual.” Traditionally, fetishes are associated with sexual feelings or sensual feelings, whereas I tend to look on fetishes as an insanely intensified interest in something. Like, I’ll be showing up at the ball in full cowboy regalia, and I don’t mean chaps. I have a fetish, I like cowboy boots, which I’ll be wearing, I’ll be wearing an American cowboy suit, cowboy hat – that’s something which I like and it’s part of the fetish that I enjoy. However, I’m also going to be the one that’s sticking large needles through people and getting them to bounce up and down on bungy cords or fly on steel wings.

How did you first start to realise that you had a fetish?
When I was in my late teens, I mixed with a group of individuals who watched the movie A Man Called Horse. This was well before the Internet or computers, and we looked at it and went “we can do that!” and preceded to do so at a number of parties – in a style that’s entirely unacceptable today, I should point out. From there, somebody made a bet one night that we could suspend somebody on hypodermic needles, and so a group of us wound up doing that, and I guess I’ve just gone from there. I didn’t see myself as part of a fetish or BDSM community for years; I didn’t see myself not part of it, I just didn’t think about it. I just did stuff which was interesting and unusual to me.

Your partner, Sylvia, works with you in a lot of your performances. What’s that like?
What I do with my partner, it’s very special. Sylvia and I suspend other people, and that’s nice, and in fact there’s going to be some of it going on in Dunedin. At the ball, if I do anything with my partner, you’ll see that there’s an entirely different connection and feeling that goes on between the two of us. We absolutely bond.

What’s a memorable, unusual experience you’ve had with fetish?
Waterboarding is a torture form where you basically put the feet higher than the head, so the person can’t suffocate, then proceed to cover the face with a cloth and pour water over them. And they think they’re suffocating. Most people will last under 5 minutes with that. I’ve known individuals who, 20 minutes later, are still going, and they’re going “this is the most incredible thing that’s ever happened to me.” It’s kinda like the first time somebody gets into a gyroscope. They either get sick, or they don’t care about it, or they go “this is incredible, don’t let me out of this thing.”

How would you describe the feeling of a fetish experience?
It’s a transformation; it’s the same as with high-stakes athletes, like cyclists. Cyclists are a really good example. When they’re cycling they get to the stage where it’s so painful and their body creates endorphins and the endorphins create a pleasurable situation. They can still feel the pain, but they’ve got all this other stuff coming through. I used to do long-distance running; you get to the stage where you get through that pain barrier and you’re there, you’re focussed; you’re in the scene. That’s what I like about this.

What do you love the most about fetishes?
There’ll be Zylah and Headmaster2 [at the ball] and they’ll be doing some suspensions on stage with rope. Now that’s something that I find incredibly beautiful, but I can’t do it. It’s not that I don’t want to do it, it’s just that my head won’t remember knots! So that’s a fetish that I’m involved in because, visually, I like what I see. The fetishes I’m involved in started out as experiments. I’ve done them for so long, they’re just – they’re interesting. I’m amazed at the ability of the human body to take pain and, through the use of endorphins, turn it into pleasure. It just absolutely fascinates me; it’s the closest I’ve seen to magic, near as I can work out.

The Fetish Ball will be held at 8:30pm on 3 May at Sammy’s, 65 Crawford Street. Tickets available from Cosmic, $40 plus booking fee.