Monk had a definite direction he wanted to take with each performance in "Bindings" and he looked at our sets as free time. It was kids on the playground making up games and rules on the spot. It was a jazz jam session with only the broadest hints of melodic structure laid down. Artistic. Fun. Mayhem.

The idea was to break through the preconceptions of what rope bondage was about and what it could mean between two players. Here we were, two decidedly het guys playing in an arena where most people see only tops and bottoms, dominants and submissives, sexual liaisons and power dynamics. We jumped right into the middle of a activity that some people view with their "Japanese cultural appropriation" glasses firmly in place. No kimonos. No tea ceremonies. No "ancient traditional Japanese masters". We tore all that apart and confused a lot of people at SEAF -- which means we did a good job.

Monk and I are friends. We felt tremendously comfortable with this scene and realized that we could share connection through the rope in a way that was intense, funny and challenging for ourselves and our audience. With this in mind we let our natural "hamminess" shine through and had a grand old time.