The Pocket Raincoat
LONDON CHAP TURNED ON BY PLASTIC PONCHO PLAY
Wet and kinky? Pocket raincoats, known to the American-inclined as rain ponchos, hold unexplored sex potential according to filmmaker Cathal O’Brien. The 42-year-old Londoner answers six questions about his fetish to accompany his film on the sticky matter. When Cathal isn’t whipping cheap plastic out on unsuspecting hookups, he can be found deejaying at spots like the Divine in Dalston, or making steamy films with his signature approach of re-filming his footage via old TV sets. At the premiere of the ‘FIXATIONS’ series with the One Minutes, he gifted a yellow one to BUTT. He’s looking to grow the community…
Tell us about your pocket raincoat obsession.
I’ve been collecting pocket raincoats for like two decades now. I’ve moved house so many times in London now, carrying shoeboxes of raincoats in different colors, different textures. I can pinpoint my interest to when I was visiting a boyfriend in Paris 20 years ago and I walked into a shop and there was a whole wall of them in different colors. Obviously, I thought, ‘A pocket raincoat – I wanna see it on a naked body.’ As you do…
Right. What makes the best pocket raincoat?
The cheaper they are – the better. The thinner the plastic – the better. You get more tussle. I was told years ago that pink is the hardest plastic to find, but my favorite is still the classic, see-through, no-color ones. On a naked body, a pocket raincoat reminds me of a bunch of flowers wrapped in cellophane. It makes all the details more crispy and defined. The body becomes kind of like a present. A sexy gift.
Do you whip them out during sex?
Of course. The great thing about it is you stick it in a back pocket and take it everywhere! You’ve got to find the right playful person, though. You don’t want to seem like some freak…when you know, you know.
But, do you find it sexually arousing?
Absolutely. A dick, an ass – everything looks better through plastic. It’s not about me wearing it, it’s about putting it on someone else. There’s something about telling someone to put this random object on that is a turn on for everyone.
Who’s your victim in the film?
Jacob. You may know him as the deejay J.Aria. Besides his piercing blue eyes, I picked him because of his body hair. I’ve always loved body hair…which is a much less surprising obsession. I grew up in the 90s when everyone shaved and it was really weird. I love the way body hair looks when the plastic is steamed up with water running over it. I love how the hair gets compressed and the light bounces off the plastic. I often film guys in baths – the shower has such lovely piss play connotations.
Lovely. And the music selection?
It’s Mozart’s Requiem in D Minor…as it goes. (laughs) I went to Catholic school until I was 18. There’s something about watching priests getting ready with the robes, the hoods. Dressing up for ritual. It made sense to me with the images of Jacob trying on all these raincoats, preparing for the ceremony of sex.
Where does your pocket raincoat fixation go from here?
Next, I’d love to take this outdoors. Some sort of coastal walk in a pocket raincoat sounds quite hot! This interview is a casting call I guess…
What’s your email?
hellocathal@gmail.com