"When they tickle us do we not laugh?" - Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

DEFINITION: To touch lightly and cause a peculiar thrilling sensation, which commonly causes laughter; to titillate; to please by slight gratification (New Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary)

A COMPARATIVELY RARE SCENE. .

SM texts often miss it
Not represented in the hanky codes
The SM community regards tickling with ambivalence…
1: Because some are not ticklish. . .
2. . . . and some who are, find it horrifyingly diabolical. (witness phrases: “tickled pink”, “tickled to death”, “die laughing”, “laughingstock”, Leg Show ran an editorial against it

 

. . . YET A POPULAR FETISH

Websites: www.ticklingforum.com
Magazines: Tied & Tickled, The Tickling Scene, Tied Laughing
Scores of Videos: California Star, Harmony, Magic Touch
Frequent letters in Variations, Occasional letters and photo spreads in Leg Show:
Shares (with many other scenes), a fixation on imagery from infancy and childhood (rubber, spanking, enemas, age regression, shoes, scat)
Perceived as gentler (for newcomers ) than other SM imagery. Occasional scenes in film.

 

BIOLOGICAL ORIGINS OF TICKLISHNESS: Unclear, but may have been an evolutionary defense against disease carrying insects or protecting vulnerable areas (similar function as pain)

ASPECTS OF TICKLE TORTURE

Combines 2 great things: Loss of control and laughing
Can produce sexual response, play sexual overture
Can be traumatizing. You really need to find out first if this is something the bottom can handle.
Rarely done: Extremely experienced (10 years) sub claimed no one had ever tried.
When done rarely as an accent in a non-tickling scene it can provide a jolt of surprising pleasure.
When taken to extremes it can reduce the most composed, reserved analytical person to a groveling, giggling, drooling, panting, limp noodle.
Nominally “Innocent”, public play possible
Produces continuous stimulus (as opposed to “surge” profile of impact toys)
Leaves no marks
Aspects of breath control (Laughter, lightheadedness, heart racing)
Small is gigantic (Telling someone “I’m going to tickle you out of your skin” is like doing it.)
Humiliating: “You love it! You’re laughing aren’t you?” Forces them to giggle at their own torment.
Laughter & Facial Expression
Combines well with Pain (whipping etc.)
Provides instantaneous control over bottom
Provokes struggling (great in rape fantasies)
Watersports: till she wets, (or threaten to)
Impossible for bottom to think of anything else
Laughter affects brain chemistry. Dumps a TON of endorphins into bloodstream, raising pain thresholds, and folding in easily with impact play.
Can devastate some otherwise very tough bottoms: stoic impact play veterans can be reduced to babbling pudding.
Requires virtually no physical strength (other than bondage)
Spontaneous, sometimes very fun and frivolous;
giving up control is sexy. Trust and surrender bring closeness.
Tickling has aspects of innocence and the chase.
Domination without traditional pain (except to the pride)
One who chooses when others need to laugh and laugh.

 

TOOLS fingers, Pin wheels, ice cubes, brushes, Feathers (quill end is often the more devastating than the down end), dusters, furs, abrasion tools (twigs, knife point, an ear of rye, tongue, tongue of animal, water pick, Q tip, a single strand of hair, silk, a vibrator (esp. balanced on soles of feet), or at right frequency (inserted into a tight place). pen draw pictures on soles, ass cheeks. tongue tip, yarn string or ribbon (especially with knots) drawn between toes, plastic forks, latex gloves with a soft single latex thorn on each finger tip, beard stubble teeth (for nibbling and scraping lightly), breath, combs (used like a violin bow on helpless soles) scratchy things (I have a paddle with sharp spikes that I use to just stroke back and forth under the cheeks.

THE BODY: Neck, underarms, ribs poking tracing lightly, ass cheeks, feet, insteps (great buildup to sole tickling), underarms, inner thighs, navel, anus. Palms of hands, hipbones

SAFETY

Since voice is often busy laughing hysterically, nonverbal “safe signals” must be used (keys dropped etc).
Signs to ease off: Coughing, wheezing, respiratory paralysis.
Ribs can be bruised (be careful)
Be very careful about bondage and restraints. They get a workout sometimes and a bottom can injure himself or YOU without meaning to.
Story: Worst scene injury I ever sustained….

TICKLISHNESS Try to induce it. I find it somewhat smug when a bottom claims not to be ticklish

• If you can induce it, you are well on your way to dominating them.
• Typically increases with duration
• Increases as you move attack
• Increases after orgasm
• Can attain a near infinite state

RESPONSES: laughter, animation, weakness, breathlessness, panic, sensitivity goes up, pleading for mercy (more so than paddling play) lightheadedness, aspects of age regression, feels like they’ll go insane, or faint, or wet themselves, or die laughing.

Technique:

• Light feathery contact versus scrubbing or prodding. For some prodding hurts and cracks the scene headspace. Some 'lees bruise easily, and resent showing a purple ring of bruises around their middles. Ask ahead of time, or listen midscene for the unhappy point where “ooh” turns to “ouch”
• Jump from place to place
• Baby powder, nylons, reduces friction
• Bury your victim in the sand with feet exposed
• Get them to deny they are ticklish, then set out to prove that they are lying. Once you’ve proven it, punish.
• Tickletalk: Vocal taunting ranging from babytalk (“this little piggy”, “cootchy, cootchy coo”, “Are you ticklish here?”, “laugh!”) to ice cold threats of intent and how helpless they are to resist, (that you are going to tickle them for a minute straight, til they wet, until they faint, etc.)
• When their panicking point out their helplessness. “ this is going to happen and you cant stop it”
• Ask “do you think this is funny? Do you want more? Or do you want it worse??? Laugh hysterically and wiggle if you do”
• Talk about what you’re going to do next. And then do it.
• Tell her you’re going to do it in front of others, friends, siblings, parents, colleagues (and then don’t do it)
• Indulge in nonconsensual “fantasy”
• Bondage, blindfolds amplify it
• Make her say dreadful things “please sir tickle me to death”
• Make it a contest - Command him not to laugh, then force him to.
• Stocks were made for this, holding bare feet helplessly still
• Combine tickling with stingy impact play (they go together like wine and cheese)
• Don’t go straight to hot spots right away, work into them. Paint from hot spots, spread the sensations.
• Suddenly jump up the speed to fast spidering
• Make bottom laugh for a minute straight in full view of the clock
• Tickle the air above a sensitive spot
• Try to spread the areas of vulnerability
• In front of a mirror.
• In the shower until they wet.
• In public.
• Tie her up put a clock in her field of view and tell her she will be tickled to death in one hours time.
• Tied up watching TV to be punished during commercials
• Wiggle a finger in the bottom’s ass
• Tie her up spread eagle tickle under arms in ribs while fucking and enjoy the ride.
• Music Box: Make him tickle himself. You say where and how.
• Tape record her play it back while you do it again, so the laughter is double tracked.
• Blow on her

How to admit to an interest in tickling: Bring it up. But carefully. I would resist the urge to blurt out “I am a tickle fetishist”. All or nothing bids like this can fail. Say it turns you on, or you’d like to try it. You don’t want to present yourself as one dimensional.