ACTING OUT Homoeroticism abounds in fetish documentary ‘Tickled’

It started off as a routine story for openly gay New Zealand journalist David Farrier – and led to something more complex and troubling than he ever envisioned. Seeing a competitive endurance tickling video online, he decided he wanted to investigate it further and do a short sequence about it.

His initial inquiries to the production company, Jane O’Brien Media, were met with hostility and homophobic comments. That spurred him to investigate, traveling to the company in Los Angeles, talking to some of the participants in the video (including one who was outed – despite being straight – after he protested his involvement in the project) and having the situation get odder and odder, including finding out who was pulling the strings.

His journey has yielded the acclaimed new documentary “Tickled.” We caught up with Farrier and co-director Dylan Reeve to talk about the movie, the craziness that ensued and the tickling fetish community.

David, what kinds of stories did you normally work on before this?

Farrier: