In April 2014, David Farrier, an off-beat reporter for New Zealand’s TV3 news channel, was sent a link by one of his friends to a Facebook page containing many strange videos. Deemed as a sport, “competitive endurance tickling” saw young, fit men become chained and — you guessed it — go through rounds and rounds of tickling by other young males.
After receiving a shocking and rude denial from Jane O’Brien Media for an interview (the alleged producer of these scandalous clips), Farrier requests the help of fellow television producer Dylan Reeve to find out who or what is truly behind this growing phenomenon. Both filmmakers started to learn that the rabbit hole is much deeper than they first thought, and this investigative saga turned into a full-blown and surprisingly hard-hitting documentary titled Tickled that was released two years later in 2016.
The Strange ‘Sport’ Documented in Tickled
One of the most sensational plot points of Tickled revolves around the mysterious enigma behind it all. After learning about a personality called Terri DiSisto, who essentially controlled the tickling market in the ’90s, Farrier and Reeve get their hands on digital documents that connect this personality to Jane O’Brien Media. Since Jane O’Brien Media was already deemed to be associated with one David D’Amato (a former school administrator), the puzzle pieces finally seemed to be coming together — but this was only the beginning.
Even though Farrier and Reeve have their suspicions about D’Amato’s motives seemingly confirmed by his stepmother (through a phone call), face-to-face confrontations between the filmmakers and D’Amato spill over into Tickled’s short and lesser-known sequel (which documented what happened at the screenings). What happened during these tense moments, and where is David D’Amato now?
A Sudden Confrontation at the LA Screening
After being told to stay away from D’Amato by anyone who was formerly close to the elusive content creator, Ticked does provide somewhat of a conclusion for viewers when Farrier confronts the man after following him to a Starbucks in Garden City (a village in Long Island, New York). Farrier says all he wants to do is sit down and talk, and D’Amato retaliates with more legal threats. That’s the ending most people see until you dig a little deeper.
In February 2017, HBO aired The Tickle King (which can now be seen on YouTube for free), and in some ways, this 20-minute short is even more suspenseful than the original documentary. Kevin Clarke (a representative of O’Brien Media) arrives at the Los Angeles premiere screening to confront Dylan Reeve. While the back and forth goes on for some time in what appears to be the lobby, Reeve is shocked to find that the biggest name behind competitive endurance tickling is in the movie theater waiting for him — David D’Amato himself.
The man who built this shady empire, legally threatened the filmmakers of Tickled, and manipulated so many young men was now in front of the camera for what would be the entire last 10 minutes of The Tickle King. While he does wish the movie well and applauds the music and choreography, D’Amato urges Reeve to lawyer up.
This tense conversation that Reeve is consistently trying to simmer pours outside to the cinema’s sidewalk where D’Amato — for a moment — happens to bring up anti-homophobic legislation. Reeves’ seemingly good-natured response about the proposed upcoming changes being a good thing apparently shocks the tickling king. Before D’Amato walks off-screen, though (with his private investigator), he brings everything back around one last time and warns the producer that he might have bitten more off than he can chew.
The Tickling Never Stopped After the Documentary
As Tickled King shows, The Nassau County Courthouse was given everything it needed to stop D’Amatao from stalking, harassing, and bullying others — but nothing has come of it. What has become of D’Amato himself? Unfortunately, the troubled individual who felt like he had to hide his fetish (which was one of the more publicly accepted ones in that category) behind various corporations, LLCs, and fake names suddenly died on March 13th, 2017 — about a year after Tickled was released.
There were no other details regarding the passing of D’Amato. While both Farrier and Reeve quickly posted a statement asking for people to treat this man’s death with the utmost respect, Tickled fans instantly questioned this event and pointed to the possibility of him just being under a new alias (as D’Amato had done in the past).
In June 2017, the two directors posted a piece on The Spin-Off (a New Zealand news website) responding to these questions. Farrier and Reeve showed viewers that even though the original Facebook page for competitive endurance tickling page was still up — Jane O’Brien Media, that is — and still uploading content, somebody else was now at the helm. D’Amato’s death certificate was also shown in the same post, which squashed the hivemind theory. D’Amato’s legacy — and all of his recordings of tickling — was still being kept alive though through a close associate and friend, Louis Peloso. The tickling rabbit hole just never seems to end. Tickled is now available to stream on Netflix.