STACK NZ Dec #80

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pretty clear that they didn’t want the film made,” Farrier says. “When they sent three people to New Zealand from America essentially to threaten us and tell us not to make the film, the incredible push-back we got was a really big motivator.” The more Farrier and Reeve investigated, the stranger the story got and they realised that this particular underground tickling network involved people and companies from all over the world. Given the sinister threats and the obsessive desire for secrecy, did they ever fear that they could be in physical danger?

“The legal stuff is more unsettling,” Farrier replies. “No-one likes to be receiving legal threats. But there were a few moments in the film where we were approaching some people who had made it pretty clear that they didn’t want to be on camera and got pretty aggressive. I guess when you are in America you are never too sure who is carrying a gun or what’s in people’s heads.” “They got very personal very early on,” he continues. “It’s not in the film but there was a private investigator outside of my house at one point and I think they just wanted to make it very clear that they knew where I lived. When you are poking around something a little bit strange on the internet, it often stays on the internet; it was very strange and scary at times for

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Journalist David Farrier stumbled into a strange, surreal and occasionally scary world when he began shooting Tickled , which details his and co-director Dylan Reeve’s investigation into a shadowy company behind the so-called sport of endurance tickling. Words John Ferguson

that to leap into day to day life all the way over in New Zealand.”

When they sent three people to New Zealand from America essentially to threaten us and tell us not to make the film, the incredible push-

However, Farrier and Reeve’s perseverance

eing tied down and tickled by a professional tickler is pretty awful,” admits David Farrier. He is talking about

once [the film] was finally done and was out, you are done with that stuff, but this one has taken on a life of its own.” Ironically, it was the determination of the company behind

has paid off; as well receiving acclaim on the international festival

one of the bonus features that will appear on the DVD version of his acclaimed documentary Tickled , in which he and the rest of the production team submitted to the dubious delights of tickling. But while it was an experience that he certainly didn’t enjoy, it pales in comparison to the mental torture Farrier and co-director Dylan Reeve have endured in bringing the strange world of ‘competitive endurance ticking’ to the screen. Legal threats began flying as soon as Farrier began digging into the company behind what must be one of the world’s oddest ‘sports’ – and he says the lawsuits keep coming. In fact, the on-going legal situation means Farrier has to be careful what he says when STACK calls him in Los Angeles. However, he confirms that he has been told that he is still facing a defamation suit in the US.

circuit, Tickled was picked up by HBO in the US and has been long-listed for a Best Documentary Oscar. Farrier is naturally delighted with the way the film has been embraced around

back we got was a really big motivator

endurance tickling to shut the project down that gave Farrier the idea to develop it

the globe – although it seems not everyone quite got it, thanks to his

into a film. When the TV journalist first stumbled upon the mysterious

appearance (as himself) in Rhys Darby’s spoof TV series Short Poppies , which has also just been released on DVD. “I am friends with Rhys and he was always like ‘I’ve got this mockumentary and I want you to play yourself’,” Farrier recalls. “I thought he was joking but he was serious. It was great fun but some people who have seen Short Poppies think that Tickled is another mockumentary!”

online site – young men being offered the chance to fly to LA where they would be tied down to a bed while the others took turns tickling them – he thought it would make a funny short news item.

However, his inquiries were met almost immediately with legal threats and a barrage of homophobic slurs on his character. “This company we had stumbled upon had already made it

• Tickled is out on DVD and Blu-ray on Dec 1

“It’s been an ongoing thing since the film came out,” he explains. “I imagined

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DECEMBER 2016

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