Kriti Mehrotra
With HBO’s ‘Tickled’ exploring the efforts of two New Zealand journalists turned filmmakers as they unveil the world of competitive endurance tickling, we get a documentary unlike any other. That’s because it explores not only this uncommon fetish but also the way control, harassment, power, as well as online anonymity can drive people beyond bounds, just as it did with Jane O’Brien Media. This production house and its representatives are actually at the front and center of this original, intriguing us about the same even further.
Jane O’Brien Media Still Produces Tickling Videos Under a New Owner
According to the aforementioned production plus its follow-up short, ‘Tickle is King,’ ever since Jane O’Brien Media was established around 2002, it has sought young males for tickle competitions. However, per these films, it stopped operations around 2016 while these originals were garnering international attention, only to kickstart again around early 2017. The movies also specified that this company was under the banner of Nederdietsen, a German company that itself had a proprietorship of over 300 tickle-related domain names and was owned by David D’Amato.
David of Garden City, New York, was an alleged tickle fetishist who’d been active since the mid-1990s and was allegedly so obsessed with competitive endurance tickling videos he often went to the extreme of even harassment when told no, per the documentaries. Therefore, with him having passed away on March 13, 2017, many would’ve suspected that his apparent operations ceased to be active too, yet that’s not at all the case.
According to filmmakers David Farrier and Dylan Reeve, Jane O’Brien Media is now operated by Louis Peluso, a former middle-man of the organization who once reportedly used to help make the tickle video shoots happen. This former gay pornography producer was apparently an employee of David D’Amato – the New Zealanders have proof of the same with a payment slip of $75,000 – yet he also once told ABC’s ‘Nightline’ the latter had no connection to the production house in any way, shape, or form.
Coming to Jane O’Brien Media’s current standing, it has gradually been releasing its archival footage, all the while hoping to land new participants from across the globe for shoots. In fact, for this, their new website, Tickletopia, and their Facebook profile even specify they are seeking lean, muscular, ticklish guys between the ages of 18 and 25 to partake in a contest of agility, stamina, plus strength through competitive endurance tickling. It’s even imperative to note that following all allegations made in the documentaries, it now clarifies the company has been LGBTQ+ owned and operated since 2002.
Debbie Kuhn is Not a Real Person
Although many once believed Deborah “Debbie” Kuhn to be a high-level representative of Jane O’Brien Media, ‘Tickled’ indicates she was never a real person at all. Instead, the documentary claims, she was a persona donned by David D’Amato while he spoke with clients and skeptics alike to come across as a bit more professional. However, per the film, he also used her name in his explicit, cruel harassment techniques towards those he believed wronged him in one way or another by refusing to partake in videos, wanting their tapes to be taken down, or asking questions about the company’s operations.
According to the HBO original, though, David didn’t stop at simply using a fake name, he apparently went as far as to fraudulently get a social security number for her and create a bank account in her name. He reportedly even did so with the name Jane O’Brien, per the production, just as he’d done when he ostensibly first decided to go down this path back in the mid-1990s with the name Terri “Tickle” DiSisto.
Read More: TJ Gretzner: Where is the Ex-Competitive Tickling Participant Now?
