Three years ago, David Farrier, a New Zealand documentary maker lifted the lid on competitive endurance tickling in the film Tickled. If you haven’t seen it you may not be familiar with this particular ‘sport’ which involves scantily clad young men being tied down and tickled until they can’t take any more and shout ‘enough’. Yes, really. Tickle, the new musical from Chris Burgess, currently playing at the King’s Head, takes the bones of this real life story and turns it in to a parody musical.
Best friends Chris and Callum are saved from a dreary life in Drab Town when they are recruited by Davina Diamond to take part in competitive tickling, which will be filmed and posted online. ‘It’s definitely not gay’ Diamond assures the boys, but Callum is gay and his best friend doesn’t know it. Diamond might be the brains of the operation, but it’s financed by booze and botox loving Tina Tickle, who just wants to spread a little laughter.
Where Tickled focussed on the possible dubious legality of the whole operation and accusations of bullying and extortion, Tickle plays it all for laughs. Certainly, these darker themes are touched upon, but are usually quickly glossed over with a comedy song. There’s also a particularly touching moment when Chris finds out Callum is gay, and accepts his best friend without hesitation, but we don’t really get enough of a chance to enjoy this moment of friendship.
With so much going on in just sixty minutes running time, the plot takes some swallowing, it’s not clear for example how we got from Drab Town to the World Tickling Championships or how exactly all the plot points were resolved before a feather draped grand finale. We’re never really sure who’s side to be on either, Chris and Callum are definitely being exploited but perhaps so is Tina by Davina and vice versa.
It’s probably best to ignore the bulk of the outrageously ridiculous plot and instead enjoy the pure pantomime of it all. Tickle is genuinely funny, it is camp humour brimming with innuendo and moments of downright filth, and the late night audience were lapping it up.
It’s a good score too, with seventeen numbers to fit in the songs are fairly short, but they all sound good, the up-tempo numbers are catchy and the ballads generally moving. The lyrics are often comedy gold, and you can feel yourself getting swept up in the fun of it all.
The cast certainly commit themselves to the material, Richard Watkins and Amy Sutton as Tina Tickle and Davina Diamond, don’t hold back in the roles of comedy villains. James McDowall and Ben Brooker have a great chemistry as Chris and Callum and they succeed in making the whole thing faintly believable. There comes a point when you stop noticing the innuendo just long enough to hear Ben Brookers singing voice, and you realise just how good he is, ‘We Can’t Let That Happen’ showcases it best, but there’s plenty of opportunity to indulge yourself in his outstanding performance.
Just like our stiletto wearing villain, Tickle isn’t trying to be serious, it just wants to spread a little laughter, and it succeeds. After an hour we’re probably all ready to shout ‘enough,’ but for those sixty minutes at least we can forget the drabness and enjoy some feather duster based humour.
