Speaker 1: Almost everyone is at least a little bit ticklish. Maybe
you have a ticklish spot under your arms, or perhaps
on your belly, or maybe your weak spot is right
under your toes. But what if you were so ticklish
that even sitting on a chair made you burst out laughing.
Now that would be unusual. Today's story is called that tickles.
Let's get into it. Yellowell, story time is really not
a glory time ram a standing You'll be fine. Follow
the whole storyline. Hellol, story time made you laugh at
least one time. Now, this is the story of a
kid who loved to laugh. He laughed at funny jokes,
he laughed at people getting pies in the face, and
he laughed whenever someone asked who cut the cheese. Harvey,
like many kids, was often found laughing. But there was
one kind of laughter he had never experienced, the kind
that happens when someone brushes you with a feather while
saying coochie coochio. Harvey had seen other kids get tickled,
some even collapse to the floor, laughing so hard they
had tears in their eyes. Other kids he had seen
had been begging for mercy, and on rare occasions, some
came dangerously close to peeing their pants. It was a
very strange thing for Harvey to witness because, unlike everyone else,
Harvey just wasn't ticklish. I just don't get it, He
would think to himself, what's so funny about that? One day,
Harvey decided to get to the bottom of it. His friend, Lydia,
was the most ticklish person he knew. So, Lydia, what's
the deal? Like? Am I missing something here? Is it
just one of those inside jokes I don't really understand?
Harvey was hoping his friend could explain what made tickling
so funny. Lydia, who had lots of older brothers and sisters,
had been on the receiving end of tickle torture for
most of her life. Dude, listen up, because I'm only
going to tell you this once. There was absolutely nothing
funny about being tickled. Nothing funny. Harvey hated to be
that guy, but he felt he had to say it anyway. Lydia,
you said you were only gonna tell me once, but
then you just said it twice. Lydia scowled, Well, then
maybe you need to hear it for a third time.
Not funny. This was the part that confused Harvey the most.
Did laughter and funniness not go together, like thunder and lightning,
like cops and robbers, like diapers and dirty bums. Harvey
almost felt silly for asking his next question, Well, if
it's not funny, then why do you laugh so much, Harvey,
because that's what being tickled makes you. Wait a second,
why are you even asking me this? You know what
it's like, don't you. Harvey gave an awkward little shrug. Dude,
you've never been tickled before. Lydia was suddenly smiling like
an evil bad guy. With her fingertips ready to go.
She began creeping forward. Oh I am going to enjoy this.
She started with the belly, but Harvey didn't flinch. Then
she tried tickling his neck, but he had no reaction
there either. Thought for sure she could get him on
the sides, but he just stood there looking bored. It
wasn't that people hadn't tried For some reason, Harvey just
didn't feel ticklish. Everyone has a ticklish spot, man, We
just have to find yours. The armpits were next. Most
people Lydia knew would be howling with laughter after having
their under arms tickled, but not, Harvey. All right, then
take off your shoes, she ordered, excuse me, shoes off.
Your weak spot has got to be your feet. Harvey
did as he was told. Lydia plugged her nose with
one hand and used her other hand to tickle his feet. See, Lydia,
I don't find any of this funny. Even dad jokes
are better than this. Lydia now seemed like an angry
bad guy who had just been made to look a fool.
It's not supposed to be funny, Harvey. She stormed off
and returned a few minutes later holding a feather. What's
that for, Harvey asked? Everyone has a ticklish spot, Harvey, everyone,
it seems yours might be on your back, and that's
where I draw the line. Harvey. Do you have a
pencil or pen or whatever else people use when they
need to draw the line? Harvey pulled a cran out
of his pocket. Will this do? Lydia accepted the cran
and pretended to draw a line through the air between
her and Harvey. I am not tickling anyone on the rumpus.
That's where I draw the line. So take this feather
and try it for yourself. While reaching for the feather,
Harvey stumbled and fell forward. The feather brushed against the
side of his head, and as it did, Harvey let
out a little giggle. Hearing this, Lydia continued using the
feather on that same spot. Her friend laughed a little
harder this time, Harvey, I think we found your ticklers spot,
and might I add what a weird spot it is.
Harvey straightened himself out. You're right, though, that wasn't funny,
but for some reason I still laughed. To be really
sure Lydia used her fingers this time, making sure she
got all the way through his hair and right down
to the skin. Harvey was laughing so hard as eyes
were beginning to water. I'm ticklish. I'm ticklish. I understand
it now, I'm ticklish. Harvey skipped all the way home
with a smile as big as his face. There hadn't
been anything wrong with him, He just never found his
tickler spot. What a delightful discovery this was. At home,
he further discovered that you cannot tickle yourself. It didn't
matter if he used his fingertips, the feather, or a hairbrush.
If he was in control, his ticklish spot did not
feel ticklish. Hey, mom, see this little spot on the
side of my head, just above my ear. Would you
mind putting your fingers there and having them do a
little dance. Harvey's mother looked skeptical. Harvey, what are you
up to? Is this gonna be like the time you
asked me to pull your finger? No, Mom, just try it.
As soon as his mother started tickling the side of
his head, Harvey began giggling. See him, hum, look at that.
I'm ticklish. I'm ticklish. Well then, uh, congratulations. A bit
of a weird place to be ticklers, though, don't you think?
Harvey didn't think it was weird at all. He thought
it was great. At school the next day, Lydia pulled
Harvey aside in the hallway. Dude, you need to cool it, okay.
I just heard you've been going up to everyone in
sight and asking them to tickle you. I heard you
even walked into the principal's office during a meeting with
a parent and asked her to tickle you. Is that true? Indeed,
it was true, as it had been with the vice principal,
the secretary, the custodian, the basketball coach, the school nurse,
and the class pet from missus loudspeaker's room. Sorry, Lydia,
It's just I've been waiting my whole life to feel ticklish,
and now that I finally am, I just don't want
it to stop. For someone who could not stand being tickled,
Lydia was struggling to relate. Well, enjoy it while it lasts, bud,
because pretty soon you're gonna start finding it very annoying.
Lydia figured Harvey would be complaining to her by the
next day, but instead, Harvey somehow seemed even more excited
than before. Lady Lydia, you'll never believe it. Remember yesterday
how I only had one ticklish spot above my ear, Well,
now the other side is ticklish, and one of my
shoulders is ticklish too. The day after that, he came
up to her and told her that both spots above
his ears were ticklish, as were both of his shoulders,
and now he even felt ticklish on his belly and
his sides. Harvey, don't you find it a bit odd
that you seem to be getting more and more ticklish
each day? Just a few days ago, we didn't think
you were even ticklish at all. Nothing about this seemed
odd to Harvey. He was loving every minute of it.
Several days later, Harvey reported that he now had more
tickler spots than he did non tickler spots. Lydia, you
were not kidding about the underarms. Wow, like talk about
a spot that really gets you laughing. I can't believe
I didn't pee my pants. It wasn't until Harvey's entire
body had become ticklish that he was ready to admit
that he might have a problem. Harvey had been sitting
in class and had started giggling for seemingly no reason
at all. The teacher scowled and asked him what was
so funny. Harvey tried to compose himself, but it was
hard Harvey. Lydia whispered, leaning over from her desk, what
are you doing? In between bouts of muffled laughter. Harvey
did his best to explain, So, remember when you drew
the line at rump as tickling. Well, turns out my
rump is is ticklish, and right now my chair is
tickling it. Lady had never heard of someone's bottom getting
tickled just by sitting on their chair. Later, she watches
her friends started giggling while holding his pencil. Apparently the
touch of the pencil made his fingers feel ticklish. It
only got worse when someone opened a window in the classroom,
allowing a gentle breeze to pass through. That tickles, Harvey said,
rubbing his cheeks. Lydia was getting worried. There was no
reason a slight breeze should cause someone's cheeks to feel ticklish.
Their teacher had some concerns of her own. Harvey, that
is enough. You've been laughing non stop all day. Is
there something you find funny about on a monopeas? Harvey
hadn't been laughing because his teacher had been teaching them
about on a monopeas, but he did think the word
on amnopea was kind of funny. Sorry, miss I just
can't stop laughing. Everything keeps tickling me. Just then, a
girl brushed past his desk on her way to the
water fountain. She had barely made contact with the sight
of Harvey's arm, but he was laughing like she had
just taken a feather duster to his toes. Harvey said
his teacher, who had now lost all of her patience,
please go to the office and see if her parents
can pick you up early, or at the very least,
see if they can drop off a dry pair of pants.
Up until now, Harvey's parents thought he had been putting
some of this on. It didn't seem like it was
possible for anyone to be that ticklish. But after watching
their son start begging his seatbelt to stop tickling him,
they knew something was up. We're going straight to the
doctor's office, Harvey. It's like you've got some kind of
tickle disease or something. Harvey felt relieved when the doctor
explained that there was no such thing as a tickle disease. So, Harvey,
are you telling me that until a few weeks ago,
you had never been tickled, Like, not even a little
well kouchie cuci coo as a baby, Like not even
being pinned to the ground by an older brethren getting
tickled until you tell them it's becoming hard to breathe,
like not even having an ant crawl up your pants,
making you realize for the first time that you have
a ticklish rumpus. Harvey shook his head. Doc, people have
always tried tickling me, but no one could ever find
my tickler spot. But now my tickler spot is all
of me, and it doesn't take much for him to
feel it either, added his mother. This became obvious to
the doctor as she watched Harvey get tickled by her stethoscope.
Doc cut it out, Cut it out, begged Harvey the tickles.
The doctor sat back on her stool. Well, the only
thing that would explain this is that your body is
releasing years and years worth of tickle energy. Most people
release their tickle energy gradually from the time their babies.
But because you had never been tickled before, you've allowed
all that energy to build up inside of you. Once
you finally found your tickler spot, it was like opening
the floodgates. Opening the flood gates, Harvey asked. The doctor
thought carefully about how to explain this to a kid.
Think about the recess bell at school. If the doors
don't open when they're supposed to, the children will start
crowding around. The longer the wait, the more children that
will start to gather. Some children will even start pushing.
Eventually the doorway becomes so jampacked that when the door's
finally open, the kids go pouring out. This actually sounded
like good news to Harvey. So as soon as all
the built up tickle energy gets out, everything will go
back to normal. The doctor waited for Harvey to stop laughing.
The floor had just started tickling his feet. Unfortunately, it
may not work like that, Harvey. Kids always remember the
feeling of rushing outside for recess. After they've run through
the doors once, they'll want to run through them every time.
Your body may very well start to think this extreme
ticklishness is normal now. Harvey tried to imagine a lifetime
of getting tickled by everything. Laughing during his first kiss,
giggling during a meeting with his company's top boss. And
what if he chuckled while trying to comfort a friend
whose goldfish had just run away from home. Lydia had
been right. There was absolutely nothing funny about getting tickled.
But if there was one thing he knew, it was
that kids will stop running through recess doors as soon
as a teacher shows up to yell at them. Don't worry, doc,
he said, mid laugh. All the have to do is
find a teacher who can yell at the tickled energy
before it pushes its way through the doors. The doctor
gave him the number of a kid who had once
dealt with a similar problem, only with sneezing. This kid,
whose name was Elliott, agreed to meet Harvey and Lydia.
On their way to his house, the two friends tried
to decide what would be worse, never ending sneezes or
non stop laughing. Nothing funny about either of those things,
the two agreed. Elliott lived in a very tall house
near the top of a very steep street. There were
exactly thirty five steps up to his front door, which
to the kids felt like thirty five steps too many. Man,
we are really at a shape, said Lydia, huffing as
she knocked on the door. Elliott answered quickly since he'd
been expecting them. Hey, so, which one of you has
the sneezing problem? Lydia pointed to Harvey, who was giggling
because a leaf had just fallen on his shoulder. It's
actually a laughing problem. Well, really more of a tickling problem.
It looked like Elliot was now taking a moment in
his head to the side of non stop laughing was
better or worse than non stop sneezing. Well, guys, the
first thing I tried was to use mind control power.
I closed my eyes and repeated these words over and over.
I will not sneeze, I will not sneeze. I'm not
allergic to everything. I will not sneeze. Harvey couldn't believe
how easy that sounded. Wow, dude, thank you so much.
You just made my day. Walking back down those thirty
five steps in the really steep street, Lydia wondered why
this couldn't have been explained over a phone call. That night,
Harvey stood in the middle of his room and closed
his eyes. I will not laugh. I will not laugh.
Not everything is ticklish, I will not laugh. As Elliot
had suggested, Harvey repeated these words over and over until
he was too tired to continue. In the morning, Harvey
jumped out of his bed, excited to see if he
was back to his old self. Unfortunately, his toothbrush made
his teeth tickle, so back he and Lydia went to
Elliott's house. Who builds a house on such a steep hill?
Complained Lydia halfway up the thirty five steps. Elliott did
not look surprised to see them back. Didn't work. Huh,
didn't think it would certainly didn't work for me. Harvey looked, confused.
What I thought you said, that's what fixed your sneezing.
Elliott shook his head. Naw, I said, that was the
first thing I tried. It definitely wasn't the thing that
fixed my sneezing Again, Lydia wished this all could have
been shared over a phone call or a text message.
What really did it, continued, Elliott, was finding something to
distract the brain from sneezing. You've got to give your
brain a different to work on, so it's not constantly
doing the thing you wanted to stop doing. This made
really great sense to Harvey. When he was little, he
remembered getting a really bad paper cut on his finger.
That thing stung, but after dropping a heavy rock on
his toe, he forgot all about the paper cut. Elliott,
thank you so much. You just saved me from a
lifetime of ticklishness. Like what would I have done if
someone entered me in to try not to laugh contest?
Harvey walked away feeling optimistic. Lydia walked away, hoping she'd
never again have to walk up a steep hill in
thirty five steps. To Harvey, this new solution sounded brilliant
and certainly more reasonable than just closing his eyes and
telling his brain that he wasn't going to be ticklish anymore.
But for the life of him. He couldn't think of
what he was going to do to distract his mind
from the tickles. Everything Lydia kept suggesting sounded painful. What
if I stomp on your foot really hard? No, Lydia, Okay,
Well what if I put you in a bathtub filled
with pinchy crabs? No, Lydia, Well then you're just gonna
have to Lyddy had paused to swat a mosquito on
her shoulder. That's it, cried Harvey. Lyddia looked at him,
but Harvey, I didn't finish telling you what it was. No,
said Harvey. The mosquito bite. That's it. I need an
itchy bug bite to distract me from the ticklishness. That
will be my teacher, Standing and yelling at the recessed doors,
Lydia raised an eyebrow. Huh. Harvey didn't have time to
explain to his friend about the floodgates. He needed to
go find himself another mosquito. Together, they walked all over
looking for bugs. They found plenty of bugs that don't bite,
but none of the kind that do bite. Funny how
when you don't want to get bitten, you get bitten,
and when you do want to get bitten the bugs,
just leave you alone. Lady had made one last plug
for one of her earlier suggestions. It's not too late
to try the bathtub filled with pinchy crabs. You won't
be able to think about anything else with all those
claws clamping down on your skin. Harvey started running toward
a woman who was sitting on a park bench. Lady,
there's a mosquito on your shoulder. Don't move. The woman
looked happy that someone was coming over to smack the
bug for her, but then she watched as Harvey carefully
picked up the mosquito and put it on his own shoulder.
Don't you be hogging all the bug bites, lady, Save
some for the rest of us. At first, it felt
ticklish having a mosquito standing on his shoulder, but within
seconds he started to feel the itch. Ah, how nice
it feels to be itchy. Harvey went to bed that
night without laughing that his bed sheets were tickling his skin,
but he did spend a lot of time scratching his
shoulder in the morning. He didn't notice if his breakfast
cereal was tickling his tongue or if his fresh pair
of underwear was tickling his rumpus. He only noticed the
itch at school. Lady had tried to sneak up behind
Harvey to see if she could tickle him as a test.
Harvey didn't laugh. Wow, so were you cured? No more
extreme ticklishness. Harvey didn't look at happy as Lyddia had
expected him to look. Well, yeah, he began, I haven't
really noticed any ticklishness since yesterday. But now, Harvey paused,
now everything feels itchy, like all over. It's like I
took a bath in a tubful of poison. Ivy. Lydia
noticed her friend was scratching the spot behind his ear
where she had just tried tickling him with a feather.
After school, Harvey begged Lydia to go back to Elliott's house. Seriously, Harvey,
Elliott's house again, haven't you noticed that that guy's breath
always smells like cough drops. Why don't you just try
putting some lotion on your skin. Harvey explained that he
had tried that, but the lotion just made him more itchy.
So back up the really steep road and the thirty
five steps they went. Again. Oh hey, guys, I wasn't
expecting to see YouTube back so soon still got a
bad case of the tickles. Harvey shook his head. No,
your idea worked, so thanks for that, But now I
seem to NonStop itchiness. Harvey had to wait for Elliott
to get over a coughing fit. Sorry about that, guys,
forgot to take my cough medicine today. Harvey and Lydia
apologized they had not intended to bother Elliott while he
was sick. Oh it's okay, guys, I've always got a cough.
But anyways, Yeah, I should have warned you that whatever
you use to stop the ticklishness ends up replacing the
ticklishness as your new thing. I guess that's just how
it works. Might have been better if you'd gone with
something you don't mind having. Not sure why you chose itchiness,
Lydia was trying to help Harvey stay calm. He looked
like he was about to explode. Elliot, the reason I
didn't think to go with something better than itchiness is
because you didn't tell me that was going to take
over as the new thing. Elliott coughed a few more times.
Oh for sure, why do you think I've got this
non stop cough? Now? The cough made my sneezes go away,
but now I'm just coughing all the time. But don't worry.
Harvey was really hoping Elliott was about to tell him
there was something else he could try. I don't worry, Harvey,
because you'll get used to it the end. That's the story.
And here is your question of the week. If you
had to choose between non stop ticklishness, NonStop sneezing, or
having a cough that won't go away, which one would
you choose? Thanks to Harvey, Elliott and Lydia and showed
it to the following listeners. Ruby and Corey from Jacksonville, Florida,
Emma and Ellie from Kelowna, BC, Claire and Grace from Alaska,
Lily and Emmett from Pennsylvania, Jangshi from Switzerland, Calvin, Parker
and West from San Clemente, California, win Flow, Alex Louis
and their Chonkinader Cat Lady Honey Waffles from Ontario, Canada,
Emerson from Maryland, Teddy and Madeline from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and
William and Sidney from Toronto. I'll have more next time,
so for now, thanks for listening and I'll catch you
on the next one,