Can someone be ticklish and not ticklish at the same time?

It's a question that came to my mind after trying to tickle a female friend of mine. We are very close so I am able to sneak a tickle when we are together. There are times when she would react positively (laugh like crazy, jump up, be very ticklish in general) when I tickle her and sometimes there would be little to no reaction at all. I tickle her on the same spot which is her sides only so I notice a difference of reaction from time to time. I tried experimenting on her (not really in a perverted way) by testing if it's because of a surprise factor; it doesn't matter if I surprise her or not she has a 50/50 chance of laughing or not reacting at all.

So one time I asked her why she sometimes laugh and not laugh then she replied, "I don't know, sometimes I'm ticklish somethings I'm not. I don't really know why." I was genuinely curious if that's actually possible, because for me I'm always ticklish. At first I suspected that she's not really ticklish for real but if so it doesn't really matter to me. For the sake of curiosity, I'd like to ask you people if there is such thing as an on-off switch for ticklishness. Or maybe people who say so are just faking their ticklishness?

illfated said:

It's a question that came to my mind after trying to tickle a female friend of mine. We are very close so I am able to sneak a tickle when we are together. There are times when she would react positively (laugh like crazy, jump up, be very ticklish in general) when I tickle her and sometimes there would be little to no reaction at all. I tickle her on the same spot which is her sides only so I notice a difference of reaction from time to time. I tried experimenting on her (not really in a perverted way) by testing if it's because of a surprise factor; it doesn't matter if I surprise her or not she has a 50/50 chance of laughing or not reacting at all.

So one time I asked her why she sometimes laugh and not laugh then she replied, "I don't know, sometimes I'm ticklish somethings I'm not. I don't really know why." I was genuinely curious if that's actually possible, because for me I'm always ticklish. At first I suspected that she's not really ticklish for real but if so it doesn't really matter to me. For the sake of curiosity, I'd like to ask you people if there is such thing as an on-off switch for ticklishness. Or maybe people who say so are just faking their ticklishness?

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People aren't robots. They're going to have different reactions to different stimuli for any number of reasons. If someone is uncomfortable, creeped out, angry, or seriously distracted, they might not be ticklish. Hell, OTC medications can have an affect.

Wolf said:

People aren't robots. They're going to have different reactions to different stimuli for any number of reasons. If someone is uncomfortable, creeped out, angry, or seriously distracted, they might not be ticklish. Hell, OTC medications can have an affect.

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Agreed.

I can think of two different cases of girls who told me they weren't ticklish and even though I had tried many times, it certainly seemed that they were telling the truth. But with one, kneading my thumbs around her hipbones suddenly caused her to explode with a long peal of laughter. She grabbed my wrists, squeezed her eyes shut, and went with the ride, it was a beautiful. After it was done, she lay there, wiping the tears out of her eyes....and thanked me! Thanked me for "tickling me and showing me some loving" (her words). A few minutes later, I tried again: nothing. She also had told me "Sometimes when someone is kissing my neck, I can't deal", but, try as I might with every technique imaginable, from breath spilling to nibbles, I personally never found that to be the case. (she told me she had at one time been ticklish but had gotten over it, and that "tickling was a waste of time". She might have been one of the prettiest people I've ever met....but that was a dealbreaker! It was ME who gave the "let's just be friends" speech! Ha! I bet I was the only one ever to do that. (the hips incident was a couple of years later)

There was another instance of someone I knew. Many guys tried to tickle her, me included: nothing. She was proud of not being ticklish and would just look at you, bemused, if you tried. But one day I was at the beach with her and as she was laying in the sun, in a black one-piece and wearing dark shades, I started playing with her toes, going in between (this might have been how I discovered that spot, actually) and again, she exploded with laughter, not fighting it at all, as if she had never felt the sensation before and didn't know what to do other than scream over and over "It tickles! It tickles!". Feeling real proud of myself, I moved down to the middle of her soles. Nothing. Went back to her toes. It was gone. She was fascinated, surprised and delighted with what had just happened and asked me to try in other places, so I went to all the regular spots. Nothing. She was disappointed. So was I. lol

Why, after all those previous attempts, over such a long period of time, did these two suddenly become ticklish? We'll never know. It was just a phantom thing. I definitely felt proud, both times, though, as if I had accomplished some great thing! Ha!

And it works the other way. Like Wolf said, if they're angry. I (stupidly) once poked an otherwise super ticklish on-again/off-again college girlfriendl while she was arguing with her girlfriend about something, and although I had gotten her a million times before, easily, and seen at least one other guy get her, on this occasion, it was like tickling stone, and the fierceness and anger in her face didn't betray any semblance of feeling ticklish at that moment. Nothing worse than an attempt that fails!

Also, if they're drunk! That can blunt the ticklishness.

I had a G/F one time that could turn off her ticklishness and was proud of that ability. I even tied her spread eagle once and tried everywhere on her body and got nothing! But as I was just about to give up, the doorbell rang. It was the Domino's delivery guy. By the time I got back to the bedroom, she had wriggled out of the bondage and was getting dressed. I wonder now if maybe I was getting close to breaking her resistance. Anyway, once at her house, I was laying beside her and did the old wrap your legs around her thighs with one of her arms underneath me and held her other one above her head trick. Then I started tickling her armpit. She wend absolutely nuts! Her hair was whipping around and she was laughing like crazy and kicking her feet on the carpet! Problem was, under the carpet was concrete! And she hurt her heels! So I had to stop tickling her right away. Dammit! Never got her that good again. Now if we had been laying on the bed, she would've gotten tickled for a lot longer!

Of course it’s possible. Happens often.
We had a client who became ticklish only when you start talking some gibberish or baby talk. This broke her resistance and she began to react. However, she had no reaction to tickling in silence.

Sometimes it’s also about the mood or condition (mental or physical).
There’s one very cute blond young lady whom you could see in our videos, with very ticklish underarms, them being her weak spot.
After some time she came for another massage session and I found out that she was no longer ticklish there at all. What she felt when her underarms were lightly touched was pleasure, although once that made her squirm and try to get away.

I’m going to try this on her again after some time, to check if the ticklishness comes back.

Some people are just like that. It can also be influenced by a number of factors, like current mood, what tools you use, the setting (expected/unexpected tickling).

I don't know how people who can intentionally "shut off" their ticklishness do it (assuming they're not lying and can actually do it), but there's one part of my body i wish i could shut off sometimes.

Cinderrrr said:

Some people are just like that. It can also be influenced by a number of factors, like current mood, what tools you use, the setting (expected/unexpected tickling).

I don't know how people who can intentionally "shut off" their ticklishness do it (assuming they're not lying and can actually do it), but there's one part of my body i wish i could shut off sometimes.

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Hip bones?

I hate inconsistent ticklishness.

maniactickler said:

I hate inconsistent ticklishness.

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You mean, people who act like people, and not blow-up dolls with a laugh track?

@Schrödinger,
Your take on that..?