Renn Faire and Kink

[FiddleStorm]

Hello! Lately I've been obsessed with all things renn faire, and I was wondering if anyone else is. I've heard there is a lot of overlap between the two scenes, and I'm wondering if there is any truth to that. If there is, then what is your advice on going as a kinkster? Is there a certain secret code or something I should wear to signal myself to others?

[SharonP]

No, in America, most renn faires don't have stocks. I can say none of the ones I've ever visited have, and I've traveled a great deal and done lots of medieval LARPing and stuff. There have been one or two places that had pillories with oversized giant holes which are good for taking pictures, but there's no real bondage involved.

Every renn faire pic that involves tickling that I've seen has been in Europe.

Now maybe there's some state fair out there or renn faire where some local guy shows up with a set of stocks-- I think in the 80s or 90s there was one guy who did that-- but I don't believe that there is common overlap, no.

[Phineas]

It’s not out of the question. May just be a thing in California because everyone out here has some kind of thing, but the logic goes that Rennies are nerds and nerds are super kinky.

That said, they’re also kind of insular and while the troupe itself may break out the corsets and whips every night, not only have I never seen a set of stocks at a faire, I’ve also never heard of any randos showing up with a secret pin or handshake and gettin’ any from the wenches, either. If anything, they absolutely hate it when you hit on them while they’re in character no matter how much they’re jiggling their tits at you.

[Goatboy]

I used to go to Renn Fairs back in the 90s and one I attended in Lakewood New Jersey had two women in stocks being tickled by attendees.

[Backstep]

From what I understand, in America, a majority of the time when you see Renfaire ankle stocks in older videos, it's either done in comparative isolation not actually at a Renfaire, or it's an inversion, in which those locked in the stocks are actually performers, and not members of the public. While there might have been a few times when members of the public were locked in the stocks in the past at these reenactment festivals, I doubt it's been the case for decades.

Europe is a different thing, but even then, it's not common, just infamous in a subculture like this one.

[Toesheldback]

I used to go to ren faires years ago when my kids were little (that’s an expensive experience!) in the US and saw pillories with oversized holes only. I think once or twice the ren faire guy would use a feather to tickle the person’s face for a photo op, but that was it.

[Phineas]

From what I understand, in America, a majority of the time when you see Renfaire ankle stocks in older videos, it's either done in comparative isolation not actually at a Renfaire, or it's an inversion, in which those locked in the stocks are actually performers, and not members of the public.

AFAIK, all of the older stocks photos that most people remember came from one or two of Kujman's set pieces. Kuj did work the faire circuit, but he was the only one I'd ever heard of doing this in days of olde. Nowadays we have those "Stimulating Feet" frauds. And when people found out what Kujman was doing they. were. pissed.

Europe is a different thing, but even then, it's not common, just infamous in a subculture like this one.

All of the European renfaire stuff comes from two faires. One banned the dude doing it, the other doesn't seem to have caught on yet. Although we're apparently glomming on to a third.

I honestly wish this stocks obsession would just go away.

[gamble]

The fair in Maryland has a set of stocks but there is not any active tickling going on through the day. But they are available for people to get in so I'm sure someone has had to be tickled although I never saw it when I was there. I did work at the fair one year and I had a pretty good feeling that a group of people in the booth were having some tickling fun when everything closed up but I never ventured to get more involved unfortuantely.

[Backstep]

AFAIK, all of the older stocks photos that most people remember came from one or two of Kujman's set pieces. Kuj did work the faire circuit, but he was the only one I'd ever heard of doing this in days of olde. Nowadays we have those "Stimulating Feet" frauds. And when people found out what Kujman was doing they. were. pissed.



All of the European renfaire stuff comes from two faires. One banned the dude doing it, the other doesn't seem to have caught on yet. Although we're apparently glomming on to a third.

I honestly wish this stocks obsession would just go away.

I have to admit, "Stimulating Feet" creeps me out, and that was before their public stocks shtick. It's one thing to pay a couple of models to pretend they're in a particular scenario in a one-off and then put it on Clips 4 Sale. Fine, whatever. But to put promotional vids on YouTube with dogged insistence that it's nonsexual when it clearly is, and leaving it open whether anyone is getting paid and/or know what's going to happen with these videos makes it feel really unsettling.

[Phineas]

I have to admit, "Stimulating Feet" creeps me out, and that was before their public stocks shtick. It's one thing to pay a couple of models to pretend they're in a particular scenario in a one-off and then put it on Clips 4 Sale. Fine, whatever. But to put promotional vids on YouTube with dogged insistence that it's nonsexual when it clearly is, and leaving it open whether anyone is getting paid and/or know what's going to happen with these videos makes it feel really unsettling.

Yeah, you've hit the nail on the head. They, along with resident kayfabe experts Tickle Therapy and a few others, really set off my alarm bells in this regard, and I think I can finally articulate why.

As you said, it's not so much that they're shooting fictional scenarios and representing them as such on Clips4Sale, or wherever. I don't go to the movies and get pissed off when I learn Jim Carrey isn't really the Grinch, you know? The difference - and this is key - is that these producers doggedly maintain that the scenarios are real, even in contexts where they very well should not.

Chris Evans doesn't go on Oprah and say he's really a super soldier, but these "producers" do in fact go "yup yup, we're therapists doing a research project" to anyone who'll listen, whether it's on their social media, C4S page, or even in personal correspondence on forums like this. That's when the fiction turns into lying, IMHO - and I think people really need to be more transparent about that because this community seems to produce a particular breed of stupid where people believe this shit is actually real, and then they use it to rationalize going out and tricking/defrauding/assaulting people because "other people did it".

Case in point; this renfaire shit. Two creeps tricked people and/or staged fake scenarios and ever since we've had people thinking renfaires are hotbeds of tickle fetishing (like that guy above who passionately believes it had to have happened in spite of absolutely zero evidence) or worse, sneaking fetish shit into faires under the guise of "historical reenactment". GTFOH.

[UnHolyUnion]

i went a few faires in my younger days (2000s) in PA and NJ that had stocks, don't see them anymore

[Comfort Eagle]

Not to invoke The Creator of The Tickle Fetish (PBUH), but I've always found it odd how in the age of the munches and get-togethers all over the country, generally at all times of the year, that it's still never happened that someone has put together a purely kink, no normies allowed renfaire.

Like obviously the logistics are there, but I would think at this point, there would have been efforts to get one. Being as common a fantasy as it is.

[Wolf]

Not to invoke The Creator of The Tickle Fetish (PBUH), but I've always found it odd how in the age of the munches and get-togethers all over the country, generally at all times of the year, that it's still never happened that someone has put together a purely kink, no normies allowed renfaire.

Like obviously the logistics are there, but I would think at this point, there would have been efforts to get one. Being as common a fantasy as it is.

It's a fine thought, sure - but, a logistical and sociological nightmare -
Think of Nikki Glaser's now-infamous Foot Fetish Party clip.
Now think of it, but imagine all the guys are dressed as Jack Sparrow or The Witcher.

[brotherted]

The way it would have to work in America, in 2023, is that someone sets up stocks at a Renfaire, and certain "wenches" agree in advance to take turns being "sentenced" to punishments for some Medieval-sounding crime. Then, they would also take volunteers from the crowd who were already quite aware of what was going on. And I have no doubt, there would be some volunteers, just not a continuous stream of them.

I think a full advance awareness/consent version of Renfaire stocks, combined with paid ticklees so they don't have to sit, wait and awkwardly do nothing unless and until an audience member volunteers, would be a way to pull this off today.

[Wolf]

The way it would have to work in America, in 2023, is that someone sets up stocks at a Renfaire, and certain "wenches" agree in advance to take turns being "sentenced" to punishments for some Medieval-sounding crime. Then, they would also take volunteers from the crowd who were already quite aware of what was going on. And I have no doubt, there would be some volunteers, just not a continuous stream of them.

I think a full advance awareness/consent version of Renfaire stocks, combined with paid ticklees so they don't have to sit, wait and awkwardly do nothing unless and until an audience member volunteers, would be a way to pull this off today.

People who work and run faires are hip to this kind of thing, now. There's this thing called the internet...