Why Exactly Did Howard Stern Have A Tickle Chair?

[A/S/H]

I wasn't really around for his show but for obvious reasons I've known about his tickle chair for quite some time, but I never really understood it. Was it a random thing he just started doing out of nowhere/from the beginning or did he get the idea from Yaqi? Is he into tickling himself or was it just a gimmick for his show? This probably doesn't need an entire thread but I'm really curious

 

[darvon96]

If I remember correctly, it was a suggestion from listeners that got it started. Stern was constrained by FCC rules back then, thus limiting how sexual things could get on air. The tickle chair was a way to stretch the boundaries, specifically by the premise of tickling woman until they peed.

 

[tk86]

Don’t think he was into it, I think it was semi-popular demand 🙂

 

[SlickBack]

Wish he managed to convince Trish, Lita and Stephanie to sit in the tickle chair.

 

[maniactickler]

It was a popular demand and also gave him an excuse to touch hotties.

 

[A/S/H]

If I remember correctly, it was a suggestion from listeners that got it started. Stern was constrained by FCC rules back then, thus limiting how sexual things could get on air. The tickle chair was a way to stretch the boundaries, specifically by the premise of tickling woman until they peed.

I'm really surprised it was a listener's suggestion, but I guess it makes sense within the context of the early 2000s. Any action was better than no action back then lol

 

[A/S/H]

Wish he managed to convince Trish, Lita and Stephanie to sit in the tickle chair.

In the few clips of his I watched I always felt like they were just sort of tolerating him lol, but I could be wrong

 

[yinzer]

It looks like your question has already been answered here, but I'll just add, Howard Stern is obviously an entertainer and comedian. He has always been about doing whatever will get viewers, listeners, and laughs. I'm sure him and his sidekicks saw tickling as a perfect gag for the show. Yaqi looked annoyed to be the butt of the joke, but I'm sure he's a smart guy that had to know what he was getting into by going on a show like that. And it was too obvious Howard isn't into tickling if you ever watched him tickle because he may've been the absolute worst 'ler I've ever seen 😂

 

[SoleMates]

I'm sure him and his sidekicks saw tickling as a perfect gag for the show. Yaqi looked annoyed to be the butt of the joke, but I'm sure he's a smart guy that had to know what he was getting into by going on a show like that.

Honestly - and someone more versed in Howard tickle lore than I can correct me - I'm pretty sure this is where it started. Yaqi was pestering mainstream media outlets to appear on their shows (he had another spot on a morning talk show around this time), and Howard bit, so he went on. And of course since this community can't just be happy with what they're given, I guarantee you Howard started getting E-mails from people here begging to have so-and-so tickled on-air in a set of stocks, which he eventually agreed to try because it seemed like it would get ratings. And it did, and so he kept doing it, and here we are still talking about it like two decades later in spite of it being absolute cringe.

 

[milagros317]

And it was too obvious Howard isn't into tickling if you ever watched him tickle because he may've been the absolute worst 'ler I've ever seen 😂

Yes, I saw that and I was disappointed that he wasn't really one of us.

 

[yinzer]

When we were kids, my brother and I used to stay up late and sneak watching Stern's TV show Saturday nights when my dad wouldn't get home from work till the early morning hours. This was probably back in the late 80's-early 90's. I watched his movie (which I thought was great) and continued to listen to his radio show till the early 2000's and then stopped around the time he switched over to Sirius. I pretty much lost interest after that and stopped following anything he did, but it seemed like after he got remarried he lost his edge or something, or maybe I just matured it and didn't appeal to me anymore. Of course, when they started doing the tickling stuff, it got my attention again, and it was both pretty exciting and disappointing (and as Solemates pointed out, cringe) at the same time seeing women like Carmen Electra in the tickle chair since I had a crush on her probably like every other guy back then 😆