“I wanna get something out of the way,” Tickle starts. “Mr. Tickle. Not a stage name, not a joke… Glen Tickle is just my name that I use in every day life.”
Tickle a former pre-school science teacher, currently a parent, “Thor God of Thunder,” and self-proclaimed nerd; and on Glen Tickle (Yes, Really), he shares his comedic navigation through life with having a name like his. Tickle thought about changing his name when he first started substitute teaching, but now embraces his familial fate, and used it to hilariously fuel his debut album.
Tickle is as endearing as he is witty, and commands the audience’s full attention, as he talks about Shawshank Redemption parenting; Elvis, his dog; and life lessons through Thomas the Tank Engine. While he feels it’s hard to be taken seriously teaching as a Tickle, he announces his dad polices the streets as Officer Tickle. His sister in the army? Private Tickle. “It makes it hard when getting recognized by a child as Mr. Tickle… running up to a bearded man in a Wal-Mart yelling, ‘Mr. Tickle! Mr. Tickle! I’ve missed you so much!'”
During his years teaching pre-k science, his curriculum covered anything from Pluto, to the fictional Star Wars terrestrial planet, Alderaan. Outside of the classroom, Tickle brings his absurd creativity back home with him. “When my wife got pregnant, we were talking about what we would name our daughter, and I suggested Circus Trapeze Tickle,” naturally, to cancel out the “silliness” of the last name. While the Circus battle was one he couldn’t win, he beams, “So [my wife and I] compromised and we named our daughter Tess… Tess Tickle.”
As the album continues, Tickle’s daughter, (actually named Amelia,) comes to tell a knock knock joke. Then, the comedian brings out her Toyboto, a stuffed animal that Tickle likes to bring with him on tours from missing her. He then reveals that Amelia’s three-year-old brain has confused this heartfelt and comforting tradition with Glen needing Mr. Toyboto to tell jokes on stage with him. Since this discovery, Tickle programs Toyboto to deliver a few robot jokes for the sketch.
Contrasting this sweet moment, Tickle ends the routine sharing a five-year vengeance between him and a past heckler, and encourages the audience to participate in the revenge, justifying the humorous pettiness with a confident, “I don’t care, I will die doing this bit.” Glen Tickle (Yes, Really) goes out with a bang… and a heartfelt tickle.
You can pick up Glen Tickle (Yes, Really) which is available now right here.
