Brain Tingles
Seriously...
BBC
4.1 • 885 Ratings
🗓️ 29 December 2015
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The comedian and actor Isy Suttie sets out to explore how creativity is influenced by the mysterious and medically controversial phenomenon ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response). Ever since she was little, Isy has been experiencing what she and her family describe as 'head squeezing' - a euphoric, incredibly relaxing version of goose bumps that starts around the head or face and travels around the body. A few years ago she realised not everyone got this feeling, that it's got a name - ASMR, or 'brain tingles'. There are hoards of online videos designed to trigger the feeling - often involving whispering women offering to book you a golfing holiday, test your eyes, wrap your gifts or tutor you on how to fold the perfect towel. Isy watches some ASMR videos with fellow comedian Joe Lycett, who's also experienced it, as has the journalist and musician Rhodri Marsden. Zoe Fothergill and Claire Tolan are two artists who've made work inspired by ASMR videos. Isy speaks to Charlotte Luke aka The ASMR Angel who has thousands of internet followers. She meets Dr Nick Davis who's carried out research into ASMR and she heads off to Sheffield University where she's wired up to a machine which tests her responses to different videos, to try to unravel how and when ASMR occurs.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi, welcome to Seriously, with Me Testament. |
| 0:11.0 | Back in the early 90s, when TV was entering the era of bright neon graphics |
| 0:14.8 | and presenters wearing matching baggy pants that featured an unassuming |
| 0:18.4 | program usually cropped up before breakfast TV started or in the lull in the |
| 0:22.3 | afternoon between Quincy and |
| 0:23.7 | Colombo. It featured a man that would become a cult hero in modern day folklore. |
| 0:28.2 | The program was called The Joy of Painting and the gentleman in question, well his name was Bob Ross. |
| 0:39.6 | He was born in 1942 in Florida. |
| 0:41.9 | Bob enlisted in the US Air Force in 1961 where he rose to the In the guy who makes you scrub the latrine the guy who makes you make your bed the guy who |
| 0:54.1 | screams at you for being late to work the job requires you to be a mean tough person however |
| 1:00.0 | there was another side to Bob having discovered a passion for painting and being beguiled by the natural |
| 1:04.8 | beauty of Alaska, he decided to leave the forces in 1981 and focus on being creative and teaching |
| 1:10.0 | his artistic techniques. He vowed never to scream again. Instead he would be |
| 1:14.3 | softly spoken and caring a decision that would be the making of his new life. |
| 1:19.8 | This is where the joy of painting comes into the frame. The 30 minutes show at first seemed to feature nothing more than Bob painting a canvas, |
| 1:26.2 | something he'd do at remarkable speed, I may add. |
| 1:28.8 | But what people soon started to realize was that there was much more to Bob. The pictures that he would paint |
| 1:34.7 | were plucked out from his imagination. As he worked he would bring you into these |
| 1:38.2 | painted worlds telling you tales and fables all as he'd transform the blank space into a wonderland. |
| 1:45.1 | As his brushes stippled, stroked and unveiled new worlds, he became a painting life coach. |
| 1:50.7 | In his new found soft tones he whispered inspirational thoughts to the hypnotized viewer |
| 1:55.0 | with quotes like you need the dark in order to see the light or we don't make mistakes |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.