"Ticklish Reuben" is a folk song written by Cal Stewart

Cal Stewart

Cal Stewart was a pioneer in vaudeville and early sound recordings. He is best remembered for his comic monologues in which he played "Uncle Josh" Weathersby, a resident of a mythical New England farming town called "Punkin Center."Born in Charlotte County, Virginia in 1856, Stewart spent his...

in 1900. Released on the Victor Label, the song is a prime example of the "laughing song" genre. Initially the tune starts off normally, then descends into an abyss of maniacal, sinister laughing.

Lyrics as follows:

Oh,

My name is Ticklish Reuben

From way down in old Vermont

And ev'rything seems ticklish to me


I've been tickled by a feather

I've been tickled by a wasp

I've been tickled by a yellow bumblebee


I have always got a tickled sort of way about my clothes

It doesn't really matter where I be

I am tickled in the morning and I'm tickled in the night

Something's always sure to tickle me


hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah

hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah

(repeat x12)

Once I put some pepper into Dad's snuffbox

And the way he acted was a sight to see

Well he coughed and he sneezed till I thought he'd have a fit

And then he took me out to tickle me


I was always getting tickled by someone about the house

So why they take to ticklin' I could never see

And the apple-butter paddle it is all in splinters now

Daddy wore it out a-ticklin' me

External links

• Biography of Cal Stewart, from Tim Gracyk's website