Manicured fingernails tap-tappity-tap on a small gold-coated teacup as raspberry-red lips whisper to camera.
"I’m thrilled. The entire tea set only cost $20," New Zealander Letitia Lickkit says in lip-smacking hi-fi.
Somewhere in Germany, a black robot mannequin’s head stares green-button-eyed from a pillow of hundreds of different coloured buttons gently click-clacking beneath ASMR Zeitgeist’s swishing hands for the optical and auditory pleasure of almost 2 million viewers.
Vanessa ASMR, a young Brazilian armed with mirror-gloss lips and a high-end studio microphone, uploads 62 minutes of wet mouth sounds accompanied by an "intense spit-painting your face" video apparently intended to induce sleep in her 161,000 subscribers.
Welcome to the world of Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) - an ever-flowering multiverse of whispers, tingles, calmness, connection and delectation. From a single, online discussion in 2007, ASMR has become a global cornucopia of thousands of ASMRtists (ASMR artists), spanning myriad sub-genres, who daily add to more than 25 million videos designed to trigger viewers’ experiences of relaxation and low-grade euphoria.
And now, courtesy of the Dunedin Fringe Festival, a rare chance to experience live ASMR theatre is coming South.
Amy Atkins, 28, is preparing her new show, ASMR Hour, for debut at the Dunedin Fringe Festival in March.
The professional actor, event manager and ASMRtist had not heard the term "ASMR" while growing up in Tauranga, but she did know the "fizzy" sensation she felt on her skin when other children drew on her back with their fingers or when she got her hair washed at the hairdressers.
"So, I didn't have a word for it at the time, but I've known the sensation. It feels nice, and it's calming - it's that fizzy sensation on the skin," she says.
She discovered the rapidly growing ASMR phenomenon in 2018, when she moved to Wellington as a puppeteer after graduating from Massey University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Theatre Studies.
After three years of consuming ASMR videos, Atkins created her own ASMRtist alter ego Letitia Lickitt for live performance.
"Letitia is a family name ... and I like alliteration, so I wanted a double L.
"Lickitt is a little nod to [the ASMR subgenre] eating ASMR."
She began creating Letitia Lickitt online videos two years ago.
"Letitia's very comedic, very funny. But she takes herself very seriously.
"She thinks she's a real ASMRtist - which she is now, which is kind of funny."
Atkins is one of only three people she knows of globally who have toured live ASMR, and the only one currently doing so. It makes her one tiny star in an enormous, multi-layered universe whose big bang was less than two decades ago.
The ASMR genesis was October 19, 2007. In an online health-related discussion forum, participant "okaywhatever" put up a post describing a sensation experienced since childhood and triggered by specific events such as "watching a puppet show" or "being read a story".
A large and animated response revealed many others had also experienced this sensation, triggered by equally unremarkable events.
Online discussions began to proliferate, sharing stories and analysing the phenomenon.
Over time, it was defined as a low-grade, non-sexual, euphoria combining positive feelings and a tingling sensation on the skin.
Different names were proposed. For a while it was called the Whisper Community. But the moniker that stuck came from online forum participant Jennifer Allen who, in 2010, proposed "Autonomous", as in spontaneous; "Sensory", related to sensations; "Meridian", peak or climax; "Response", triggered by something - ASMR.
Today, ASMR is a youth culture phenomenon gaining traction and velocity in wider society. On YouTube alone, there are more than 500,000 ASMR channels. Those more than half a million individuals posting ASMR content are being watched by many tens of millions of consumers. A 2021 survey by CensusWide revealed two out of every three people aged over 15 in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, Mexico and France had viewed ASMR content at least once, and 60% of those ASMR consumers viewed it at least once a week. Most said they used ASMR to reduce stress or to comfort and relax themselves. The next most popular reason for watching ASMR was entertainment.
At the apex of the global ASMRtist pantheon is Zach Choi, an eating ASMRtist from the US who has 30.6 million YouTube subscribers. Choi’s most watched ASMR video, featuring him and South Korean social media personality Stephanie Soo eating a variety of sweet and sticky foods, has 89.1 million views.
Almost as popular is Japanese mukbang (food-related) ASMRtist, Bayashi TV, whose cooking and eating channel has 30 million subscribers.
In third place, but a significant step down, is Jane ASMR, of South Korea, whose dessert and lolly eating content has only garnered her 18.2 million subscribers.
Among New Zealand’s most successful ASMRtists are ShiverMeTingles and nananightray.
In the past three years, ShiverMeTingles’ personal attention and roleplay ASMR videos have grown her fanbase from 20,000 to 157,000 subscribers.
Comments by Shivers’ viewers include, "I suffer with anxiety ... so I listen to you every night; you help me a great deal", "The tingles were getting more intense the further I got into this" and "I love the moment your voice caresses my ear".
Nelson-based nananightray is a goth-vibe, sleep-focused ASMRtist who has 173,000 YouTube subscribers and 177,000 TikTok followers.
Nana’s viewers leave comments such as "It's just a miracle, so relaxing, so nice, and Nana herself is also a miracle", "Life is rough but ASMR always helps me relax" and "If you treat me this way, I’m yours forever".
ASMR’s entry into the mainstream includes the use of ASMR triggers in advertising by global brands, such as Coca-Cola, Lush and Pizza Hut, and in feature films. The first fictional ASMR movie was Murmurs, released in 2018. The second was Shut Eye, in 2022, by New Zealand film-maker Tom Levesque. Shut Eye, which has screened at New Zealand and overseas film festivals, incorporates ASMR triggers in a psychological drama about a young insomniac who becomes obsessed with an ASMRtist.
Although not everyone experiences ASMR, researchers have confirmed it is real and has proven relaxation benefits.
This is what explains its success, Atkins says.
"The past 10 years have been really intense," she says.
"There's been so much happening - Covid, the financial crisis, lots of awful things happening around the world. So, anything that is a moment for you to feel calm and to feel relaxed is really lovely."
Connection is another important aspect, shown by the popularity of personal attention and boyfriend or girlfriend ASMR.
"If you're missing out on seeing people, or maybe don't have many friendships, or maybe ... you don't have a partner, they can be really calming, really lovely things to watch."
But the ASMR label is a broad church; it is many things to many people.
There is, for example, a certain type of eating ASMR that borders on fetishism, Atkins says.
"You'll notice a fair amount of phallic objects are consumed.
"[Also] there are some ASMRtists who are sex workers and they use their ... videos as the launching pad."
Auckland-based Levesque, 36, has known the efficacy of sound therapy from a young age and has been watching ASMR videos since his late 20s.
He enjoys calligraphy ASMR - the sound of an ink pen on paper - and medical roleplays. Cranial nerve exam ASMR videos, for example, remind Levesque of calming visits to his friendly GP.
"I suppose I’m trying to extend that experience through these videos," he says.
In Shut Eye, Levesque explores the meaning and importance of connection.
"The experience of ASMR, from my point of view, is about receiving warmth and affirmation and positivity.
"If people are living with tough or stressful circumstances, if they have an ASMR person who provides positive chat then it’s a nice thing to do."
But does ASMR give genuine connection?
"If you were to break it down completely and strip it right back, you could see it as relying on para-social connections. That does sound quite sad," Levesque says.
"Perhaps we are becoming more disconnected and this will become more prevalent - trying to sustain relationships through computer screens.
"What it does show is people are still yearning to connect with others and we still need that connection."
Atkins’ ASMR star is rising. She is booked for this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Before then, she is bringing Letitia Lickitt to Dunedin for two nights of ASMR Hour at Yours in Moray Pl.
ASMR Hour will bring people closer to the ASMR online experience than her previous shows. Participants will wear headphones and will be able to request the triggers and role plays they want Letitia Lickitt to perform.
"I’m aiming for a really calming and a really joyous sensory experience."
In the end, Atkins’ view of ASMR is fundamentally positive.
Asked whether she thinks ASMR is a sad reflection on a fractious and fractured world, she says no.
"I think ASMR is a really cool thing.
"I love that there's all this content, which if I want to watch, I can sit and calm down to it.
"It doesn't make me sad that we need it, because I can imagine even if we didn't need it, it would still be nice."
The show
• ASMR Hour is at 7pm, on March 13 and 14, in Yours, 43 Moray Pl. The Dunedin Fringe Festival programme and tickets are available online at www.dunedinfringe.nz/
