This Impractical Jokers Participant Was So Upset That She Shut Down Production
"Impractical Jokers" has a pretty basic premise. Four guys encourage one another to perform hilarious pranks in crowded areas. They get each other to say and do ridiculous things while onlookers stare in equal parts wonder and confusion.
Since they do these pranks out in public, it's safe to say not everyone is in on the joke. Over the years, many people have gotten in the jokers' crosshairs, and while the butt of the joke is always one of the jokers, sometimes people don't always appreciate what they have to do. A prime example of this is the episode where Joe Gatto's punishment involves stealing autographed baseballs from kids at the ballpark. Many of the kids look at him bewildered, but one mother took it to the next level.
She followed Gatto through the stands and accosted him for taking the ball away from her child, all while Gatto had to continue making jokes on the other jokers' behalf. It was a tense moment, and Gatto later revealed that no other moment had really come close to topping it.
Everyone agrees no other punishment comes close
The jokers have earned the ire of many people over the years. You can usually tell when someone's reaction is over the top because their face remains blurred out when the episode airs, likely meaning they didn't sign the necessary paperwork to show their likeness on TV. But honestly, any parent would get upset if a grown adult upset their kid.
Every so often, the jokers will read fan mail via web chats, and in one instance, Joe Gatto was asked if anyone had ever gotten as angry at him as the mother from the Met game. He definitively declares, "No, never ever in a million years has anyone ever been that upset at anyone on 'Impractical Jokers.'" Gatto went on to explain that the woman even shut down production because she went all in at him for ruining her kid's day.
To further confirm that this was, indeed, the most extreme reaction, Gatto calls in executive producer Pete McPartland to talk to him about the Met lady. McPartland confirms that no other participant has ever had a reaction to a prank that severe. It's just one of the many times the jokers went too far with a stunt, but one thing is clear from the Met punishment — it made for great television.