Joe And Murr Couldn't Watch Impractical Jokers In Their Own Home At The Beginning
While "Impractical Jokers" is now a monstrous success, that wasn't always the case. Before the show took off, two members, Joe Gatto and James "Murr" Murray, couldn't afford a cable package to watch their own pranks on TV. On an episode of Gatto's "Two Cool Moms" podcast, which he's worked on since leaving the show, he and Murr reminisced on a story about how they would manage to watch early episodes of the series.
"We didn't have cable, " Gatto said after Murr brought up the lounge in their old apartment building. "So when we watched 'Jokers,' the TV show that we were on, we would go upstairs, me, him, Bessy [Gatto], we'd have some friends over, we'd go up to the lounge."
The memories brought back plenty of laughter from the long-time friends, remembering how the TV wasn't always vacant when "Jokers" was airing. "[One time] there was a kid watching TV, sitting by himself," Gatto explained. After convincing the kid to let them change the channel, the two Jokers watched their episode with him. "We turned it on, and he was sitting there watching the show, and he starts laughing. And then, he looks at it, and he looks at Murr, and he looks back, and he looks at me, and he looks back, and he goes, 'Is that you guys?' We're like, 'Yeah,' and he goes, 'Why aren't you watching this in your apartment?' And we go, 'We don't have cable.'"
Money isn't an issue for the Jokers these days
While Joe and Murr reflected on being unable to afford cable during the early days of "Impractical Jokers," the comedic group will probably never find themselves in money trouble again.
During an interview with People, the remaining Jokers reflected on using a $600 restaurant bill as part of a joke, something the stars couldn't have ever considered paying before "Jokers" took off. Following Gatto's departure announcement, the four Jokers met for dinner one night. Before the check came, Sal went to the bathroom, and the crew immediately pounced on the opportunity, leaving him to pay the $600 bill by himself when he returned. "I had never peeled out of a parking lot so fast in my life as [I did] that day," Murr said. Q questioned if Joe wanted to say bye to Sal since he wouldn't be returning to film the following season, but Joe prioritized the joke, calling it "hysterical." Sall recalled sitting with the check, waiting for his friends to pop up and laugh it off, but after a few minutes of waiting, he understood that the joke was on him.
Thankfully, it wasn't too much of a burden on Sal's wallet, given the success of "Impractical Jokers." These days, none of the group members should have any issue paying for a cable subscription, assuming they still watch their episodes when they hit TV.