Murr's Mom Found Out About His Tattoo Via An Impractical Jokers Punishment
Being part of the comedy troupe on "Impractical Jokers" makes for an unpredictable line of work, to say the least. The gang's absurd array of punishments manages to bring even the most hardcore members to unexpectedly squeamish territory. And if anyone had to learn this the hard way, it's James "Murr" Murray.
In the Season 3 episode, "The Permanent Punishment," Joe Gatto gets the rare opportunity to punish his three fellow Jokers and makes them all get unknown tattoos. Murr is especially cautious, saying to the others, "I need it in a spot that's not going to be seen by my mom." Sometime later, on a Web Chat special, Murr is asked by a fan how his mother reacted to his skydiving ferret tattoo.
Murr explains that his mother prevented him and his sisters from getting tattoos as children, so before filming the episode, the comedian had to get crafty. "I lied to her. I lied to her for three months," he explains, adding that he initially told her he wouldn't get a tattoo while they were filming at the shop. "She found out when she saw that punishment on TV ... so I took my mom out to a nice steak dinner to apologize." Any anger felt by Murr's mom was at least only temporary, unlike the Jokers, whose inked punishments will stick with them forever.
This punishment tested the team's friendship
Every Joker has their own level of durability, but for the most part, the guys are good at shrugging off even the most over-the-top of punishments. But the tattoo treatment given to Sal Vulcano, Brian "Q" Quinn, and James "Murr" Murray by Joe Gatto had the typically playful pranksters seeing red.
Gatto tells the losing trio off the bat that they won't know what their tattoos are until they're done, which, knowing how devious Gatto can be, was already a red flag. The Jokers are then subjected to being tattooed as Gatto walks about with a cocky attitude, only building up his friends' disdain even more.
The eventual tattoo reveal is where things really crash and burn. Q's tattoo, an image of a cat along with the message "38. Lives Alone. Has 3 Cats," shined a less-than-stellar light on the Joker's social life, while Murr's aforementioned skydiving ferret tattoo recalls his equally infamous skydiving punishment.
Sal's is arguably the most hilarious, being a realistic rendering of Jayden Smith. Vulcano explodes into a flurry of expletives, even remarking to Gatto, "This is going to change our whole entire friendship from this day forward!" Gatto's low blow may have left a nasty stain on the group's camaraderie, but it also birthed one of the show's funniest moments.