Impractical Jokers: Sal, Q, & Murr Discuss Their Favorite Punishments
"Impractical Jokers" knows how to get viewers laughing. And even the battle-hardened comedians still have moments from the long-running truTV series that continue to get them giggling.
In an interview with Staten Island Advance, the current "Jokers" cast consisting of Joe "Murr" Murray, Brian "Q" Quinn, and Sal Vulcano are asked to describe their favorite punishments. Vulcano admits his own shocking punishment from Season 9. "It was on me, but it made me laugh when I watched it back when you guys electrocuted me," Sal says. The punishment was even repeated, but Sal was shocked during a seance instead of an art show.
Meanwhile, Murr recalls an upcoming Season 10 punishment, saying, "Sal, you were in a room, it was like a focus group room, and the lights would turn off ... and you sneak around this focus group stealing cookies off of other people's plates in the dark." While Sal is the show's go-to punching bag, Quinn takes a dig at Murr with his choice. "There's something with you and planes that I'm starting to pick up on," he comments. "We had you in a fighter jet, we had you on the wings of a biplane, and we had you thrown out of a plane." Realizing this pattern, Quinn suggests a hot air balloon is the next natural step.
After years of such hard-hitting punishments, it's perplexing to wonder how the team keeps itself cackling. As it turns out, the secret isn't anything hard to grasp.
Keeping it fun is the secret ingredient
After ten seasons, a movie, and over a decade on the air, few jobs sound tougher than finding a fresh way to keep the cast of "Impractical Jokers" engaged in their brand of extreme comedy. But the secret sauce to keeping things fresh isn't super complex.
Former Joker and Tenderloin member Joe Gatto spoke with Den of Geek during the making of Season 5. When asked how the team keeps ideas coming while keeping the show's identity intact, Gatto admits, "Most of the challenge is trying to pick a good format that really brings it out for us. We're excited to try something new." He gives an example from Season 5 that fits this criteria: Sal was tasked with throwing his pants into someone's shopping cart at a grocery store while wearing a vest with hundreds of jingle bells. "It was just so simple and silly in its idea and it panned out to be so fun," he says.
And ultimately, keeping things jovial is the name of the game, according to Gatto, who comments, "The ideas haven't stopped yet and we're still having fun doing it. We always said 'When we're not having fun doing it anymore it's over.'" It's that never-ending sense of amusement that keeps the Jokers going strong and infectiously spreads amongst the show's fans.