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Q from 'Impractical Jokers' promises no sense of maturity on current tour

Rodney Ho, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on

Published in Entertainment News

Sure, the crew of childhood friends dubbed the “Impractical Jokers” are edging toward the half-century mark in age, but their senses of humor keep them perpetually stuck at age 12.

The formula has worked since 2011 when cable was king. The original quartet ― now a trio ― sidle up to unsuspecting people in grocery stores, waiting rooms and parks and say ridiculous things fed to them by their buds, the more juvenile and humiliating the merrier. If any of them refuses to say or do what is asked, they lose.

Including specials, there have been a whopping 270-plus episodes on truTV and a 2020 movie shot in Atlanta.

Brian “Q” Quinn, Sal Vulcano and James “Murr” Murray are now on their fifth national tour showing videos and goofing on each other live.

“Nobody is expecting high art out of us,” said Quinn in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Embarrassment is our stock and trade.”

At the same time, the live show is not the same as the TV show.

 

“We can’t do our hidden camera things,” Quinn said. “But we try to keep the spirit of the show and make the audience feel like they’re just hanging out with us. We make fun of Murr and show videos just for the show and videos we couldn’t show on TV. It’s a multimedia stand-up type of thing. We even bring audience members on stage.”

The goodwill they feel from the audience, Quinn said, is genuine: “People show up and are happy to see us. 80% of the work is done.”

“Impractical Jokers” as a TV entity remains very much alive. Although its longtime home truTV is moving to sports programming, parent company Warner Bros. Discovery has decided to move the show to its larger sister station TBS for its 11th season. A 12th season is guaranteed, Quinn noted.

The new episodes on TBS will feature guest appearances by the likes of Brooke Shields, Roy Wood Jr., Richard Kind, comedian Joe DeRosa, pro wrestler John Silver and former NSYNC member Joey Fatone.

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©2024 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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