STATEN ISLAND, NY — Brian “Q” Quinn, James “Murr” Murray, Joe Gatto and Sal Vulcano are in the business of making people laugh.
Now, after several brushes with national fame, the local improv comics better-known as the The Tenderloins have parlayed millions of hits on their viral videos into a bona fide big break: “Impractical Jokers” premieres Dec. 15 with back-to-back episodes at 10 p.m. and 10: 30 p.m. on truTV.
And, believe it or not, for once the joke’s not on Staten Island.
That’s right, these guys are not out to make you look like a “Jackass.” and they won’t leave you feeling “Punk’d.”
Instead, the quartet’s national TV debut takes them back to their formative years in Monsignor Farrell High School’s class of ‘94.
Best friends for 20 years, these good-natured anti-wiseguys have long been challenging each other to some of the most ridiculous dares imaginable.
Now, to find out who’s best under pressure, they’re competing in awkward hidden-camera hijinks (directed by their buddies via a tiny earpiece) for your potential viewing pleasure.Audience reaction at a pair of impromptu pilot screenings last weekend was unanimous: “Impractical Jokers” is damn funny.
And not even in a trashy guilty pleasure kind of way, which fits in perfectly with truTV’s motto: “Not reality. Actuality.”
AWE caught up with the cast earlier this week to talk about their long journey from buzzworthy talents to burgeoning TV stars who don’t embarrass their beloved borough. ¶
JAMES “MURR” MURRAY, 35, vice president of development NorthSouth Productions (“Say yes to the Dress”). Recently moved to Wall Street with castmate Joe Gatto, “as close to the Ferry as we could get so we could go see our families.”
AWE: we first caught up with you guys in 2007, when you nailed the $100,000 prize in the ItsYourShow.com contest. That led to pitch meetings with FOX, Comedy Central and NBC execs. What happened?
JAMES: “We’ve certainly had our ups and downs, as any group does. What happened, I think, was we went through the process. we sold an improv show to A&E, and did a pilot for that. it didn’t go to series. then we did a pilot, based on our real lives, for SpikeTV; a scripted sketch-comedy show. it didn’t get picked up. After that we thought, ‘Gosh, maybe it’s not going to happen.’ it was a year and a half ago when we came together and said, ‘Let’s give it a 10;other shot.’ we just needed to find the right format and right network. TruTV was so excited to pick up this show. Unlike our other pilots, this is best suited to our skills: It’s just us being best friends.
AWE: The show’s marketing push hinges on your status as real-life buddies: Fact or network spin?
JAMES: Joe and I played soccer against each other in the 8th grade. The four of us became best friends freshmen year at Monsignor Farrell. … These are things we’ve been doing for 20 years. It’s pretty amazing to get paid to make your best friends laugh.
SAL VULCANO, 35, Rosebank native (and Manor Heights transplant) is perhaps the best known “Joker,” thanks to his longstanding bartender gigs.
AWE: For the group of people we screened “Impractical Jokers” with, a big part of the appeal was the fact that the joke is always on you guys — you’re not humiliating innocent targets for cheap laughs. Was that refreshing lack of mean-spiritedness planned?
SAL: “It was absolutely intentional — our own twist on an older, popular format. we definitely want the onus to be on us. we don’t even like to use the word prank. It’s a reverse-prank show — social experimentation. It’s all about us in uncomfortable situations and seeing how we can get through it. it really starts with us behind the scenes, revving and ramping up to be able to do this stuff . We’re not actors playing pranks. We’re legitimately four friends doing what we’ve always done — but with cameras.
JAMES: Yeah, we’re not comedians or actors embarrassing the public. It’s the exact opposite: We’re throwing each other the bus. The charm of the show is seeing us cringe and debate internally as we try to decide if we can do this … for me, the hardest part of the show is not laughing while they’re talking in the mic and laughing backstage. When they laugh it causes you to break. It’s as much fun seeing Sal crumble as it is seeing him n ail it.
JOE GATTO, 35, a self-proclaimed “geek growing up,” this former accounting consultant realized he “didn’t want to die in a cubicle.”
AWE: You managed to pull off, arguably, the toughest challenge: Placing your nose on strangers standing in line at Costco. we hear you used to do that to high school teachers, reducing your fellow”Jokers” to tears. True?
JOE: Yeah, I’ve been practicing that for years. I think it comes from ribbing during my donkey phase when I had a pretty big nose. When I was younger and skinnier it stuck out more. I decided to turn that negative energy into something positive. I used to get Sal all the time on subways. we would always enter through separate doors so no one would know we knew each other. That’s the rules: it can’t be someone you know and you can’t get caught. I would stand close to people and he would sta&# 114;t fumbling and trying to fight off laughter. Sal gets extra squirimy when people are uncomfortable in his radius.
AWE: you can do that but you caved when your pals ordered you to say something crude to a hot woman in Times Square? is that your Kryptonite?
JOE: I think that’s all of ours across the board. out of the foursome, I think I’m the most fearless but I’m Italian and was raised by an Italian mother. The guys will say something and I’ll hear my Italian mother saying, “Noooo, don’t do that.” it gives me pause — and then I have to try and make it up in the rest of the episode with gameplay.
BRIAN “Q” QUINN, 35, NY fire Fighter and Westerleigh resident who spends his limited spare time co-hosting the Kevin Smith network’s weekly “Tell ‘Em Steve-Dave” podcast (he just returned from touring the live show in England).
AWE: Wasn’t the network’s initial concept to give each episode’s winners ( i.e. the Jokers who successfully completed the most tasks ) a prize?
BRIAN: “Yeah, an iPad, an expensive dinner, batting practice at Yankee stadium, and whoever did the worst would get punished by getting nothing. Now we all just get nothing (laughs).”
AWE: Except bragging rights. did you have a Plan B, if this whole TV thing didn’t pan out?
BRIAN: “This IS plan B: to just keep going. It’s like going from a pool of very little odds to another pool of very little odds. to get a pitch meeting is difficult. to get a pilot is difficult. Now we’re at the point where we made a show — a good funny show — but enough people still have to like it. When I think about the odds of all this — it just makes me cry (laughs).
AWE: think positive — when you get picked up, what ‘s planned for season two?
BRIAN: God, I mean, here’s the thing: The second season will be a matter of us getting more inventive in messing with each other. The first season is basically setting up gameplay and what the rules are. next time, it will be all about us tightening the screws on each other.
AWE: Don’t you guys ever get mad at each other?
BRIAN: Nah. you just say, ‘well played,’ and hope to do better on your next turn. It’s a good, healthy competition (“Bang! Crash!). sorry, that was my stupid cat. His name is Joffery … the Cat.
AWE: What about the public? Any angry mobs?
BRIAN: “We have no mean bones in our bodies. People don’t get mad, really, just stunned. they aren’t used to people going outside the lines of what’s considered normal, socially accepted behavior. I think most people get nervous that we’re crazy. once they find out they’re on a hidden camera show, they get so excited and want to know when it’s gonna be on. It’s a great feeling.”
AWE: Any highlights we can look forward to seeing?
JAMES: We were working as jewelry experts at Casale Jewelers on S.I. I put necklace on this guy and they ordered me to like his bald, stubbly head. keep in mind this dude has more muscles in one arm than I have in my entire body. and he laughed! Thank god he laughed. I’m proud of myself for having the balls to do it. another one is … at one of those all-you-can-eat buffet lunch places. we had to go up to up to people, take stuff off their plates and pile it on our plat es. it was violating social etiquette rule No. 1: The zone of comfort. There’s a certain-foot radius you don’t infringe on and to cross that boundary in such a way; hearts were racing. Faces were flush. sometimes the simplest is the most terrifying to do.
AWE: will we be seeing any other S.I. locales on air?
SAL: We’ve also filmed at Ashley Taylor Salon, AF Bennett Wellness Spa, every borough, Yonkers, Jersey, Atlantic City. if we’re fortunate enough to do a second season, we plan to venture out even further, to places with different social composition than new York City.
AWE: Sal, you’re a co-owner — with Bobby “Bunz” Parker and Sal Impeduglia — at the recently refurbished Full Cup.
SAL: I don’t just own it — I’m still behind the bar three days a week. I have to be there to help the business grow. I will absolutely maintain that presence. It’s still my job and my livelihood and my love. all it means is double the work. Nothing is going to be sacrificed. I appreciate what I do there just as much.
AWE: Any trepidations about hosting a viewing party during your Thursday night shift?
SAL: with stage shows, you get the immediate gratification and response. with (video) sketches, a week later you get a response on the web. We’ve been in vacuum for months highly anticipating the response when people get to see it. We’ve watched it 100 times in preparation, so being able to see it through other peoples’ eyes when it airs will breathe new life into it for us. then we just have to wait a few weeks and see how the public responds to it. It’s all about ratings. we have a great foundation of hometown support and a lot of grassroots, organic support coming from people who’ve known us over the years as. Its really nice, and kind of overwhelming.
AWE: You’re already something of a local celebrity. are aspiring comics bugging you for the proverbial big break?
SAL: Ah, I haven’t come across any harassment; just complete love and support and wanting to see us to succeed and the Island succeed.
BRIAN: We’re not the masters of anybody’s destiny. We’re just lucky to be where we are.
AWE: Wait, is The Tenderloins moniker officially a thing of the past?
SAL: well, it would be natural for “Impractical Jokers” to supersede it on a larger level. and we don’t present ourselves as a comedy troupe on the show. we met in 1990; the Tenderloins didn’t form until 1999. … But for homegrown fans or anyone who Googles us, we can have both indentities. The show will live as it is and we’ll continue to do our thing as The Tenderloins as well.
AWE: Isn’t a relief to present a view of S.I. that has nothing to do with negative stereotypes?
JAMES: “Of course. It’s so rare. we grew up here in our formative years. to stay best friends and make good on it and be able to sell a TV show with those guys is pretty incredible. It’s a testament to Staten Island. It’s not like rest of the city — we’re a closer-knit community.
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