Most prank shows don't have the longevity of Impractical Jokers, but Sal, Joe, Q, and Murr have managed to keep the show fresh and exciting, while still staying true to form. The joke is always on the jokers themselves, and they've all suffered some pretty embarrassing humiliations over the years. Despite everything that the four of them have revealed about themselves on the show, there are still some things that you might not know about TV's favorite pranksters. From the punishment that Murr took an hour to prepare for to the other show Q almost appeared on, let's take a look at the untold truth of Impractical Jokers.
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00:00One of the best things on TV is Impractical Jokers, a hidden-camera show featuring four
00:07lifelong friends who challenge each other to engage in embarrassing situations.
00:12Because of the revealing nature of the show, there are very few parts of the Jokers' private
00:16lives that aren't on public display.
00:18But here are a few things you may not have known about America's Funniest Friends.
00:22Comic Book Man
00:23AMC's Comic Book Man almost featured another member, but Brian Q. Quinn was stuck in TruTV's
00:28contractual grip and couldn't join his good friends on Kevin Smith's nerdy version of
00:33Pawn Stars.
00:34Q, a lifelong fan of comics, appears regularly on a podcast called Tell Em, Steve Dave! with
00:39Comic Book Men's Walt Flanagan and Brian Johnson.
00:42Q's First Girlfriend
00:43Astute viewers will note that Q has mentioned that his first girlfriend spent some time
00:47in prison and that she's the half-sister of an A-list celebrity.
00:49I know who it is, and I know where she is!
00:54Prison!
00:55She's in prison!
00:56She's alive and breathing!
00:57Out of respect for the delicate family situation, Q's never mentioned her by name on the air.
01:02However, dedicated Redditors have used information from the show and Q's podcast to limit the
01:06possibilities to a very specific area at a very specific time, and deduced that Q dated
01:12King of Queens star Leah Remini's half-sister Elizabeth, who was arrested in 2005 for felonious
01:17cocaine trafficking.
01:19But you didn't hear it from us.
01:21Brian's Swollen Brain
01:22There were a few Jokers episodes where it was very clear that Q was suffering from an
01:26illness — and at least one challenge that Q was allowed to skip because of health concerns.
01:31Viewers didn't know that Q's problems were far worse than the flu, and after a battery
01:35of invasive tests administered by four doctors, a regimen of serious antibiotics, and a misdiagnosis
01:41of Lyme disease, Q found out that he was actually suffering from serious encephalitis and meningitis.
01:46The difference between pre- and post-illness Q was about 15 pounds, and Jokers filming
01:51was put off for about a week.
01:54One last ride, then it's night-night forever.
01:58See you soon, Ma!
02:00Full Cup
02:01Between 2010 and 2014, Joker Sal Vulcano was part of Full Cup, a beloved music venue and
02:06bar in his native Staten Island.
02:08Unfortunately, the location ran into financial trouble in 2014, and rebranded itself as Hashtag
02:13Bar in early 2016.
02:15Sal mentioned the bar in his 2013 Reddit AMA, but once the bar started to crash and burn
02:20in 2014, he made a public statement saying he hadn't been involved in operations for
02:24more than a year.
02:25He ditched the struggling business, taking his finance degree with him, and completely
02:29embraced his new life of TV torture.
02:33Sal's tats
02:34One of the most memorable punishments in Joker's history involved three of the cast members
02:37getting tattoos determined by Joe Gatto, who was the only winner of that week's challenge.
02:42While Q and Murr's tattoos were meaningful to their lives in a sarcastic way, Sal's tattoo
02:46was a huge picture of Jaden Smith on his thigh.
02:50Viewers will also notice that Sal already had quite a few tattoos at this point, including
02:54tribal bands around his calves.
02:56His arm tattoo, however, has a pretty deep meaning to him.
02:59It's song lyrics dedicated to a friend that he lost in 2011.
03:03Kinda makes that Jaden tattoo look especially cruel.
03:06Slap attack
03:07Even though most of the pranks on Jokers are designed only to embarrass the four stars,
03:11there have been plenty of times where they've almost come to blows with the unsuspecting
03:15public, and twice when they did.
03:17Anyone who watches the show knows that all four friends are really polite, respectful
03:21guys, but Sal was once slapped when he was forced to tell a woman that her baby was ugly,
03:26and also choked by a man that he'd cut in line as part of a challenge.
03:29Apologies were quickly dispensed, and neither segment aired.
03:33Cry diving
03:34Murr's most notable punishment, and the inspiration for his tattoo, was being forced to skydive
03:39despite a serious fear of heights.
03:41Geronimo!
03:42Geronimo!
03:43Geronimo!
03:44Geronimo!
03:45Geronimo!
03:46Geronimo!
03:47Geronimo!
03:48Geronimo!
03:49Geronimo!
03:50Geronimo!
03:51Geronimo!
03:52On air, we see Murr run and threaten to quit the show, but what we don't see is the hour
03:56he spent locked in a bathroom, refusing to come out while he sent farewell texts to his
04:00friends and family, sure that he would not survive the experience.
04:04Both Murr and Sal share a fear of heights, which they'd face again during their later
04:08charitable tightrope walk.
04:10Murr TV
04:12In their tour documentary, the Jokers credit James Murray as being the unstoppable force
04:16behind getting Impractical Jokers on the air.
04:19Despite being a reality TV star, Murr still maintains his day job as the senior VP of
04:23Development of North South Productions, which explains why he's the only Joker too busy
04:27to have his own podcast, even though he could host one in any of the 17 languages he claims
04:32to be able to speak.
04:33That is, when he's not shot full of Novocaine.
04:35Braised beef is brilliant.
04:37Is...
04:38Braised beef...
04:40Braised beef is...
04:42Braised beef is brilliant.
04:47I said it once, I'll say it again.
04:50I said it once, I'll say it again.