How ‘Impractical Jokers’ became a touchstone for me and my son
“You guys have seen every episode,” my wife says, like clockwork, almost evening when she finds me and our 12-year-old son on the couch.
And then she glances at the TV, and says, “You’ve definitely seen this one.”
We both gently ignore her, or grunt, or say something like, “yeah, but this one is hilarious.”
And then my boy and I continue watching another episode of “Impractical Jokers.”
Have you seen this show? It’s been on for 10 years on truTV, and now every single episode is on HBO Max. It’s a show in which … well, in which “four lifelong friends compete to embarrass each other.” It’s part reality, part improv, part hidden camera, and absolutely hilarious.
It also became my anchor in the storm of coronavirus and, more importantly, served as a way for my son and I to grow closer together.
Who knew.
I first found out about the show a few years back when one of the stars, James “Murr” Murray, lost an episode and as punishment, had to wear a wig made from co-Joker’s Brain “Q” Quinn’s hair. (If you’re lost, don’t worry. Just go watch an episode and you’ll understand. Anyway …) Anyway, the place they got the wig made — HairPlaceNYC — is owned by Andrew DiSimone, and I knew Andrew because my wife did some marketing and PR work for him. So we watched the episode in which all this happened.
And I thought it was clever and funny, and I’d watch an episode every now and again.
Fast forward to last spring’s lockdown. I was a wreck. I mean, I know everyone was a wreck, but trust me: I was on the far end of wrecked. Wreckville, USA. Anxiety, fear, everything.
And I don’t know how, why, or what for, but one evening, my son and I ended up on the couch and “Impractical Jokers” was on and we laughed.
The next night, we watched more. And we laughed more.
Rinse, wash, repeat, night after night after night. And now? Still happening. His sisters go to sleep, my wife does whatever the hell she does upstairs, and we plop on the couch, scroll through the shows, try to find one we haven’t seen yet, usually fail but don’t care, and then proceed to laugh, sometimes to the point of tears. It’s a very funny show. And it’s pretty much the one piece of common ground I have with my son.
I was a sports nut as a kid. My kid isn’t into sports.
I wasn’t into fishing or guns or outdoors stuff as a
kid. My son loves that stuff.
I love to read a good book. My son would rather bleed than read.
I could go on, but you get the idea. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love the kid more than anything and he still thinks I’m the greatest thing in the world (at least for another year or two) but as far as common interests go? Like ships in the night.
But boy oh boy are we on this “Impractical Jokers” train together. I don’t care if I have seen every episode. I will sit on the couch at 9:00 at night with my son every day for the next
50 years and watch it with him if he’ll allow it.
Murr moved to Princeton a year or two ago. It was in People magazine and everything. I’m not a stalker.
But uh … well, don’t judge, but … see, they had a recent episode where Murr lost (again) and the punishment this time was the other three guys - Quinn, Joe Gatto, and Sal Vulcano - somehow painted Murr’s lawn pink, and they filmed at Murr’s house, and there was a quick flash of a double-yellow line near his house and …
And my son and I went on a wild goose chase one night trying to find Murr’s home. Drove around for hours. It was a blast.
By the way, the coronavirus anchor I mentioned earlier - no joke. While the “time spent together with the boy” is 90% of the whole thing, being able to laugh uncontrollably was a nice respite from thinking the world was going to end.
So in the end, I guess, I just want to say “thank you” to the cast of “Impractical Jokers.” Thank you for coming up with this insane show, thank you for choosing my wife’s client as a wigmaker, thank you for somehow threading the needle between high and low brow humor, thank you for bringing my son and I closer together.
And Murr, sorry in advance for accosting you when we do finally run into you in downtown Princeton. We’re coming from a good place, I promise.