The Tenderloins

Stage

After finishing college, James Murray worked for the Staten Island Ferry where he ran into his friend Sal. They reminisced about their enjoyment doing improv. After reuniting with Joe and another friend, Mike Boccio, they practiced improv at Joe's house three days a week, for six months. The Tenderloins began in 1999 as a live improv comedy and sketch comedy troupe.

They have performed in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, and participated in the San Francisco Sketch Comedy Festival and the Miami Improv Festival.

The troupe briefly consisted of five members. However, Gideon Horowitz soon left the group for personal reasons.

After the success of Impractical Jokers, the Tenderloins have also taken part in several American and international tours.

Internet success

Following years of live shows, in 2006, the Tenderloins redirected their talents to filmed comedic sketches. Brian Quinn subsequently replaced Mike Boccio as the troupe's fourth member.

The Tenderloins' comedic sketches have accumulated millions of views on YouTube, MySpace, Metacafe, and other websites. In 2007, the troupe won the $100,000 grand prize in the NBC It’s Your Show competition for the sketch "Time Thugs".

Television

Following the troupe's online successes, the four were signed to develop a scripted comedy pilot for Spike TV based on their own lives. The pilot was shot on location in 2008 on Staten Island, as well as at other locations around New York City. Spike TV ultimately passed on the series. A second pilot starring the Tenderloins was officially selected for the 2009 New York Television Festival.

On April 12, 2011, truTV announced a new series to star the Tenderloins. Impractical Jokers premiered on December 15, 2011, executive-produced by the troupe themselves. Season 1 consisted of 16 episodes. The first season was watched by over 32 million viewers.

The show's second season premiered on December 13, 2012 and consist of 28 episodes. Its third season had 31 episodes and premiered on January 2, 2014.^[3] On April 21, 2014, truTV announced that the series would be renewed for a 26-episode fourth season.^[4] With the fourth season renewal, a 6-episode spinoff series, Jokers Wild!, was also announced.^[4] The show was renewed for a fifth season, which began on February 2016. On July 22, 2016, a sixth season was announced and the sixth season began on February 9th, 2017 . After another successful season, Impractical Jokers was renewed for a seventh season that began on February 1, 2018. In March of 2018 TruTV announced the Impractical Jokers was renewed for an eight season that will consist of 26 episodes and will premiere sometime in February of 2019. TruTV also announced that an Impractical Jokers feature-length movie, Impractical Jokers Movie, will go into production in the spring of 2018.^[5]

Radio

In February 2017, Murr tweeted that he and the group had recorded the first episode of an upcoming limited-run show for SiriusXM Radio. On August 17, 2017, The Tenderloins Radio Show made its debut on SiriusXM Radio channel 94 (Comedy Greats). In the hour-long broadcast, the comedy troupe pranks friends and acquaintances, takes calls, answers emails from fans, and does sketches in a segment called "Tenderloins Theatre". The show airs on Thursdays at 6 p.m ET, with rebroadcasts the following day at 11 a.m ET.

Podcast

Brian "Q" Quinn

Brian Michael Quinn (born March 14, 1976) is an improvisational comedian from the New York City borough of Staten Island. He was born to Carol Murphy and James Quinn. He is the middle of three brothers: Jim (older) and Danny (younger). He has Irish and Italian ancestry.

He attended Monsignor Farrell High School where he was involved in numerous activities including drama and sports. There he performed in musicals such as Bye Bye Birdie (playing the lead role as Conrad Birdie), Meet Me In Saint Louis, On The Town and Godspell. During high school, he worked as a fish hauler at Fulton Fish Market. In 1997, he worked at ViewAskew with founder Kevin Smith. Following his graduation, he attended Brooklyn College and got a job as a ride operator at Beachland Amusements. He later worked as a video clerk at Blockbuster before becoming a fireman and joining the New York City Fire Department.

Brian is the third host of the podcast Tell 'Em Steve-Dave! on SModcast.com, along with Walter Flanagan and Bryan Johnson. He also co-hosts the What Say You? podcast with Sal Vulcano. Brian was slated to co-host Comic Book Men, but was unable to participate in the series due to conditions in his contract for the TruTV series Impractical Jokers.^[9] He has, however, made guest appearances in two episodes of the series.

Brian made his acting debut in the movie Warshots in 1996, playing a soldier. In 1999, he appeared as an extra in the Kevin Smith movie Dogma. He portrayed Vance in Big Helium Dog and a traffic cop in the thriller movie Vulgar. In 2015, he appeared in the second-season premiere of 12 Monkeys, where he played Dale, a hapless guy who talks to Jennifer, portrayed by Emily Hampshire.

Brian suffered from depression, and talked about it in a few episodes of Tell 'Em Steve-Dave! In 2009, he was arrested in Germany for disorderly conduct and a police officer punched him in the face, knocking his tooth out. German police escorted Brian back to America where he was bailed out by the other guys. Brian started to show flu-like symptoms during some episodes of his show Impractical Jokers. In one such situation, he asked his friend Joey Fatone to take his place in a challenge. Doctors confirmed that he was suffering from serious encephalitis and meningitis, from which he fully recovered. In 2016, during training by Travis Pastrana for the Impractical Jokers Live Nitro Circus Spectacular, Brian broke two ribs, pulled his neck muscles and suffered nerve damage to his left hip after going airborne and crushing the quad bike he was riding. He announced in the season finale that he would not participate, and his friend, Joey Fatone, again stepped in to replace him.

An animal lover, Brian has three cats, named Brooklyn, Chessie, and Benjamin (Also known as Mistah Whiskahs). "Benjamin" is regularly used as a scare tactic to taunt his friend Sal Vulcano who is afraid of cats. To terrorize Sal, a production crew member from the show wears a black cat costume and chases him. Brian himself is an arachnophobic, which his friends chose to use against him in a punishment. He is also a Star Wars fan and a supporter of Manchester United, New Jersey Devils and New York Yankees.

He is currently writing the graphic novel Metro, alongside Walt Flanagan and Cullen Bunn. The novel will release in late 2018.

James "Murr" Murray

James Stephen Murray (born May 1, 1976) is an American improvisational comedian from the New York City borough of Staten Island. He has two older sisters, Christine and Danielle. He has Irish ancestry.

He attended Monsignor Farrell High School on Staten Island, where he did community theatre. He performed in many musicals, along with his friend Brian Quinn. He continued his education at Georgetown University where he received a BA in English. In 1997, James made an appearance as a student in the autobiographical comedy movie Private Parts, which featured Howard Stern. The following year, he portrayed Judas in the movie Damned!, which he also directed, wrote, and produced. In 2015, along with his friend and co-worker Sal, he appeared as a sanitation worker in an episode of the crime show Bones. He appeared in an episode of 12 Monkeys, where he played Don the desk clerk, and in the action comedy film Return to Return to Nuke 'Em High aka Vol. 2, where he portrayed Chuck Flingus. He will appear in the upcoming movie My Brother the Time Traveler as Dr. Murphy and provide a voice to an unannounced character in the upcoming movie Minions 2.

He wrote the novel Awakened, a sci-fi thriller.

He continues to work at NorthSouth Productions where he is the Senior Vice President of Development. He has produced shows for truTV, A&E, TLC, MTV and others.

Although Joe is the only one officially married, James married Jenna Vulcano, Sal's sister, as part of a punishment in the final episode of season 3 of Impractical Jokers. He announced that they annulled the marriage the following day.

Sal Vulcano

Salvatore Edward Anthony Vulcano Jr. (born November 6, 1976) is an improvisational and stand-up comedian from the New York City borough of Staten Island. His parents are Adele and Sal Vulcano Sr.. They divorced when he was a child. He has three sisters: Kelly Ann, the eldest; and Dana and Jenna, his two younger sisters. He is of Cuban, Italian, and Puerto Rican descent.

He attended Monsignor Farrell High School in Staten Island, where he played various sports including hockey, basketball and football. After graduating, he attended St. John's University where he earned a degree in finance. He worked as a pizza delivery guy for a brief time before getting a job as a bartender at The Full Cup, which he co-owned in 2010. Passionate about stand-up comedy, he performs his act across the United States alongside comedians such as Chris DiStefano, Godfrey and Big Jay Oakerson.

Cast in the role of a lawnmower boy, Sal made his acting debut in the 1998 movie Damned!, directed by his friend James Murray. In 2006, he played Pinky in Just Another Romantic Wrestling Comedy. In 2015, he played a sanitation worker in an episode of Bones, alongside Murray. In 2017, he played a security officer in an episode of the sci-fi TV series 12 Monkeys, alongside Joe Gatto.

Sal is a germaphobe and is afraid of most things, including cats. Because of this, many of his punishments in Impractical Jokers relate to these fears. Occasionally one of the producers dresses up as Q's cat, Benjamin, to scare Sal.

Joe Gatto

Joseph Anthony Gatto Jr. (born June 5, 1976) is an improvisational comedian from the New York City borough of Staten Island. He has two older sisters, Gina and Carla. He is of Italian descent.

He attended Monsignor Farrell High School. After graduation, he studied at LIU Post, where he received a degree in accounting. He worked as a salesman at the baby retail store Giggle, until January 2011. Joe appeared in an episode of 12 Monkeys along with Sal Vulcano. Joe portrayed a security officer named "Larry", inspired by the fictional and memorable character he created on Impractical Jokers. Joe also co-hosts a podcast called PBR, an acronym for Pizza Beer Revolution, along with Mike Pullano and Derek DeAngelis.

He married Bessy Gatto in September 2013, with whom he has two children, daughter Milana Francis (b. May 7, 2015) and son Remington Joseph (b. July 31, 2017).

Joe uses his platform to help nonprofit organizations that are close to his heart. He often fundraises for Daniel's Music Foundation. He also supports animal groups and likes rescuing dogs. Joe supports anti-bullying organizations and has worked with Hero Round Table and Pop Culture Hero Coalition.