Courtesy TruTV
TruTV’s hit comedy series Impractical Jokers is bringing laughs to Kansas City this summer as part of their live tour, The Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive. The hysterical trio made up of Brian Quinn (Q), James Murray (Murr) and Sal Vulcano recently added 14 new locations to the tour, including a stop in the heart of America, while preparing for their tenth season of the comedy series.
Known for their witty skits and embarrassing public dares, the Impractical Jokers have toured worldwide over the last eight years, and the group will be in Kansas City June 17, 2023 at the T-Mobile Center.
Upon chatting with Q, we got a peak into the mind of the comedian, learned about plans for the tour, and even discovered that their worst show still may have resulted in a baby. All that and more, right here:
The Pitch: What is the main difference for you, doing a TV show versus a live show?
Quinn: When people come to visit the set, they’re always like, “I had no idea how crazy it was behind the scenes.” There are 50 to 70 workers setting up the lighting, cameras, and all the technical stuff. On the TV show, you tell a joke, make your friends laugh, the crew laugh, and then it airs eight months later. So, it’s like telling a joke and waiting eight months for people to hear it.
At a live show, we’re one with the audience. We’re talking with them, interacting with them, and making them laugh in real-time. I like the immediate feedback from real people.
It’s a hang-out more than anything else. We tell these fun stories, we pull some people on stage, and we have a good time. I mean that’s what people want, to forget about their problems for an hour and a half and just laugh.
What does preparing for a live show look like for you? Do you have a process?
We’ll do local New York shows first. We have stories that we’ve done throughout the year that we collect that we think would be fun to tell onstage. We have these shows at comedy clubs, and we don’t really announce them until a week before—cap the audience at 75 to 100 people. We just get on stage and riff.
By the end of that, there’s a whole bunch of new stories in your pocket. We get into the lab and start molding them into how they could be delivered on tour, and how we can include each other in it, since there are always three of us at a time and we don’t want the spotlight on just one of us.
How much does the show change between the time you first hit the road and the last show on tour?
We go onto the stage with a polished show, but sometimes you’re up on stage and you realize you wanna try a different approach. You want to keep it fresh and you wanna swap it out. Sometimes 25% different, sometimes 50% different. It’s always evolving. Also, I got news for you—a joke that works in New York sometimes does not work in Kansas. So we’ve learned to alter the material a little bit based on where we are.
Has anything gone wrong during a live show?
Nothing catastrophic but I’ve certainly bombed a show at times. One time in Florida, there was this big commotion in the audience, and turns out a couple started having sex during a show. Thumbs down for doing it in the audience with other people, but thumbs up for the passion. That couple must’ve been really into each other.
How do you recover when you’ve bombed a joke?
Well, there are a few ways that can go. You can put your head down for 30 seconds, and 30 seconds later they’re laughing about something else. I like calling out bombs, and furthermore, I like blaming the audience for them even though I know the blame is on me. Bombing is just part of the job and you can’t let it get to you.
You can tell a joke on Monday, and it could kill. Then you can tell the same joke the same way on Tuesday, and the crickets are there. And then you start to wonder if it was your delivery, so you go back and listen to the audio from the other show that they laughed at, and you try to figure out why they laughed at that. Sometimes you see it, and sometimes you’re like “I don’t know, I don’t get it.”
Will you continue to make content for TV while you’re on tour?
We’ve been shooting during the day and then after work going to the comedy clubs. We’re all in sync with each other, it helps keep the material fresh. At the end of the day, all you want to do is play a video game and veg out, so it’s good to keep working. You’ve got to keep working.
What your favorite part of a live show?
It’s super interactive. We’re getting up there and first thing engaging with the audience. There was one show that was two hours and 15 minutes because both we and the audience were having such a great time. So you get those nights too, where the audience is really just vibing with you. I think the best part for me, personally, is being with the other guys on stage with me. This tour is also going to be my return to the stage since COVID, so you’ll see me up there really excited.
Impractical Jokers have toured worldwide over the last eight years, and the group will be in Kansas City on June 17, 2023 at the T-Mobile Center.