The Tenderloins is an American comedy troupe currently composed of Joseph "Joe" Gatto, James "Murr" Murray, Brian "Q" Quinn, and Salvatore "Sal" Vulcano. The group stars in the popular television series Impractical Jokers, which premiered on December 15, 2011. The program currently airs on truTV in the U.S. and on Comedy Central in the UK, Ireland, and India.
Video The Tenderloins
Before The Tenderloins
The comedians met in religion class during freshman year at Monsignor Farrell High School on Staten Island in 1990. They became interested in drama and improv and joined an improv club because "it was the only way to meet girls". Sal Vulcano kept a list of words that they'd be embarrassed to say in a public setting. When searching for a name for their comedy troupe, Sal's list, which included culottes, gargoyle, and nougat, was used. The group eventually chose tenderloins.
Maps The Tenderloins
Career
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 4th 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 17 half-hour episodes. The first season was watched by over 32 million viewers.
The show's 28-episode second season premiered on December 13, 2012, and its 31-episode third season premiered on January 2, 2014. On April 21, 2014, truTV announced that the series would be renewed for a 26-episode fourth season. With the fourth season renewal, a 6-episode spinoff series, Jokers Wild! was also announced. The show was renewed for a fifth season which first began on February 2016. On July 22, 2016, a sixth season was announced.
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 radio show airs on Thursdays at 6 p.m ET, with rebroadcasts the following day at 11 a.m ET.
Podcast
The Tenderloins Podcast
The group began hosting a podcast in April 2012. It was available on their official website and iTunes.
What Say You?
"What Say You?", an occasional podcast hosted by Sal and Q, was named Best New Show at the 2013 Stitcher Awards. The increased popularity of "What Say You" sparked a friendly competition among the friends,spurring Joe and Murr to release their own Tenderloins podcast without the other two members. In 2015, "What Say You?" was nominated for the Comedy, Entertainment, and Best Produced Podcast Awards at the 10th Annual Podcast Awards. Sal and Q have stated during their podcast that it is their own side project, not a replacement of The Tenderloins podcast. The group explained that it was difficult to coordinate the schedules of all four members outside of work making it challenging to produce their troupe's official podcast with any regularity.
Current members
Brian 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 parents 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 He is also 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 be co-host "Comic Book Men", but was unable to be participate in the series due to conditions in his contract for the TruTV series Impractical Jokers. He has, however, made appearances in two episodes of the series as a guest.
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 also portrayed Vance in Big Helium Dog and a traffic cop in the thriller movie Vulgar. In 2015, Brian appeared in the second-season premiere of 12 Monkeys, where he played Dale, a hapless guy who talked to Jennifer, portrayed by Emily Hampshire. He will play Austin in an upcoming horror comedy movie expected to be released in 2017, to be directed by Adam Green.
Brian suffered from depression and talked about it in a few episodes of Tell 'Em Steve-Dave!. In 2009, Brian 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. "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 arachnophopic, 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.
James 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. 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 has written 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 an episode 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 Dianne Fernandez 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 other 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 his friend and co-worker James Murray. In 2017, he played a security officer in an episode of the sci-fi TV series 12 Monkeys, alongside Joe Gatto.
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. Aside from appearing in Impractical Jokers, 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 the show "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 an organization called Daniel's Music Foundation. He also supports animal groups and likes rescuing dogs. Additionally, Joe is very big on supporting anti-bullying organizations and is known for working with Hero RoundTable.
Former members
- Gideon S. Horowitz (born August 3, 1980) was born and raised in Miami, Florida, where he is general manager at Kings Bowl America, LLC. He was also a general manager for the restaurants 50 EGGS and Hard Rock International. He left the group in 2001, making him the group's shortest-lived member.
- Michael "Mike" Boccio (1975) is a senior/executive managing director at RF|Binder, a communications management agency. He graduated from St. John's University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting. He left the group in 2005 and was replaced by Brian Quinn. His 10-year-old daughter made a guest appearance on Season 6 of an Impractical Jokers episode, "Party Crasher".
Timeline
References
External links
- The Tenderloins official site
- Impractical Jokers on truTV
- The Tenderloins on IMDb
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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