Impractical Jokers, a popular comedy show, has been entertaining audiences with its unique premise since 2011. The show features four lifelong friends – Joseph “Joe” Gatto, James “Murr” Murray, Brian “Q” Quinn, and Salvatore “Sal” Vulcano – who challenge each other to perform public pranks while being filmed by hidden cameras. The loser of each challenge is punished with a humiliating and often uncomfortable task, which can range from embarrassing themselves in public to undergoing ridiculous physical challenges.
While the show’s humour is often absurd and playful, occasionally the joke goes too far, with punishments or pranks becoming too cringe-worthy or even cruel. In some instances, the show’s targets – often unsuspecting members of the public – are left feeling uncomfortable or even upset, which can be problematic for a show that prides itself on its light-hearted and playful nature. Despite these occasional missteps, Impractical Jokers remains a beloved and popular show, with its mix of humour, camaraderie, and outrageous antics continuing to delight audiences around the world. So, here are 6 times Impractical Jokers took the joke too far.
6. When Joe Stole Baseballs From Children
Some of the hardest and most cringe-invoking punishments to watch are when the stars of the show have to upset children in some way or another. Of course, they are told after that it was a joke, however, it still feels a little too far to play with the emotions of children. In a 2017 episode of Impractical Jokers, Joe is forced to attend a baseball game at New York’s City Field. He then must intercept famed pitcher Noah Syndergaard‘s autographing of baseballs and t-shirts by stealing them from fans, most of which are children. Of course, Syndergaard was in on the prank, but the parents of the children were not. This led one mother to chase Joe when he took a signed ball and made a run for it. She chased after him, yelling “You cannot do that. Give me the ball. That’s wrong!” But as if with any punishment, Joe is not allowed to apologise and must maintain his act as the obnoxious and cruel individual, only angering more baseball fans in the vicinity.
5. When Murr Married Sal’s Sister
Sister jokes have been rife throughout Impractical Jokers‘ impressive run. However, one 2014 episode took things too far and angered Sal to no avail. After losing the episode, Sal’s punishment was one like the show had never carried out before. Throughout the history of the show, Sal’s sister Jenna Vulcano has appeared many times, usually to make Sal uncomfortable by being affectionate with the other stars of the show. In this episode, they took things as far as they could and Murr actually married Jenna. As part of his punishment, Sal had to watch the two wed, with the wedding being completely legally binding and Sal’s whole family being present. After the episode aired, Murr took to his official Twitter page (now X) and confirmed that the marriage was in fact legally binding but the two soon got their marriage annulled. However, he did state they had a honeymoon, yet this was likely one last dig at Sal towards his punishment.
4. “The Permanent Punishment”
The four friends and stars of the show, known as The Tenderloins, have gone through some extreme punishments throughout the show. However, this punishment is perhaps the wackiest – getting tattoos of the other’s choosing. In the 2014 episode, Q, Murr, and Sal all failed their tasks, making them the three losers of the episode. To that, Joe got to pick their tattoos. For Q, he decided on a tattoo of a cat with the caption “38. Lives Alone. Has 3 Cats.” For Murr, he chose an image of a ferret skydiving, making fun of his appearance and his fear of heights. For Sal, Joe was unblessed with the strangest tattoo – a portrait of Jaden Smith.
3. When Q Painted Over Children’s Artwork
Q’s punishment of painting over children’s hard work with his own ridiculous drawings is truly one of the hardest Impractical Jokers moments to watch. In fact, in 2022, Looper conducted a survey, asking 600 of their readers if this moment went too far – 38% agreed that it did. What makes the scene so hard to watch is the crushed look on some of the kids’ faces as their hard work is destroyed by Q. However, it’s clear that he really struggled with this punishment and felt beyond guilty. At the end of the episode, a behind-the-scenes look saw Q wallowing in his shame and guilt, saying “Dude, that was the worst. I feel like, I literally feel like I’m gonna throw up right now.”
2. When Sal Crushed Children’s Dreams
After losing the episode, Sal’s punishment in “The Dream Crusher” was extremely difficult to watch. Acting as a judge for a school talent show, Sal had to embody the harshness of Simon Cowell, however, he of course took things one step further, making the stern Cowell seem like a saint. What made matters even more cringe-worthy was the fact that the children’s parents were present. Some children’s parents were in on the prank, however, others were not. To that, Sal winced as the other parents gave him looks of sheer disgust and anger.
1. When Murr Was Forced to Skydive
Throughout the history of Impractical Jokers, Murr has always expressed his fear of heights. However, no phobia in the group gets overlooked, as demonstrated when Q had tarantulas crawling all over his body during one punishment. However, many would say this punishment went too far. After losing the episode, Murr was forced to skydive from a plane. When learning of his punishment, he had a meltdown, and his genuine fear was hard to watch. He was even so scared that he text his parents a goodbye message, fearing that he would not make it through the punishment. So, seeing as Murr genuinely thought he would not live to see another day, this is easily the biggest moment that Impractical Jokers took the joke too far. Want to read more about Murr? Here are 10 fun facts you didn’t know about the prankster.
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