The Kristian Harloff Show - IMPRACTICAL JOKERS James "Murr" Murray talks new season, greatest bits, formation of the show

Episode Date: August 6, 2024

Impractical Jokers has been the ongoing hit hidden camera show since 2011. A new season debuted in July on TBS and Kristian had an opportunity to speak with the guy who helped bring it to life James "Murr" Murray. They discuss the formation of the show, some of the best bits, how he avoids being recognized in New York and if he still has that mobile suitcase and does he ride it around at parties? This and more on this special episode of The Big Thing! #impracticaljokers #murray #hiddencamera #tv #TBS #jokes #comedy  OUR SPONSORS: BILT: Earn points by paying rent right now when you go to http://www.joinbilt.com/BIGTHING AG1: AG1: It's easy and satisfying to start your journey with AG1. Try AG1 and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D3K2 AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first purchase at http://www.drinkAG1.com/BIGTHING LIQUID IV: Indulge in hydration this summer with Liquid I.V. Get 20% off your first order of Liquid I.V. when you go to http://www.LIQUIDIV.com and use code BIGTHING at checkout.  MAGIC SPOON: Get 5 dollars off your next order at http://www.MagicSpoon.com/BIGTHING  

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Starting night one. Add it to your registry or shop at NANET, N-A-N-I-T-com All right, everybody, what's going on? When I'm in a shitty mood, I know how to cheer myself up pretty fast. Being a New York kid myself and growing up in Queens and being able to just mess around my friends and make each other laugh and bust each other's balls, it's kind of what we did.

So when Impractical Jokers came on the air back in 2011 and just being able to laugh with these guys and watch what they've been able to do and really watch what they, the way that they've actually just been able to stay on the air and make people laugh for that long as an accomplishment. And now they're back with new episodes that just debuted July 11th.

And they're on TBS now. And you know the Jokers. And I got James Murray on the show with me right now. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the show. Murray, what's up, man? Hey, buddy, how are you? I'm doing... I appreciate the kind of words.

Oh, dude. I mean, come on. I'm... I just watched the White Castle thing, and I was dying. I was dying. You mean the drive-thru? Yeah. Control the horn?

Yeah. What's not on TV is we cut the ending out. We thought the audience would be too scared by what happened. But a guy came at me, and I jumped out of the car, and I ran away. I saw you unbuckling your seatbelt. Like, they put you. in situations, dude, when it comes to like that. I definitely want to talk about that White Castle

thing because White Castle, I will tell you this, you're lucky that you did White Castle at the time of day that you did it. Wow, I never thought about that. You're right. If we went there at like 11 o'clock at night or midnight? I would not be talking to you right now. No way. I would have it done. Toast. That was hilarious. But before

we jump in all that, what's really great about this for me is that back in, I think it was 2016, I had an opportunity when I was at Fandango. And you guys, I don't know if it was your first Comic Con or not in San Diego, but I had an opportunity,

and look at that one right there, look at that shot. Whoa. Yeah, and you guys came into the Fandango Lounge, and we played all these games, and I remember, like, soon after that, and that's when I started, I was doing this movie trivia show, and it was kind of going back and forth with you,

because every time I came to New York, I was like, I got to get the guys there because I'm just such a big fan of what you guys did. But talk to me, dude, about the fact, being on the air this long. Do you ever, do you ever get tired of it to be honest?

No, man, I'm the best job in the world. We have an episode airing, I'm not sure when this gets broadcast, but we have an episode airing tonight. I was literally just watching it. I was eating breakfast and I was watching the episode that's going to air tonight on TV.

It's top five of all time. Like the first, which I know I keep saying that like every now and that, not always. I'll always say, oh, it's a great challenge or a great punishment or whatever, But the first challenge tonight is so outrageously funny because it's so stupid, right? We go in like for a job interview.

It's a real company and only the CEO of the company is in on it. So he rotated different employees in HR into an interview room with us. So these employees have no idea that the room they're going into to conduct this interview, it has hidden cameras in it and we're all BS. And like before Sal's turn, which starts off the episode tonight, He goes in for the interview. There's a real HR rep there, having no idea. She's on TV.

And right before Sal went in, I simply cut the bottom out of his chair, which he didn't know, right? So he goes in. He's in a suit. He's got his resume. And he thinks that the surprise is that his resume is bullshit, which it is. We wrote crazy things on his resume. And he goes to sit for the interview and his ass falls. And so the whole interview, but he can't let it, let her know.

And he's trying to hold himself up in the armrest of the chair. But, you know, we're middle-aged men. Our muscles are going to fail. And so as the interview goes on, it's like a half-hour interview. He's just sinking lower and lower into the chair until literally his ass is on the floor. He looks like, and all you see is like her towering over him and his head is just barely above the desk. He looks like a mushroom cap. It is so stupidly funny.

And then we did one last week. This will air later in the year. But we did one last week. Very simple idea. I had it like the morning of where we have to go, we literally grab people from the streets that are walking by, say, hey, do you want to be on an interview for, you know, some BS culture spotlight? You know, like we're on camera. It's for like New York One kind of thing. We want to put you on camera and interview you with other real New Yorkers to get your opinions on.

It's all nonsense, right? Yeah. So come in and they're waiting in the room. is an interviewer and Sal and the Mark, the stranger from the street. And of course, we're telling Sal what he has to say in answer to the questions. It's really embarrassing. But unbeknownst to Sal, before his interview, I had the idea I'd get in the morning of. I had just in the room, there was like pipes on the ceiling, you know, water pipes,

and I'd arranged there to be a pipe that when we clicked a button would just single drop would fall on his shoulder during the... interview whenever we clicked the button and it got funnier and funnier and funnier because he thought the building was just leaking right hilarious it's just effing funny i love it i love that you guys can still do that though with each other and show how i kind of closer i know like what buttons to push but knowing how it's going to work and like even the situations that they continue to put you in like watching i remember being a kid i went to i went to school in queens and it was a it was at the time it was an all-boy Catholic High School. It was like Oz from HBO.

And I had a remote that I would change the channel on people all the time. I don't know how I got a hold of it, but I would change the channel and people would get so mad, but I would do it like under my arm or around the side, and I would continuously do that shit. And when you had to do that at the bar,

and I don't know how you didn't die. I really don't know how the half the time that these people, because that's the question I wanted to ask you, because I've just moved back to New York about a month ago. And I told my friend Chris, who is also a major fan of the show. I told him that you were coming on. And he was like, oh, I love that show this. And he started talking about all the episodes.

And I was like, how in New York, is it becoming more difficult for you that in a bar like, you know, where you, I don't know how sure where that bar was, but where people aren't recognizing you all the time? Well, you know, I mean, that's a perfect example. Let me kind of back up and tell you what the punishment was. was for people watching at home. It just aired, I think, last week two weeks ago. So it was

during March Madness. You know, all the March Madness games get broadcast on TBS and True TV and all the Turner networks, you know. So it's in family. We got permission to use the actual game on Impractual Jokers. And it was a really important game, right? It was

Yukonverse, I can't remember, right? Anyway, so in the sports bars, this packed sports bar with like 500 dudes there, in the game on this, the bar has this like 20, 30 foot LED screen. It's really something, right? But I can't go into a bar in Midtown Manhattan, just looking like myself, will get recognized, right?

So all they did was put a goatee on me, different kind of glasses, a baseball hat, and that did the trick, man, like, like I looked like enough, but different enough that no one, no one recognized me. And then, of course, as soon as I took the goatee in the hat off, then everybody knew who I was. But and all I had to do was be that that jackass in the bar that had the remote and kept switching the game at critical moments. So anytime we'll go up for a, you know, a three pointer, boom, click. And one of the cool things I would say about moving to TBS is that, you know, Warner Brothers and Discovery merged, what about a year or two ago.

And so we have access to all these Discovery Channel programs, right? So Discovery owns Animal Planet and, of course, Discovery and, of course, Discovery and lots of other. networks, you know, ID, things like that. So we have access to all this different programming that we never had access to before. Sure. So we got permission to switch the Animal Planet. They had like a Bigfoot episode on. Oh yeah, with Jack Osborne. Yeah, yeah. Jack Osmore is another terror, right? We got permission to keep switching from a critical game in the in the Final Four to a bigfoot episode on Animal Planet. And every time you cut to Animal Planet, it, to that, to that, moment, we made sure to cut to the moments in the show that were the lamest moment.

The guys are just sitting around in a forest and nothing's happening, you know? So just to piss these guys even more, you know? And it's just so funny. So how do we get away, how do we not get punished or get away with it? That particular punishment, I specifically requested there are two security guards to be in the bar. Okay, okay. So they take a swing at me. Right.

It just happened the other day. Yeah. I requested two security guards one week ago. The punishment was very simple. We were at a, it'll air later this year on TV. Such a simple idea, right? So we were in a parking lot of like this strip mall kind of thing where people are constantly coming in and, you know, part of the car, run in and grab something, run back out.

So a lot of turnover, a lot of volume. And anytime they go into a store, a car would pull up, going to a store, then when the customer walked out of the store to go back to their car, they would catch me peeing on their car. Right? And our team, our department, rigged up this device. I had a backpack on and it had a secret tube that

went through my pants and it came out my, you know, my zipper. And when they would walk and it, they tinted it yellow, you know? So whenever people would come out, they would catch me peeing on their car and a guy raised his fist to take a swing at me, you know, and I backed away. I knew it was coming.

I could tell I was pushing the guy's buttons. and I backed away before he was able to connect. But you know what happens, man. But it's also hysterical. And the guy in the song in the release, he loved it afterward. He found out that it was just, you know, apple juice. That's what you guys do, because I will tell you that there's sometimes, especially now with Luaid, with TikTok and Instagram and everybody, everybody and their mother does like

pranks, right? And there's like, and I find a lot of them sometimes just not funny and in bad taste when I'm going through Instagram, people who are just looking to piss people off. But you guys do it. in such a, you guys do it in such a way where you're really breaking each other's balls a lot of the times and it does seem like even, as I mentioned that White Castle clip, where

the way that you're doing it enough, at first at the very end, the guy's getting so, first he's so mad, but by the end of it, he's laughing because he's just like he can't, he's like, what's going on with this guy because you do it, you're using your, because for people, most people who are watching right now know you know

your comedy background, you stand-of comedian, also improv, the things. So your timing is just, you know how to do it, in a way that it's almost like a mechanism so the guy won't kill you. It's like, hey, I'm going to make you laugh and you did. Yeah, I think you're you nailed it right in the head. Our goal is not to piss people off.

Our goal is to amuse people or confuse them to get and pull them into a weird reality where they're not going to get angry. And I think we've spent a lot of time thinking about how to stay on the right side, side of likeability. You know what I mean? Like a typical prank show, you kind of feel bad from people getting pranked.

I don't think we're a prank show at all. I think we're a hidden camera show. Yeah. But the joke is on us, not on the, you know, not on the mark. Punishments, of course, go further than a typical challenge. But yeah, I mean, that's our job as comedians, is to make sure we stay likable to the home audience and also to our own beliefs and morals. You know, there are lines I simply will not cross as a gentleman, you know?

And that's the right. way to do the show. Have you run into that though? Marry when you've when people like you know when you guys I'm sure it's like there's like a room when you guys are talking about the things that you're going to do and has there been a few times where you're like no and they're like you got to do this. You're like I'm just not doing it. I just there's no way to do it. I mean it happens all the time. I think we what the fact that we're friends for so, so long we went to all boys Catholic high school. I met the I met the guys literally day one of high school and became best friends with it. So I think that is the secret sauce of the show. I know exactly how far I can push Sal. I know exactly how far

Q will go and not go. You know, we just know each other's limits. So it doesn't really happen that we push too far because we know what we'll do and what we do well. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that that's why it plays. And you know, I think you're 100, obviously you're 100% right when it comes to it's that doesn't feel like a prank show. It does, it does feel like the hidden camera fun because it feels like even afterwards there, then there's, I've seen footage and I love seeing that footage where the people that are in it are let in on it afterwards too and they and they and they see like there's is there did you wind up talking to that guy at bringing up the white castle guy there was a couple i guess the couple was the one that i thought the guy was going to back in you at one point so the

funny thing about the couple well it was outrageous it was so so funny i mean the girl trying to get out of the car and the guy grabbing her by the the waist belt to pull back in uh and then she she's screaming at me that you're white you know when i called her a A Karen, you know. It's so funny. It's the way you propped up your body. And you're like, move it. And you're like, it's like this microphone that you're getting into that doesn't exist.

It's absolutely, dude, it was killing me. It was killing. And then you win them over because the guys told me to start dabbing. Yeah. And Roy's like, stop doing it. Roy goes, stop. I'm as you're, I'm telling you, stop doing it now. And so the women in the car started recording me.

And so afterward, thank God, the guy in the car was actually in the police academy he's trained to be an officer so that's what kept him from coming out and beating the living hell out of him you know yeah he don't want to get in trouble and and ruin his chances of becoming the cop thank god but uh afterward they were laughing hysterically uh and then when i came close and the guys came out they're like holy shit it's the practical jokes oh that's great and we got we got their footage from the girl's cell phone to cut into the episode because it was so i wanted her point of view of what i'm look like amazing.

It was amazing. And so is that, and that basically is how it will go down, like where you guys will do it. And then afterwards you have to have people sign a release. So some of the producer or somebody will flag him down and say, hey, this is what it's all about. And those are the impractical joke. It's like, oh shit. Yeah.

And then they most of the time they sign away. You can always see the ones that don't because their faces are blurred out. Yeah. It's so funny. The show is as difficult to make now as it was day one 14 years ago because to this day, we're still trying to talk people that do not know impractical jokers into being on impractical jokers, you know? Right. Right. Like, just like day one of shooting in 2010. So, because if you know the show, you can't be on the show. You know what I mean? So, uh, so it's still as difficult.

But what we have going for us now that, uh, that we didn't in the past was that even if they don't know the show or have never seen the show, they've heard of the show. Right. Because it's been pop culture for so long. And inevitably, they have a friend that loves the show where their kid loves the show or their nephew or niece loves the show. And we say, you know, we say, do me a favor.

Call your boyfriend. Call your girlfriend. Call your wife or husband. Call your, because someone you know knows and loves the show. Right. You know, I think there's like two types of people in the world. People that love and privateer jokers and people that have never seen impractive.

Yeah. Because, you know, it's, you know, it's, It's everywhere now. It's everywhere. And I'll tell you, and even because, as I mentioned, with social media, that's where I mean, I watch the show in general, but I see it even more now because of the scroll, scroll. And now, and I stop. And now my algorithm has you guys all over it because it's the one thing that I don't feel guilty about watching because I'm always laughing my ass on in the clip that keeps coming up that I love so much. I don't know. I remember what season it's from is when you're on that, you're zipping around in that meeting and you're and you pull on that. What is that thing? Whatever it was that you have. the chair, you just start taking off on your chair. And I think Sal just loses. It can't take it. So that is, you're going back to maybe season seven or so. Yeah, yeah. So I was on a plane and traveling on toward the guys.

And you remember back in the day when Sky Mall was a thing, the magazine, right? I'm looking at the Sky Mall, and I see an ad for this motorized luggage. That's what it was. It's called the motor bag. What the hell? So I pull up a video on YouTube on the motel bag, and it's luggage. you sit on, you pull the handle up, and you can zip through JFK Air Force, like an idiot, right? And I was like, this is the craziest thing I ever seen.

If I ever saw this in nature, I would lose my shit. So I reached out to the company. I was like, hey, I have an idea for impractable jokers. Can you send me one? Because the thing is like $2,500. I'm not going to buy one. Can you send me one? I have an idea of what I want to do against the guys on the show to make them laugh.

And they did. They sent me one lovely people. they sent me one and then we filmed the challenge we're all in the waiting room and to make Sal laugh I had luggage in the room to make Sal laugh I said excuse you know where the restroom is and so I pointed in the direction and I sat on my luggage pulled the handle up and I zipped out of the room

It was my favorite. I lost his shit right? I would love it. After we filmed the challenge air on TV became a fan favorite moment the company then rightfully so said hey hysterical great can you send us the bag back but I never did I was going to ask you do you You still have it?

It's in my house right now. Sometimes when we get really drunk, I'll probably bust it out this weekend. We're having a party this weekend, right? When I get really drunk to make people laugh, I'll zip down the hallway. They won't know it's coming. So when you sit in the living room, there's like a doorway in the living room, and I'll just go flying by the doorway on the motor bed. It's the best.

It's the best. Every time I've seen that, I can't even tell you more how many times. I've seen that clip, and I just watch it all the time. It kills me. I love that clip. So yeah, and they try to get it back all the free advertising that they got on. But I just stop responding to it. Yeah, rightfully.

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the dream, right? You look at like what Adam Sandler has done. You look at like what you guys have done, being able to work with your friends and being able to, because everybody has, oh, I'd love to be able to do this with my friends and to do that. But you guys have created like a phenomenon together and being able to do this. And as I mentioned to you in the beginning of this and how you mentioned, of course I'm not tired of doing the best job in the world. And you get to do this with your buddies. So let's start from the beginning, man. So you meet you meet these guys and where so do you, you grew up in Manhattan? Or no, Staten Island. Staten Island. Staten Island. Staten Island.

Staten Island, right, okay. And we went to grammar school there. I went to grammar school there. Then we did improv together in high school. Okay. And loved working together. And then we went to different colleges. And I continued to do improv in college.

And when we all graduated college, I think, you know, Sal and I were committing to the city, taking the ferry and went into each other. And I told him that I was still doing improv and comedy. And he loved comedy. And he said, well, why don't we get together and start practicing, rehearsing? And so we did. we we started meeting in Joe Gatto's basement in Staten Island, his mom's basement, and rehearsing.

And we started rehearsing three times a week for three hours. It was wild. And we did that for months and months and months before we ever started performing together back in 2000. And, or 1999, I guess. Yeah. And then we started doing performing, doing improv and sketch comedy. We would produce our own shows.

And then we started filming our sketch comedy when YouTube came around. six or seven and then along the way I got a job in TV development. So for years, I mean, for like 10 years, I ran development for the company that to this day still make some practical dokers. Oh, wow. And so my job was just to create and pitch and sell TV shows for a long, long time. And then the guys and I created impractical jokers. We shot a sales tape on it. I set the means through my job, pitched it with the guys, and that was it.

And then. But wait, jump back to that for that. a little bit because you say because if you're working at that company you guys now you guys are talking and saying okay we're we're back together again kind of doing our thing and you've got this job and you probably have at one point come up with the idea and say look why don't we try to do this and I could probably take it to this company if we put it all together like who who comes up with the idea to say hey let's try to do this pilot let's try to shoot this how does that come about because there's so many people especially today dude with the people that are shooting stuff all

the time I'm sure this is a huge inspiration to them yeah you know it was a calculated move We'd sold shows before. Like I had sold an improv comedy show to A&E. Okay. Which kind of launched my TV, TV career. And then the guys and I sold a sketch comedy show based on our friendship in our life to Spike TV.

Yeah, yeah. Shot a pilot, didn't go to series. The A&E show shot a pilot didn't go to series. So, and then along the way, I'd gotten my job in TV development. And somewhere, around 2010, I started hearing like whispers from networks that they were interested in hidden camera again. Like was there a new twist on the format? And it was around that time that like punked got rebooted with Justin Bieber as a host. And there was another prank show came out on

I can't remember what network at this point. But you know, it was coming back. Like networks were looking for something new in the hidden camera space. And so like MTV asked for a comment. Central asked for it. True was interested in that in that male prank space. And so just from, you know, doing my job, I kind of heard these, this intel from different networks. And so the guys and I got together and Gatto and I were living together in Manhattan at the time. Yeah.

Couldn't afford to live apart. You know, we were, you know, we were living at a, it was him, me, and his now wife living in a 700 square foot apart, right? There was one sink, one bathroom. He didn't even have a bedroom. There was like a little small room with no doors, no electric in it. It was like a closet, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We ran an extension cord from the hallway into that room and made that into his bedroom. Totally illegal, no windows in the room. Right. You know, the typical Manhattan apartment. 100%. The guys and I got together at Gannon and I's apartment. And I was like, you know, I hidden cameras coming back. if we come over with some kind of format, I think I can sell it.

And so what we didn't like, we didn't like, we didn't like prank shows where like you feel bad intrinsically for the person getting pranked because they didn't sign up for it. They look like fools, think like that. So we're like, well, how do we spin that upside down? What's the different way to do it? What if the joke is on us and we're the ones essentially getting pranked and the public is just there to witness our embarrassment? and that twist on the format combined with really the secret sauce in the show, which is our chemistry.

It is undeniable, like, you know, made all the difference. And we went out and shot a sales tape and Gatto and I edited it together. I think we shot it on our like flip phones. I don't even think we had iPhones yet. It was like 2009 or 10. And then went out and pitched it. And we had, it's so interesting, we had two offers for the show. one was and the offers were identical financially yeah yeah not identical in reality so we had an offer

from mtv loved the idea wanted to make it into a daily show uh in tv is called a strip show so five days a week they wanted to air it they wanted it to be a game show they wanted to recast the guys and i so they loved the concept love the ideas did not want us in it we would not be on camera just the executive producers of the show and it could potentially be five days a week, which from a TV point of view is amazing. That's what every TV developer's dream is to sell a strip show, a daily show, because the network will order mass quantities of it. They'll order 40, 50 at a time, you know?

On paper, that deal could be very, very lucrative if it succeeds. You know, it's like any of these daily shows could be big money, big money over a year. runs for years and years and years. Like you're talking five days a week producing a show, like any of the daily shows that are on. It's just big pots of money. So on paper, the MTV deal could be better in success, but we would not be on camera.

Right. And then True TV made an identical financial offer as MTV. They matched each other. But the difference was, True said, we love the concept. We want you in the show. And the network executive at this time said, if you sign with us, I will make you guys the face of the network. And not live. They went on it.

And thank God it was the success, because most shows are not. And literally, it changed the entire course of True TV's history and trajectory. It's what the show eclipsed the network brand. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you guys had, and that's what a Stallone Rocky moment that is, too, huh? Yeah, and I remember driving out to Staten Island.

He was a fireman at the time and loved his job. He was the FDNY for eight years and had won awards. It was that had saved hundreds of lives and loved his career. And so naturally he wanted to sign with MTV because then he still gets to be a fireman and do what he loves. He already had his dream job, you know? And I remember driving out to Staten Island with the contract for True TV and saying, buddy, I need you to trust me. like if this one goes and works, this will change the course of our lives in ways we can't even imagine because I saw it happen on other TV shows that I sold.

You know, like one of the shows that the company I worked for made was Sayas and the Dress Atlanta, which was a spin-off of Sayas and Dress, the New York version. And it changed the course of those folks' lives that from the Atlanta Bridal Store, like, and the New York Bridal Store, of course, changed the whole trajectory. of their lives because in success from TV, you can launch so much. And I mean, I launched, with the guys and I launched a worldwide tour, we're about to wrap up our fifth international tour of performing and doing comedy. I have nine books out, you know, there's all the books here, you know.

I'm wearing a shirt of one of the books that comes out in two months. Is that one of the horror books? Yeah, I've got so many out. Like the newest one, you better watch out. Let me see. Cereal Killer novel. Oh, cool. Good.

I'm wearing this because I have to do a live stream later today for the book, autographing copies. Where can people get that, Merr? If they want to get, if they want to get it. The new one, the new one, you can get an autograph copy at merthrillerbook.com. Okay, great. Yeah, it's super easy. And it's freaking great.

I always want to write thrillers and novels. Yeah. And the, this one, my last one, don't move. is a creature feature novel. It's actually being shot as a movie. Oh, wow. We start shooting, ready for this, we start shooting a movie in five weeks.

That's amazing. So who's doing, which company's doing the movie? Are you guys producing it yourself? We are. We raised the financing for it, and we've got a great cast we're assembling. So Rob Wrigal is one of the comedy characters in the book. Lindsay Fonseca from How I Met,

your mother. Okay. 12 years on how I met your mother is the female lead. And we shoot it in Missouri outside of Kansas City. It's great, man. I'm so excited. I can tell it. I love that.

I love that. I am a little disappointed, though, that Danica is not in it. Yeah. Oh, that's a bad idea. You know, but she's all in on a hallmark these days. I'm sure. So I don't know if she'd be, I don't know if it's in her, her interest. I don't know if she's interested in running through the far as,

getting hunted by a creature. Yeah, for those people who don't know, the reference I'm bringing up is that when we were all, you and I are around the same age. So right around that area, we were all watching the Wonder Years. And Danica McKellar, obviously, when he was,

everybody, my name was Lisa Milano also. Oh, who was from. Yeah. Yeah. So when you had to, you had no clue that she was going to be in the room when you, when you walked in there?

No. So the puners you were referring to is, I think one of the biggest surprises on the show in show history, although we're going to beat it. So there's a surprise coming up on the show. I cannot tell you. Okay, okay. Because we're moments from filming it. Oh, wow.

You haven't filmed it yet. It is the biggest secret on impractical jokers. It's a punishment that has been five years in the making. Wow. And it's finally happening. I love it. It's happening moments from now. and it's the biggest secret in show.

Oh, you're filming it? You're filming it today? Or soon? I cannot tell you when we're filming. Okay. But it is being filmed very short. Okay. Okay.

I won't push you anymore on that. That's cool. I can't. So that punishment you're referring to the Danica McKellar Award. So the setup was this. The guys, I lost an episode. The guys told me that I had to compete in a bodybuilding competition. They take me to this hotel conference room.

I walk in and there's dudes that are 10 times my size. They're warming up, greasing up, lifting weights. And in the room, they piped in the sounds of a real bodybuilding competition coming from the next giant conference room in this hotel. So I'm like, okay, this is a real thing. They strip me down. They put me in American flag Speedo. They grease my whole body. They spray tan me.

They spray tan my whole body except for my face. So if you look at photos of that punishment, my head looks photoshopped on my own body, right? Because I've got a, you know, a typical complexion. But my body is like weirdly orange and brown, you know, just in my nipples around. And I look like a twig next to these guys, right? So I'm already mortified. And there's no reason that wouldn't be the punishment because it's horribly embarrassing. I got to get up and freaking whatever in front of judges and an audience.

It's already a great punishment. And they say, okay, Mur, your turn. I hear my name being called over the speakers. My number is being called to compete. So I walk around into the other giant conference room. And a split second before I turn the handle to walk in, I had the thought. I was like, what if there's a twist and I'm not actually walking into a bodybuilding competition?

What if my family's there, my mom's there? I don't know. They brought, I have no idea, right? What if it's like something really embarrassing? And I was like, no, why would they do that? Because this is already horrible. Right. And I opened the door.

And inside the roof, there's no competition when I opened the door. There's nothing. All the sounds of the competition they piped in through the speakers were fake. And when I walk in, all there is is Danica McKellar, Winnie Cooper, five of three years, looking in a gown with her hair done, looking, you know, gorgeous. And she was America's crush in the 80s, right? Certainly for men of our age was all of our collective crushes.

She's sitting there in a chair waiting to be interviewed by me. She did not know what I was going to look like. Oh, wow. Oh, she had no clue. She had no clue. She knew it was impractical jokers. It knew it was a punishment against me, had no idea I was walking in greased up, flexing, I think he was a bodybuilding competition

and she also did not know the questions and did not know what to say. All of her answers, she improvised. Oh, wow. So I go there, I crawled into the corner of the room. I felt this big, right? So I immediately recognized her. And my mind was blown.

I was like, how do they know her? How does she know the show? Yeah. I have no idea. I assume, I always go into a conversation and assume someone does not know the show, right? And why would she? You know?

And she probably lives in L.A. What's she doing on 39th Street, Manhattan right now? You know, my mind was blown on so many levels. And then the wave of embarrassment hit me of what I looked like. And I had never met her in my life, did not, I had never spoken to her before. It was just so shocking a moment. And you can tell, I stand in a corner like this. I could not.

You turned into a 12-year-old. Exactly, right? And then I had to interview her and all her answers, she improvised. And she's sharp as attack, you know. And I went through so many emotions. I was horribly embarrassed, but at the same time, so very proud of my friends for coming up with Twist. That's what I was going to ask. I was going to ask it, too, because as the producer brain going, oh, so good.

So proud of you guys for doing this. And then there's the other, the performer side going, I got to do this now. Yeah. It's one of those moments that you just know when you're making. it is an instant classic. Yeah. You know? Yeah, it was great. It was absolutely great. And it's one of those things where you, because your friends know you so well and know who to put in that situation. Like, I don't know. Like for me, if I walk in and I'm doing what you did and Julia Roberts is

there, I don't think I can do it. I don't think I can do it. I don't think I can do. I have been getting really nice comments from people lately and noticing that I've been losing weight and that I've been in shape and doing all these things. And one of the reasons why is because I've been eating better, but paying attention. And one of those things, I've been doing is Magic Spoon. And every time I talk about Magic Spoon, I get people right afterwards saying, I just tried it. And then the same person will follow up and go, and I love it.

People love Magic Spoon because I loved eating cereal as a kid. But as an adult, you can't do it because of all the sugar and most of the cereals don't give me the protein that I need. And I found Magic Spoon, which is really great. And it tastes very similar to my childhood favorites, but it doesn't have all the sugar. And it's got a ton of protein. And that's my snack at night. every serving of MagicSpoon cereal.

It's got 13 grams of protein, zero grams of sugar and four grams of net carbs so you can feel good about what you're eating. So the most popular flavors are fruity and cocoa, and there's so many more. I do that. I mix the cocoa and the peanut butter personally. But they also have treats.

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That's Magic Spoon. Hold on to the dream. I was having a barbecue with the family and I was going to go and went to pick up some games for the kids to play and I was picking up cornhole. And while I was at the sports store getting it, kept seeing Liquid IV. and more and more, I'm so excited that people are learning about Liquid IV because I've known about them now for a bit since they've been on the show. It's the summer.

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It really is. And I love this Popsicle one, so I'm showing it right now. So what you want to do is they have so many different flavors, too, that makes it just really, really fresh. And you can choose from their line of sugar-free flavors. They have raspberry melon, they have white peach, they have green grape. It's great. You can go to the website, and you can find all of it. It keeps your wellness rituals fresh, and it keeps you motivated, it keeps you hydrated.

So what you want to do is you want to tear, pour, live more. or one stick, 16 ounces of water hydrates better than water alone. It's powered by LIV hydroscience, which is an optimized ratio of electrolytes, essential vitamins, and clinically tested nutrients that turn ordinary water into extraordinary hydration. It's got three times the electrolytes of the leading sports drink, eight essential vitamins and nutrients, always non-GMO, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free.

So indulge in hydration this summer with liquid IV. Get 20% off your first order of liquid IV. But you got to use Liquidiv.com and use the code, big thing, at checkout. You get 20% off your first order when you shop better hydration today. Use that promo code, big thing, at Liquidiv.com. So one of the things that I wanted to me, as you were mentioning the formation of the crew and how the idea came about and how you were able to do it, you kept mentioning Joe, you know. And I know that it was kind of heartbreaking for you guys to when he left the show.

When going to TBS, was there ever a media? meeting to say like listen come back for this when we're going to tbs can has there been talks of him coming back i mean he's still all of our best friends you know what i mean like i was literally texting last night because i think he's going to uh i think he's going to join us the final weekend of the tour one that we're doing you like it where we're on our fifth tour like i mentioned and our last weekend of the tour is in like three weeks we are playing um duorum uh we're playing uh we're playing Syracuse, Hanover, Maryland,

and I can't remember else. But so our final four tour dates of this run of the show and we were texting last night, I think he's going to surprise people and come on out for the shows. I love that. He was on stage. But still our best friend, man.

It's up to him, of course. Like, he was my best man in my wedding. Also was the efficient of my wedding. So still our best friend and hopefully that'll happen one day. When he left the show, was there the company, like, obviously you wanted to have your friend's best interest and say, sure, but is there that trying to make it work at first or just like you knew? Because as friends, you know right away, like, no, this is the best thing for the guy.

It's time for him to take off or is there that conversation. Let's try to make it work first. Our first and most important conversations were, this is our best friend and were concerned for him. Yeah. It was always from that, you know, that was our number one priority. then after that we were like well what do we do we stop doing the show but we still love doing the show and like I literally have the best job on the planet like my job is to go to work and bullshit with my best friends and laugh all day we always said like 14 years ago if we are ever not having fun

making the TV show we'll stop doing it you know right because because what's the point I think the, what makes the show work is that you can tell, and you'll see it on tonight's episode of the show, you can tell that we're crying, laughing. When Sal falls through the chair in the jogging review, I had tears pouring down my face.

They had to redo, or makeup artisan on set, had to redo the whole thing after his turn, because it's just so effing funny, you know? I literally, after that moment, I turned to cue, and it's not on TV, you won't see it on this moment on TV. I turned to queue, I was like, we can't do anything else.

This is the funny. This is so much fun. I can't wait. And so we had a moment where we're like, well, what do we do? Do we stop doing the TV show? But we still love the TV show and love making it. And we said, well, let's give it a shot. Let's try.

Let's do what we always do, which is just go in there and try to make each other laugh and see if it's still fun. And if we still are giving ourselves permission to laugh without Joe being on the show. And we went back to work and we're still crying, laughing. and still doing really good work. Yeah. And then it took us a while to understand the new dynamic and to spin the format in new ways. And we tried different things.

And we're also still hampered by COVID when Joe left, you know? So the show was still very different. So we added some elements like bringing celebrities into episodes to try that out. And now in season 11, 12, we kind of did away with that and went back to the origins of the show. and went back to using celebrities, as we always have done, a la carte, in moments where they fit naturally, like Danica McKellar, you know. And then also the COVID restrictions got lifted from the TV show and from all TV shows, maybe halfway through season nine, and then the show really, or maybe season 10, rather,

then the show really got back to what it was, and now it's back to exactly what it always was. So it took us a while to reimagine the show and to work around the COVID restrictions and then Joe leaving. But now I think it's as good as it has always been. It's hilarious. And it's good that you guys are, obviously, like you said, you guys are close. It's one of your best friends in the world. And the idea, I'm sure, I'm sure when you see him, it's like nothing ever changed anyway, too. No, I mean, you know, it's one of those things that there's so much history.

Yeah. Of course. You know, and there will be so much history after the TV show. Absolutely. And who knows when that's going to be? Because you guys keep moving. And I love it. I love that. It keeps moving. And the other, as you're holding up those books, because this is a lot of times what I, I worked in, I worked for Joe Silver for, in Warner Brothers. And I actually, after I left, I was, I had worked in the Peter Roth system and all that stuff in Warner Brothers. So I'm, when you were talking about that, it was all very familiar. And looking at how, I, that in my job, I was working in film development that when in stand-up comedy was my thing for the comedy. store so a lot of people you like Adam ray who's been on your show who's a who's also is a friend and then and these different comedians that are coming in I can relate to all of it but it's the New York side of it that really brings me into it because as you said Staten Island I lived in Queens I'm in Long Island now like this it's like it's just is so it's just such a different way of the my wife who's

from L.A. well born in Ithaca but L.A. for the most part of it. She loves and relates to New York people because you get this you get this thing that I think is unfair that New Yorkers are whether it's rude or you know just not not the people you they're everybody's angry it's not it's not the case it's like I moved here man and like everybody is super nice fast-paced but hello how are you what's going on and it's just such different vibe and it reminded me and when I watch you guys I have that vibe but I also have that vibe of just, I don't know, it brings me home when I watch the show. It really does.

Yeah, I think New York is the a character in the show, for sure. It is. It is for sure. And then, but I bring that up also because what I turned that into with the film production, everything, I started a YouTube channel with movie reviews, television stuff, hence

how the Fandango job came about. And I, as you're talking about your novels and you're looking into the show, like, what, is growing up what are some of your big film influences comedy influences things that because i'm assuming you were a big kind of movie tv guy kind of growing up yeah i mean for sure i i love horrors i love thrillers um my favorite movies growing up were like you know turnator terminator two aliens are you going to see the new one romulus uh i'm excited to see it uh it doesn't open yet it's not

No, about two more weeks. Yeah. Yeah, I'm really excited. The new trail, it looks freaking great. Yeah. I'm a sucker for all the movies. And so I loved sci-fi horror thrillers. I loved comedy, of course.

My favorites are airplane, naked gun. You know, we're, like, heavily influenced by the Zucker brothers. Which is why, you know, David Zucker's been on the show. Literally, one of my most prized possessions is right behind me. Let me show you. So, one second. Oh, God. Get on the wall.

So on my wall, at my wedding four years ago, you know, one of the coolest things about Impracted Droger's is that we became friends with the Zucker brothers. Yeah, that's cool. And who are idols of ours. And dear, dear friends with David Zucker. And so I invited him to our wedding and he came. And my wedding vows actually started and ended with. airplane jokes.

Really? He's in the audience, you know, he's in the audience amongst family and friends. And I started my wedding vows by saying, by thanking it right from coming. And I specifically honed in on him. I said, and I also thank you David Zucker for joining us today. The gentleman with a briefcase, the money you requested is to your right. And he looks over and I had a guy dressed all in black and were like an earpiece like FBI. And he opened up a briefcase and it was a briefcase of cash to give him.

Oh, that's so good. wedding, right? And then my wedding vows ended by me saying to Melissa and my wife, well, surely I cannot imagine a better life than once spent with you. And don't call me, surely. Okay. But his wedding gift to us was an, uh, an original page from everything. This is an original autograph script page with his handwritten script notes. Uh, and it's the scene. It's from 1979, uh, May 21st, 1979. It is an original script page that he had. And the scene is when they're on the plane, it's Elaine and Ted Stryker talking.

And Elaine says to him, mostly I remember the nights when we were together. I remember how he used to hold me and how I used to sit on your face and wriggle. It's one of my most prized possession. So yeah, I'd say Zucker Brothers, huge influence, Mel Brooks, huge influence. Eddie Murphy. you know, such that was our How about standout comedians?

Carlin? Yeah, Carlin is a little before our time, I think, but I love him. I would say more we're in the, in the Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler kind of years. I mean, a huge influence us was,

do you remember the, the albums, Adam Sandler who's put out? Yeah, 94. Yeah, that's right, the sweet spot for our, for our comedic upbringing. Yeah, see, I had a, the reason I brought up Carlin for me is that I, I maybe it was my, a buddy of mine who he showed me Carlin at Carnegie when I was like in the third grade.

It was I never heard anybody use language like that before. Yeah, of course. It's shocking for kids our age. 100%. So that was the one that got me and watching him between him and Pryor and then in Kinnison and all that. And then, yeah, the stuff that Sandler did in the 90s, I remember being, I went to Iona college my first year. And that would play throughout the hall. That whole is the shampoo bottle song.

The shampoo bottle. Come on, man. I remember the moment I heard the song. Yeah. Do you really? Yeah. I was in college. Yeah.

It had to be. It came out between 93-94 is when that album came out. So I had just gone to college and I was at a party. I went to Georgetown. I was at a party as a freshman. And somebody said, dude, you got to listen to this new song. It's like I wrote it. I sang it.

And they totally tricked me into thinking that they wrote the song. And they put on the song, it was like, oh, it's actually not a bad song. You think it's real at the beginning. Until he gets to put a shampoo bottle right. I was like, what the? What's going on? It just killed. That was my first time listening to it.

It was great. All right. Listen, it's an absolute pleasure to have you on the show. And I'm so excited. I was so excited that you guys are able to do this. It's coming out. Practical Joker's for everybody. It came out on July 11th.

There's new episodes now on TBS. You should absolutely check it out. As Murray mentioned, this is true to form. This is everything that you want from the season. It's hilarious. And thank you so much for joining me here today, man. I appreciate you. Got it.

Thanks for having me. Appreciate the time. All right, guys, once again, check it out. And check out his books also. All that stuff is in the description. How fun was that guy? I mean, that was fun. I mean, this is exactly how I thought it would be.

Just a jovial dude. Like, just wants to hang out with his buddies, has the dream life, appreciates everything that he got. And for the most part, even though they get, they're pretty fearless. I mean, they're pretty fearless. They'll tell you, they'd probably tell you otherwise, you know, but like you could tell what I found about Murray

while talking to him is that he really has that producer's brain and how important it was for him to have that job of working in TV to understand. And I really was pretty inspired in the fact that he looked at what was working in television at the time to say, okay, this is what I need to do. It's what I have to do. You get my buddies. I know who I know I can call here, this is what we've been doing we've been doing these things and I know what they're looking for and we can nail this thing and they did and they just they just had fun they put it out there and they did it so it was really a blast talking to him and just kind of going over the way that some of these things worked the bits that they've done in the past and to talk about the new season I love that he opened up about Joe and and

talked about his close relationship with him and and all that so it was really it was great it was it was a lot of fun to talk to him. So thanks for joining me here today. As always, as I always mentioned, as you saw during the show, mentioned our sponsors. Please, if you want to help the show out, you want to help us get great interviews like we had today. Get one of those sponsors, man. Help us out. That helps the show out tremendously. And if you want to watch the clipouts from this interview, other interviews, other things that I do, you can go to the Christian Harloff Clips channel. Thanks for joining me here today. Thank you to Murray for joining me. Make sure you watch and practical jokers. All right, I'll be back here tomorrow with Mike. I don't think

Steph's going to be here tomorrow, but I got Mike. So we'll see you here tomorrow. Bye.