The Impractical Jokers: Talking with Brian Quinn

Brian Quinn is a member of The Tenderloins a comedy troupe featuring four high school friends from Staten Island, New York – Sal Vulcano, Joe Gatto, James Murray and Brian Quinn. As a creator, executive producer, writer, and star of truTV’s show, Impractical Jokers, Quinn is a busy guy. Currently on tour with truTV Presents The Impractical Jokers Tour Featuring The Tenderloins On Tap caught up with the comedian to get the lowdown on the upcoming DC show.

On Tap: What would you say has been the pivotal moment for The Tenderloins as far as getting on the map or getting to the next level?
Brian Quinn: Well you know, we’ve been working for years and years but the point when things really started to get moving was when we won that NBC contest “It’s Your Show” which was a kind of comedy contest and we won the grand prize which was like $100,000 that got us the attention of some agents and producers and that’s where we met the agents we’re with today. They kind of helped us with our career but if I had to say it would be that contest.

OT: Where do you get the courage to go out and pull these practical jokes on complete strangers?
BQ: (laughs) I mean Geez Louise I’ve never thought of it as being courageous or anything, it’s mainly the thing of; if you don’t do it the punishment is going to be much much worse and if you do do it then you get to come up with the ways to torture your friends directly.

OT: So you guys are very competitive?
BQ: Yes, we have to be, or else you’ll look like a chump.

OT: What is it like touring and having a show with your high school friends?
BQ: It’s great, it’s like working together basically seven days a week which is, if it wasn’t guys that I had been friends with this long it would be hard, it would just be horrible to be around them like husbands and wives aren’t around each other as much as we are. So it’s great, it’s a lot of fun and we have these moments where we look at each other and say “I cannot believe we’re getting paid to do this” So it’s great, I don’t think I would enjoy it if I wasn’t doing it with these guys.

OT: What should the audience expect from your show at the Warner?
BQ: We’re going to make fun of Murray a lot, a lot on stage yeah. (laughs) I’m looking forward to the Warner very much, I can’t wait. But other than that we have videos, hidden camera bits we couldn’t show on TV, we tell stories from the set, we show some behind the scenes videos. It’s a lot of fun because nobody knows what to expect like how it’s going to translate to the stage but I think we’ve done a good job of keeping the spirit of Impractical Jokers, just not the technical reality of it.

Check out the Impractical Jokers at Warner Theater October 4 at Warner Theater.

Warner Theater: 513 13th St. DC; 202-783-4000; www.warnertheatredc.com