Impractical Jokers Stars Say First Season Without Joe Gatto Was Tough

The cast of Impractical Jokers opens up about Joe Gatto’s departure and how they moved the show on without him. For over a decade, Brian “Q” Quinn, Sal Vulcano, James “Murr” Murray, and Joe Gatto have put each other through hilarious hidden camera antics for the viewing pleasure of Impractical Jokers’ dedicated fanbase. Thanks to their resounding success, the show has spawned several spinoffs, an Impractical Jokers movie adaptation, and a worldwide live tour. The show is heading back to TV screens for a special episode on April 2.

But despite Impractical Jokers being a global phenomenon, Gatto announced back in January that he would be leaving the show in order to focus on his home life. While the emotional announcement came as a shock to Impractical Jokers fans, the remaining members of the comedy troupe decided to keep the show going, with Quinn, Murray and Vulcano set to return with special guests filling the Gatto-shaped hole in the Impractical Jokers cast. The first of these guests, Eric Andre, was announced back in February.

Per People, Quinn, Murray, and Vulcano have opened up about how they moved forward following Gatto’s departure. While Gatto leaving Impractical Jokers was difficult on the cast, with Vulcano describing how it was “tough to lose him” after doing the show for a decade, the star confirmed the four are still in touch, saying “we still talk to him all the time.” Vulcano continued, talking about producing the show without Gatto, saying how “the exercise of reinventing the show really gave us a fresh palette and we just grabbed that and ran with it.” Check out the full quotes below:

“Vulcano: We’re doing the show together [for] almost 10 years, we’re friends [for] 30 years so it was tough to lose him. We didn’t want to see him go, but we had to give him his space … We miss him and we love him, we still talk to him all the time.”

Quinn: “He’s our boy, we love him. He’s our guy. It’s just, he wanted to leave so what are you going to do?”

Vulcano: “We’re here to make a comedy, so if we can’t get on set and be in good spirit and start laughing then what are we doing? We just focused up. Also, the exercise of reinventing the show really gave us a fresh palette and we just grabbed that and ran with it.”

Despite Gatto being fundamental to the show as fans knew it, Vulcano’s comments about reinventing Impractical Jokers with its guest stars are promising. Impractical Jokers has managed to remain fresh since its inception, but adding new faces – most of whom may not be comfortable making fools of themselves in public – adds a new dynamic to the show’s already winning formula. More than anything, though, it’s great to hear that the four are still close friends after knowing each other for three decades.

The remaining core members seem confident that the show can work without Gatto, and following a recent announcement regarding upcoming guest stars, it’s easy to see why. The show isn’t holding back with new talent, with Method Man, Chris Jericho, and Brooke Shields joining the Impractical Jokers party, giving the show an entirely new layer of unexpectedness to work with. Of course, while these guests sound like an excellent addition to the Impractical Jokers roster, no doubt the door will always remain open if Gatto ever decides to return to his pranking roots.

Source: People

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