Improv rock stars find chemistry in longevity

They are improv rock stars. Or, as Sal Vulcano puts it, “We’re like this weird band, like a comedy band.”

But that means no revolving door. The Tenderloins, the comedy troupe synonymous with truTV’s “Impractical Jokers,” will not be confused with institutions such as “Saturday Night Live” introducing new faces every year.

“Not a lot of people in comedy grew up together and have been friends for 25 years,” Vulcano says of Joe Gatto, Brian “Q” Quinn and James “Murr” Murray.

“It is definitely a hook that we have that makes us unique and it does give us that distinction that can set us apart,” he says.

“We’re with each other 24/7 and that’s not an exaggeration. But I think after 25 years it’s like you are with your family basically. You’re gonna have your dust-ups and fights and stuff, but we’re all really hyper-aware of the good fortune we’re having and how long it took us to get here.”

The troupe makes its first working visit to Las Vegas with Saturday’s “Impractical Jokers” Tour, which Vulcano describes as basically a celebration of the hidden-camera prank show.

“Our fans are so rabid, the live shows, they actually feel like concerts,” he says. “People come and they are ready to go. They have chants, they hold up signs and T-shirts.”

The tour stop falls a week after the debut of “Jokers Wild,” a new companion show airing Thursdays after “Impractical Jokers,” taking The Tenderloins back to their improv and filmed-sketch origins.

But Saturday’s show is “basically stand-up,” Vulcano says. “It’s the four of us on stage at the same time, and it’s mostly stand-up. … We do crowd work, we tell stories about our lives and friendship. There’s insight on how we made the show, how we sold the show, some more edgy stuff we couldn’t do for television.”

“Impractical Jokers” culminated years of steady progress for the four comedians, all born in 1976, who met during their freshman year of high school in Staten Island, New York.

“When we left high school, we all went to separate colleges and came back and then we all had 9-to-5s, every one of us,” Vulcano recalls. “We were all doing comedy on the side” and studying improv with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.

The only lineup change came early on, when Quinn came in to replace Mike Boccio once the group shifted its focus from the stage to filming sketches for the Internet. “He got a good job with a lot of responsibility. When we started tinkering around with these online videos, he didn’t have the time, although he had the love for it,” Vulcano says.

It turns out 2006 was a transitional year for people getting used to YouTube. The Tenderloins also rose to the top of MySpace’s comedy rankings out of 132,000 comedians. “It wasn’t as saturated as it is now, but it moved so quick,” Vulcano says. “I think within a year the landscape of YouTube and MySpace changed.”

Some of those early videos still linger on YouTube, but Vulcano says, “If I see a bit that stands up that we did four, five 10 years ago, I’m pretty impressed. Our tastes change so much. We will watch stuff we did when we first started out and I can’t even watch it.”

The troupe tried different TV concepts and pilots before deciding, “Let’s just make something that feels much more spontaneous and unscripted.”

“Jokers” blends the old “Candid Camera” with a “Jackass” prank element and improv: Vulcano credits David Letterman feeding man-on-the-street lines to New York deli owner Rupert Jee for the component of one Tenderloin wearing an earpiece while the other three come up with lines to spring on unwitting bystanders.

“We wanted to utilize our improv strengths … put ourselves into a situation where we know we can be funny and also ourselves. If we’re ourselves and also showcase our friendship, something might resonate there.”

Now, thanks in part to the success of Comedy Central’s “Key &Peele,” the new “Jokers Wild” follows “Impractical Jokers” as a studio-based show that takes the Tenderloins full circle to their improv roots. Vulcano says the new series evolved from something akin to “The Talking Dead” — chatting about the just-aired episode — into a more ambitious version of their Internet videos.

So, while Saturday’s live show might be a little bewildering to a newcomer, future visits might bring more improv and sketch comedy.

“We like to say that people come (because of) ‘Impractical Jokers’ and then they’ll leave as Tenderloins fans. We cover the ground of the show and then give them our brand too.”

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.