Release Date: April 1, 2020
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: Approx. 93 minutes

Impractical Jokers: The Movie stars James “Murr” Murray, Brian “Q” Quinn, Joe Gatto, and Sal Vulvano, also known as the comedy troupe The Tenderloins, playing themselves in a fictional story of a humiliating high school mishap from the early nineties. Featuring appearances from Paula Abdul, Jaden Smith, and Joey Fatone, the movie combines the fictional narrative with real life footage of over-the-top punishments and callbacks to classic moments from the series. Once the Impractical Jokers hit the road, they compete in hidden camera challenges for the chance to turn back the clock and find redemption.

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As someone who has been watching Impractical Jokers since it first premiered on truTV, I was very excited for the guys and intrigued myself when I heard there was going to be a movie. I had no idea what to expect from a movie from James “Murr” Murray, Brian “Q” Quinn, Joe Gatto, and Sal Vulvano. I’m really happy to say that I was not disappointed.

The movie is set in Staten Island 1994. The guys play younger versions of themselves in Act One which is hilarious since I wasn’t expecting that. I went into this movie knowing nothing other than they were making a movie. It starts off with the right tone of this is just getting started and I can’t wait to see how bananas it gets. You can tell they’re all having fun making this low budget cult movie and they’re A-okay with that and it works so well.

Some of them can act better than others but working with each other helps elevate the decent acting, as their lifelong chemistry/friendship is what makes this all work and believable. You want to go along for this ride if you’re already a fan and they deliver.

The dialogue is absolutely ridiculous and just as funny as you’d hope. But the best part is the story it fast forwards to 25 years later when the guys have their own Impractical Jokers show. The Paula Abdul event of 1994 in the movie sets up for a great full circle moment in present day that ties in perfectly to what the impractical jokers do. That’s the best way to tell you anything without spoilers. All of the guys collaborated on writing the script so it makes complete sense why everything is even more hysterical as the movie plays out and the pranks rack up.

My favorite pranks in the movie include a prank involving a real life tiger, the birthday prank at a strip club (oh my god! How embarrassing), and the job interview prank. Wow. I am constantly amazed at how many good natured pranks these guys come up with and continue to over the years. This is not easy to do but these guys love what they do and are so inventive and it’s so rewarding to see. In this day and age, pranks can be so mean spirited but that was never their brand and the fact that they stay true to their brand and remain successful speaks volumes. Good on them.

The guys deliver what we love most about them; Sal and Murray can’t hang, Joe and Q are SO good at the challenges, and so on. I love that they don’t mind poking fun at themselves (they flat out say that season 5 of their show was trash). Basically, this is very much for a niche audience. I’m sure someone who hasn’t seen the show can see the movie and enjoy it but you’ll enjoy it one thousand times more already being a fan of the show. It’s a fun semi-fictional love letter to the Impractical Jokers that is very much worth the watch. So if you’re a fan, be sure to check this out!

Impractical Jokers: The Movie is available to own on Digital now.