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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/impractical_jokers_1.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350: [[OnlySaneMan Q]], [[NeatFreak Sal]], [[BigFun Joe]], [[ButtMonkey Murr]]. Not pictured: [[MemeticMutation LARRY!]]]]
3-> ''WARNING: The following program contains scenes of graphic stupidity among four lifelong friends who compete to embarrass each other.''
4-->-- '''Opening Disclaimer from Seasons 1-9'''[[note]]'''(Episodes 1-17 in Season 9)'''[[/note]]
5
6''Impractical Jokers'' is a hidden-camera series from [=TruTV=], featuring the Tenderloins Comedy Troupe, which is comprised of four longtime friends (Brian "Q" Quinn, James "Murr" Murray, Salvatore "Sal" Vulcano, and Joseph "Joe" Gatto) who challenge each other to act outrageously in public. [[CatchPhrase If you refuse, you lose]]. The show is presented as a sort of reality competition, where whoever fails the most challenges in an episode is forced to undergo a non-negotiable punishment of greater humiliation than normal.
7
8On February 21, 2020, a theatrical film, entitled ''[[Film/ImpracticalJokers Impractical Jokers: The Movie]]'', was released.
9
10On December 31, 2021, Joe announced his departure from the show after nine seasons, citing personal issues. Q, Murr and Sal have agreed to produce subsequent seasons without him.
11----
12!!If you refuse to read these tropes, you lose:
13
14[[foldercontrol]]
15
16[[folder:A-F]]
17
18* ActuallyPrettyFunny:
19** Murr deals with a sassy customer during a challenge where he plays a security guard at a pharmacy. Joe tells him to say "I figured out what stinks in here — it's your pussy!" Murr blurts it out and immediately covers his mouth in horror as the other three jokers laugh uproariously. Even the customer got a good laugh out of it.
20** The Jokers give Q a fake safe word of "pumpernickel" during his tarantula punishment. After Q says it multiple times, Sal points out "You're a grown man screaming 'pumpernickel' in a warehouse!" which causes Q to crack a smile.
21** When Joe's punishment is coming home to find everything in his house gift-wrapped, he's genuinely impressed and failing to keep from laughing.
22* AerithAndBob: On one hand, we have Joe and Sal. On the other, we have Murr and Q. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], as these are just nicknames derived from their last names, Murray and Quinn. Murr and Q's real first names are James and Brian, respectively.
23* AintNoRule:
24** No rule says that, when challenged to shop out of other people's cart, you can't just walk away with the whole cart long enough to qualify.
25** Q is one that tries to bend the rules the most, such as when he had to get someone to dance with him without asking him. He did it ''twice''. The first time he mumbled under his breath. The second time he didn't even try hiding it.
26** Even though it's already written, no rule says that you actually ''have'' to use the excuse provided to keep people from using a restroom. Sal did not like this since it negated the need to write the excuses.
27* AllBikersAreHellsAngels: One of Joe's punishments involved Joe asking questions to a motorcycle club. [[SubvertedTrope The members repeatedly insisted that they weren't a gang]].
28* AllForNothing: {{Invoked}} at a sushi bar where the Jokers know that they can make Q lose just by telling him to eat sushi (which he absolutely refuses to do), but first they make him do a bunch of other stuff that they know will be for naught.
29* AllThereInTheManual: The Inside Jokes version of "The Good, The Bad, and the Punished" reveals that all the characters Q encountered were given names ([[LampshadeHanging even though they knew they'd never be used on TV]]).
30* AmusingInjuries: Some of the later punishments involve the guys going through tons of pain.
31* AnimalReactionShot: When Murr quits his "job" at the zoo because of the penguin drama, the cameras repeatedly cut to the penguins that Murr yells at, as if to show them wondering why some guy they've never seen before is throwing a fit.
32* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The "Sashay Away" challenge was done twice. The first time, the Jokers weren't allowed to talk at all. It initially appeared that only Q had won the challenge, until he was revealed to have cheated and was disqualified. The Jokers changed that rule to "No talking about dancing" the second time they did this challenge. This time, Sal and Murr won, Joe lost, and Q [[EpicFail got disqualified again]].
33* AprilFoolsDay: The show's social media pages pulled one in 2014 when they claimed that the guys were being replaced with a new cast, even going so far as to film new footage with them to use in a "teaser" for the next season.
34* ArabianNightsDays: {{Parodied}} when Joe is punished by playing the Genie in an ''Aladdin''-style play. The wire operators send him flying all over the stage and into the set pieces.
35* ArcWelding: In one challenge ("Well, That Went Badly"), Joe opts to use Murr's story as a basis for his own, [[ItMakesSenseInContext saying he's from "Stomp" and that he beat up a guy with an "A" tattoo (Murr) for making out with his girlfriend]]. Q even points it out.
36-->'''Q:''' Are you the "Stomp" guy who beat the shit out of Murr?\
37'''Joe:''' ''(to guy on the bench)'' I used to be in "Stomp".
38* AsideGlance: Happens frequently, especially when the challenge is ridiculous. Joe and Q are the worst offenders. In a challenge where Q had to sabotage Sal's story, the latter had an epic one after blurting out "I hate the guy who [[ItsPersonal killed my uncle]]."
39* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Sal's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqxlCcoy2Q4 weapon of choice in a few challenges.]]
40* AssShove: One of Murr's punishments requires him to volunteer for a prostate exam -- in front of an audience. This becomes a RunningJoke over the course of the series, as Dr. Frank Contacessa, who administered the exam the first time, returns at least twice to check Murr’s prostate again.
41** Implied when Dr. Frank, during a game of Laugh Man Standing, approaches Murr in a waiting room to tell him that his test results have come back and his asshole is fine.
42* AwkwardPoetryReading: Sal's punishment in "Poetry Slammed" had him do a reading of a poem written by the other Jokers, which was rife with cliches and [[PlagiarismInFiction plagiarism]], intentionally invoking this trope.
43* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: In one of the ''After Party'' episodes, Sal tells Murr why he is such a great friend, which is heartwarming since they usually argue a lot.
44* BaitAndSwitch:
45** Several punishments are initially set up to look like one thing, but turn out to be something else. One example is Murr dressing up as Dracula for a production of ''The Vampire Monologues'' -- except he's actually joining a gospel choir. As Dracula.
46** The name of the season 9 episode ''Prince + Charming'' would leave you to believe Sal is the episode's big loser. [[note]]This was during the time when Sal was presented as "Prince Herb."[[/note]] [[spoiler: It was actually Murr]]
47* BaldOfEvil: When Murr's head is shaved for a punishment (including his eyebrows, but not the top of his head, like an inverted tonsure), he says he looks like Lex Luthor.
48* BarbershopQuartetsAreFunny: A barbershop quartet is called in for one of Sal's punishments so that their leader can pee on Sal's leg.
49* BeachEpisode: "Welcome to Miami" includes a game on the beach.
50* BestServedCold: Sometimes one joker will set up another one's punishment as retaliation for a previous incident. For example, the jokers once punished Q by making him humiliate himself in a stage musical in front of his firefighting buddies; in retaliation, he later punished them by making them go an especially goofy version of firefighter training.
51* BigApplesauce: The Jokers are from Staten Island, and most of the routines they pull are done in the city or the general Tri-State Area. [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight Since New York City has odd things going on at any point,]] they can get away with a lot of incredibly unusual behavior.
52** Because Murr does not speak with a stereotypical New York-type accent like the other three Jokers, they have jokingly accused him of having forgotten his roots.
53* BigDamnMovie: ''Impractical Jokers: The Movie'', a RoadTripPlot extended episode.
54* TheBigEasy: The Jokers visit New Orleans in "The Big Uneasy".
55* BindleStick: In one challenge, Murr made one of these when the guy he rubbed the wrong way in a challenge told his friend, the manager of the restaurant where they were filming the episode, that Murr should be fired.
56* BitingTheHandHumor: In bonus footage of "The Butt of the Joker," Joe's presentation included a point "It's tru. TV is horrible," a jab at the show's network [=TruTV=].
57* BlackComedy:
58** The Flea Market challenge, where Sal, Murr, and Joe are forced to admit that their items were looted from dead bodies.
59** Joe's parents are dead, so he occasionally has them appear as a pair of plastic skeletons.
60* BonusSpace:
61** Two of these are on the Wheel of Doom: [[InstantWinCondition Automatic Win]] and Get $20 from Each Joker.
62** Hitting the bullseye on the Dartboard of Destiny is worth $50.
63* BrainBleach: Q is visibly disturbed at watching Murr bleaching his own anus. Sal walks in on the scene and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere runs away]] [[ScreamingAtSquick screaming]]. (Joe, by contrast, makes a joke about leaving Murr unsupervised and then whacks him on the butt.)
64-->'''Joe:''' I go out there for a ''minute'', I leave you two alone for a ''minute''...\
65'''Q:''' I'm never gonna un-see what I saw.
66* BreakingTheFourthWall:
67** Subverted because this is reality TV, although Q revealing to the woman in the elevator challenge that she was on a hidden camera show qualifies.
68** A woman approached Sal during his turn in the drugstore security guard challenge and asked if she could tell him where she thought she recognized him from. Sal’s answer was, “Yes, but not right now.” The woman, understanding that filming was happening at that moment, quietly excused herself.
69** Murr revealing the show during a challenge in "Brow Beaten" after an ill-advised remark in the presence of a police officer qualifies as well.
70** In the pawn shop segment of "Stage Fright," a customer tells Q and Sal that they remind him of the show. Q and Sal keep the customer engaged, asking him to pull up show clips, as Joe and Murr enter the store to surprise him. After realizing that he is actually ''on'' the show, the customer has a good laugh with and is thanked by the guys for his support.
71---> '''Sal:''' What an honest, glowing endorsement!
72** During the British Invasion episode, Q is in a challenge to give away tickets to a made-up show. He starts talking to a guy whose first reaction is to look RIGHT at the hidden camera operator. At this point Q pitches the pretense and just tries (unsuccessfully) to get the mark to accept the tickets despite the now-obvious set-up, and even introduces the mark to the operator.
73** Joe has had a couple of instances where he smashed the fourth wall:
74*** During a supermarket challenge, a woman recognized him and asked to take a selfie with him. Joe granted the request, and was soon posing for selfies with other customers who discovered what was happening.
75*** In episode “Sun-Fan Lotion,” Joe’s punishment was to get someone in a city park to put sunblock on him. Not long after the punishment started, a young man recognized him and, being a big ''IJ'' fan, got excited and asked if the show was filming and where the other Jokers were. Joe managed to convince the young man that filming was not happening, while getting him to apply sunblock to him. After he was covered with sunblock, Joe revealed that they were indeed filming, and had Murr, Sal, and Q come out to say hi to the thrilled fan.
76** From bonus footage of the virtual job reference challenge in episode "OK Zoomer," Q's mark straight up tells him that he looks and sounds like “that guy off ''Impractical Jokers''.” Q plays along before the other 3 guys enter the shot, to the shock and delight of the mark. Joe then thanks the mark for watching the show.
77** Sal once had a punishment where he was made to work the drive-through window of a White Castle while the other three Jokers hijacked the speaker box and said outrageous things to customers, who then confronted Sal at the window. One gentleman drove up to the window and was about to go off on Sal, but immediately changed his tune when he came face to face with him.
78--->'''White Castle customer:''' ''[pleasantly surprised]'' Oh my God, Sal! It’s you! I watch your show all the time!
79* BreathHoldingBrat: In an unaired challenge, the guys had to beg toy store customers to buy something for them. This was Q's tactic even though the mark informed him that you can't die from holding your breath.
80* BrickJoke: During one episode filming, Murr takes an interest in an anal-bleaching product called "My Shiny Hiney". (Yes, seriously.) This then sets up a later punishment where Murr becomes the spokesman for My Shiny Hiney.
81* BriefAccentImitation: During one of the shoe store challenges, Murr is instructed to (and does, shamefacedly) put on a Jamaican accent to a Rastafarian customer.
82** Q is forced to do the same in a punishment where he worked as a playwright.
83* BrokenRecord: Q's punishment in "Drive, Drive, Drive," in which he had to drive all over New York City in a car in which singing animatronics have been installed, and sing only one song over and over, the titular "Drive, Drive, Drive," which can be heard [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XevSoYRqyc0 here]] in all its 15 second glory.
84** Q was tasked by the other Jokers to pick up food and deliver it to them while driving this car. Keep in mind that NYC itself is enormous; over 300 square miles over the 5 boroughs. Not helping is that Joe now lives on Long Island and Murr now lives in New Jersey. Q had to start at the Jokers' old high school on Staten Island and head into Manhattan to pick up food for Joe. After Q dropped off Joe's food, Sal asked him to pick up food from the White Castle in the Bronx, despite there being a White Castle close to his home on Staten Island. After Q brought Sal his food, Murr asked him to return to ''the same White Castle'' where Sal had sent him, but Q struck a deal with Murr that allowed him to go to a White Castle on the way to Murr's house (it involved the threat of a LaxativePrank).
85** All told, Q endured over 11 hours of the animatronics singing, the experience exacerbated by traffic jams, the need to refuel, and the animatronics developing some squeaky parts along the way. (According to the Inside Jokes, the exact time was 11 hours, 3 minutes. Since the song was 15 seconds long, Q had to listen to it 2,652 times.)
86*** Understandably, he was pretty frazzled by the time he got to Sal’s house.
87----> '''Sal:''' You look like shit!
88----> '''Q:''' Dude, I am harrowed!
89----> '''Sal:''' That song is all over you!
90----> '''Q:''' ''[laughs ruefully]''
91** Once he delivered Murr's food, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he started walking away, leaving the car, animatronics still singing and swaying, in front of Murr's house.]] After protesting that Q had blocked in his car, Murr offered him a ride home.
92* BrooklynRage: For the most part, the people that the Jokers interact with are good sports, but there are times when some folks will be less than receptive or even take offense to the Jokers' antics. Because of this, at least a couple of crew members will stay close and blend in with the crowd during a challenge in case the Jokers need to be protected from more aggressive members of the public.
93** Q once had a punishment where he collected a cover charge at a club, only to learn that the band was playing for free that night. Crew members and on-site security had to protect Q from angry clubgoers demanding their money back.
94** In a segment filmed at Jack's Discount Store, Murr, during his turn, unwittingly upset a very tall and muscular man who was so enraged by Murr’s antics that he chased after Murr, who had to be rescued by actual store security. It was later revealed that the angry man had actually waited in front of the store to confront Murr again, resulting in the Jokers having to escape through the rear service entrance.
95** Sal has been assaulted twice on the show. In the first season, a war veteran strangled him for cutting in line. He also got slapped for telling [[MamaBear a woman her baby was ugly]].
96** Joe had a punishment where he had to prevent kids from catching baseballs autographed by Noah Syndergaard at Citi Field. He was followed by an incensed mother who read him the riot act for taking the balls from the kids, demanded that he hand over the last ball that he took, and that he apologize for his actions. Joe later admitted that this was the most uncomfortable punishment he had ever done.
97* ButtMonkey:
98** All four of them take turns being this--it's essentially the premise of the show--but especially during the punishments. Murr and Sal have it the worst, though, as their punishments are usually more personal (i.e. exploiting Sal's germaphobia and Murr's fear of skydiving).
99** Every time Rob Emmer appears (a crew member who has played bit roles as a stooge in several challenges), the Jokers take the opportunity to harangue him for doing a terrible job, culminating in him getting mock-fired in the 200th episode.
100* CallBack: Murr's skydiving punishment comes up a few times, even being immortalized in a tattoo of a skydiving ferret.
101* CallingCard: {{Invoked}} when Sal has to tell shoppers at the mall that he's looking for the "Hooting Bandit" who loudly hoots after stealing things. Joe then starts running through the mall and hooting at Sal.
102* {{Calvinball}}: Not a full example as the games ostensibly have rules, but the Jokers give immense leeway to them, sometimes giving extra chances despite a clear failure or awarding victories despite conditions not being fulfilled. In addition, it's not always clear what will lead to a victory or a loss - in some games you only need to succeed once out of multiple tries, in others a single failure among other successes means a thumbs down. It generally boils down to "whatever the Jokers think counts."
103** In the "Footlosers" segment of episode "Blind Justice," the objective is, by wearing a pair of headphones and dancing, to get someone at the mall to ask the Joker what they are listening to. Q begs his way to a win when a woman shimmied briefly with him, though she did not explicitly ask him about the "music"; Murr votes to give him the win and the others agree. Later in the segment, Murr loopholes his way to a win after failing to attract attention with his dancing simply by remarking about the "music" he is "listening" to, piquing the curiosity of a couple of girls nearby.
104* TheCameo: Chica, a dog who appeared regularly in previous [=TruTV=] show ''South Beach Tow'', makes a cameo in a challenge that sees Sal and Q working at a pet store. Though not specifically mentioned for her role in ''South Beach Tow'', they do call her by name and refer to her as a "production mascot".
105--> '''Sal:''' For a small fee, you could put her (Chica) down
106* CandidCameraPrank: The Jokers have to make fools of themselves in public while hidden cameras record people's unsuspecting reactions.
107* TheCastShowOff: Sal is a surprisingly good singer! He's also the best dancer, especially with the double-dutch.
108* CatsAreMean: Benjamin Cat, a man in a black cat mascot suit, whose only objective during his appearances is to terrorize Sal. The character is directly inspired by Q's cat of the same name.
109* CatUpATree: In the "Firefighter Training" punishment, an attractive young woman begs Sal to save her cat who's stuck in a tree. It's actually a toy cat in a small potted tree atop a six-story building that can only be reached by ladder. Sal, who's terrified of heights (almost as much as Murr), freezes up and can't do it.
110* CaughtOnTheJumbotron: In "Pick a Loser", Q's punishment is to pick his nose at a ball park while acting unaware that he's on the Jumbotron's "Oblivious-cam".
111* CharacterAgedWithTheActor[=/=]DivergentCharacterEvolution: Q and Sal sport facial hair from season two onward, and Murr's hairline continues to recede. Around the time he gets married, Joe's hair starts to go gray. His bald spot has also grown larger as the years have passed, and by the start of Season 8, he stopped gelling his hair into spikes. Q's hair and beard have also started going gray, and after he has his long hair shaved off to make Murr's wig, he has more or less kept his hair short. On the other hand, Sal has let his hair grow to about the length that Q used to have his.
112** In one of the first episodes in which Murr was made to wear the wig made from Q's hair, he notes that the wig has quite a few gray strands and remarks that he's surprised that Q never thought about dying his hair. Q responds that he didn't want to fight the natural aging process.
113** In early season episodes, Murr would wear glasses occasionally, but he began wearing them much more frequently starting in Season 7, and, by the following season, he is wearing glasses full-time. Sal has worn glasses off and on during the series run, and though he wears them more frequently in later seasons, he has not yet graduated to donning them full-time.
114* CharacterCatchphrase:
115** After Joe rode the top of the Roosevelt Island tram and yelled "Suck It" with a pelvic action, the phrase and action occurred in following episodes.
116** "Up your ass and to the left!" This is the answer given if someone asks any of the Jokers for directions.
117** It's also a thing for one of the jokers (usually Joe) to sing the last four notes of the opening theme.
118* TheCharmer: Sal, hands down. With a smile and some smooth talk, he has gotten people to let down their guard and go along with him when the other Jokers have failed.
119* ClipShow: Has had three already, one in the middle of season one, and two in the first four episodes of season two.
120* ClusterFBomb:
121--> '''Joe:''' "With a f*** f*** here and a f*** f*** there, here a f***, there a f***, everywhere a f*** f***."
122* ConfusingMultipleNegatives: For one challenge, Sal has to get people to join his protest: "Don't stop letting people not help." Even the other Jokers admit that they can't make sense of it.
123* ContinuityNod: In the episode "The Truth Hurts," Murr was hooked up to a lie detector and forced to admit he had a crush on his Spanish teacher, Senora Lanza. When Joe and Sal get punished in "Enter The Dragons," they have to pose as a rock group that Murr has dubbed Senora Lanza.
124* ContinuityPorn: The Nitro Circus special. The challenges were fan favorites (with the last one being a combination of the Wheel of Doom and "Now!"), most of the guys came out in outfits referencing past punishments for the obstacle course, and two of the obstacles alluded to past moments in the show. For an unintentional extra nod, Joey Fatone pitch-hit for Q once again.
125* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: This happens to the loser(s) if they lose a challenge. They range from Murr being forced to skydive, Q being covered with tarantulas, Joe's house being entirely gift-wrapped from the inside, to Sal being forced to watch his sister get married to Murr.
126* {{Corpsing}}: {{Invoked}} InUniverse. Some of the games involve the Jokers trying to make each other laugh, with the winner being determined by who laughs the least or who stays in the game the longest without laughing.
127* CreepyChild: Several little girls were sent to scare Sal during some of his punishments, particularly during his corn maze, haunted house, and VR room punishments.
128* CreepyCrawlyTorture: One of Q's punishments has him chained down and covered with tarantulas.
129* CringeComedy: The entire show, although it's often turned up to eleven during the punishment rounds at the end of every episode. Perhaps the biggest one is when Q refused to paint a giant red X on a canvas during a parent-child art class, and since he was the Joker with the most losses that episode, his punishment was to draw red X's on ''all'' the canvases. It's telling that this episode closes with production revealing the show to the kids and parents, which is normally restricted to bonus content.
130* {{Crossover}}: The guys appear once on ''Series/TheCarbonaroEffect''.
131* CruiseEpisode: "Cruisin' For a Bruisin'" is filmed on a cruise ship.
132* CurbStompBattle:
133** Q vs. Wrestling/TommyDreamer. Tommy is only too happy to beat the crap out of Q.
134** Joe vs. Byamba, world champion sumo wrestler. It goes exactly as one would expect, even with Byamba holding back.
135** Murr vs. Kayla Harrison, Olympic judo gold medalist. Murr gets repeatedly flipped ass-over-teakettle.
136* CuteKitten: In one punishment, Sal (who is extremely ailurophobic) is covered with kittens. Everyone except Sal thinks they're adorable (especially Q, who showed up early to play with the cats).
137* DeathGlare: Though this happens often enough when the guys say something truly insulting, nothing reached the levels of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDCCAflsVi8 Klepto Buffet]].
138** Sal shoots Joe one after the reveal of his Jaden Smith tattoo.
139* DecisionDarts: The Jokers will sometimes shoot rubber-suction arrows at the Wheel of Faces to decide which Joker has to take on a challenge.
140* [[DepravedKidsShowHost Depraved Kids Book Author]]: In "Scarytales", Q has to pretend to be a children's book author with a story called "The Remarkable Misadventures of Q the Dung Beetle," which the other three wrote for him. The story starts off fairly normally, but rapidly devolves into depictions of swearing, alcoholism, marital problems, and prostitution.
141* DodgyToupee: Towards the end of Season 6, Q voluntarily had his long hair shaved off and made into a wig that Murr was made to wear for the rest of the season.
142* DoomedAutographedItem: {{Invoked}} when Q is punished by being forced to ruin items that were autographed by Tino Martinez. (Unbeknownst to him, all the items would be replaced.)
143* DraggedIntoDrag: Often part of a punishment.
144** Happens to Murr twice during his punishment in "Kill the Centaur".
145** Happens to Joe in three separate punishments: "Bellydancer", "Dog Days of Bummer" and "Fe-Mail".
146** In the opening of the British Invasion special, Q is dressed as Queen Elizabeth.
147* DudeNotFunny:
148** Q seemed to feel this way about Murr's punishment in "Browbeaten". His body language and remarks suggest pretty strongly that he was not finding it nearly as amusing as Joe and Sal were, and he even said that he would quit the show if it was being done to him.
149** In Joe, Murr, and Sal's firefighter training punishment, Q made Joe put an axe through an image of either his wife, Bessy, or then-toddler daughter, Milana. Joe chose to chop through the picture of Milana, and, as he repeatedly swung the axe, he alternately screamed apologies to her and raged at Q for forcing him into making the choice in the first place.
150** Having developed an appreciation for having had long hair until he had it sheared off in Season 6, Q protested loudly when Murr, during his turn in the "Security Breach" challenge of Season 9’s "Smashing Success," cut off half of producer Stephen Hopper’s ponytail, [[ItMakesSenseInContext as part of the latter's "firing."]]
151* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first episode had more narration, left out the word "lifelong" from the opening crawl, and genuinely attempted to build up the suspense about who the big loser at the end of the episode would be. It wore off over time (especially with the truTV previews that actually do reveal who the loser is) and currently there is little to no narration except to introduce the show, recap scores, and announce the big loser(s).
152** The first couple of seasons would regularly include short clips of the Jokers walking around and cracking jokes between challenges.
153** Episode titles started off being named after what the punishment would be. Since Joe’s departure, current episode titles are the celebrity guest.
154* EarpieceConversation: Most games involve one joker receiving lines and actions from the others via earpieces.
155* EmbarrassingOldPhoto:
156** Sal has an unfortunate one from a heavier time that keeps cropping up as Employee of the Year, or a background picture to a photo booth.
157** The picture of a younger, hairy-chested Murr wearing nothing but his favorite blanket first appeared in the punishment of "A Charity Case" and has been exploitable ever since.
158* EmbarrassingRingtone: "Whose phone is ringing? Mine! Mine!" Sal has to deal with this in at least two punishments.
159* EmbarrassingSlide: The guys frequently use embarrassing pictures of each other in challenges involving [=PowerPoint=] presentations. There's also the time that Murr gets punished by having to show his father some embarrassing photos of himself on his phone.
160* EpicFail: When Murr has to quit his "job" at the zoo because of the penguin drama, he's supposed to get the crowd to cheer for him. Unfortunately, he completely alienates the crowd by yelling at the penguins that they came to see, as the other Jokers realize. And then Murr makes it worse by yelling at the crowd.
161-->'''Murr:''' ''(to the penguins)'' Everything in the world is not black and white! Save the drama for your penguin mama!\
162'''Q:''' He expects to win the crowd over by berating cute little animals?\
163'''Sal:''' He's going in the complete wrong direction!\
164[...]\
165'''Murr:''' It's people like you are the reason this penguin drama goes on and on and on! I'm feeding them fish! ''YOU'RE'' FEEDING THEIR EGOS!\
166'''Sal''' He's now berating ''them''! The whole point is to get people to cheer for him!\
167'''Murr:''' Come on, you're killing me!\
168'''Sal:''' My friend, you played that horribly wrong.\
169'''Murr:''' ''(walks away)'' That didn't work at all...''(thumbs down)''
170* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The entire first episode is this for all four Jokers, but especially the White Castle challenge (since it's the very first), establishing the Jokers' playing strategies and willingness to say lines to strangers, as well as their individual traits, such as Sal's germaphobia and Joe's FearlessFool status.
171* EveryoneHasStandards:
172** Murr will ask someone on their way to a memorial service, "who kicked the bucket?", but he and the others have a hard time being outright degrading to women.
173** The boys have no problem saying stupid and embarrassing things, but will usually refuse to outright insult people to their faces, especially if the comment involves the person's looks, race or weight.
174** Any remark that comes a little too close to sexually inappropriate, such as hitting on the mark or making a comment about their body, will most likely get a refusal as well.
175** They won't do anything inappropriate with children. This sometimes causes one of them to forfeit a challenge.
176* EveryoneHatesMimes: Q, who thinks mimes are creepy, once had to spend 24 hours [[ChainedHeat chained to one]]. The {{Montage}} shows Q slowly breaking down because the actor refuses to break character. Once the punishment was over, the mime walked off after saying a farewell.
177* EveryProperLadyShouldCurtsy: {{Parodied}} in Joe's "Fe-Mail" punishment after he delivers a presentation while dressed as a woman.
178* EvolvingCredits: Seasons 1 and 2 have simple intros with a narrator who has a deep voice, but Season 3 gives us a more polished and unique intro credits now that the show has had time to develop a following and recognizable gags with a new narrator with a more energetic voice.
179** A new credits sequence was revealed in the sneak preview episode after Joe’s departure from the show, which featured short montages of the three remaining Jokers from past seasons, the neon-styled font from ''Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party'', and introduction of the episode’s special guest.
180* ExactWords: In one episode, the guys are specifically tasked to "prevent people from going into a bathroom" which they had just come out of; when questioned, the excuse was to be provided by the other Jokers. After the first turn (Murr), the Jokers quickly found out that people evidently did not really ''want'' to hear the excuse and were content to simply heed the Joker and walk away. Sal used this to his advantage, but was not amused by the other Jokers exploiting this new loophole, allowing them to win effortlessly.
181* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: For one of Murr's punishments, he has to go to an internet café and play a game called "Close Everybody Else's Laptops". The objective is to close everyone's laptops.
182* FailedASpotCheck:
183** In the "Dartboard of Destiny" challenge, Joe hit a "Joker's Choice" space when it was his turn. He picked "Baby Talk a Guy", and only a second later did Q point out that $50 was one of the options.
184** Sal not noticing that his picture was on every wedge of a "Wheel of Faces" segment. Twice!
185** At least one fan of the show has failed to realize that he's talking to at least one of the jokers.
186* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Once when the Jokers used the "Wheel of Faces" (one Joker shoots the wheel, and whichever Joker's face they hit has to complete a task), they brought out a version of the wheel where every face was replaced with Sal's. [[spoiler:It twice succeeded in assigning Sal to tasks before he noticed he was played, with the first time being when ''[[FailedASpotCheck he was the one taking the shot]]''.]]
187** During Joe's turn in a round of Can't Touch This, the other Jokers purposely decide to screw with him by having him chase the laser pointer dot around the mall, not even stopping on a single person. When Joe eventually is run ragged and collapses on the floor, the dot stops on his crotch, he touches it, and abruptly loses the challenge with a score of 1.
188* FakeBoobs: Murr was seen using these during Sal's turn in the Now You See Me challenge from the season 3 episode "Jokers Playhouse".
189* FakeCharity: In the "Charity Cases" challenge, the Jokers have to persuade people to give money to a made-up charity with an obviously ridiculous name, including "Handjobs Across America," "Get That Kid Out Of That Well," "Kolonics for Kids", and "Surprise Funeral." To everyone's astonishment, Murr managed to get a donation for a charity literally named "Fake Charity."
190* FakingTheDead: Parodied when they're filming at Carlo's and Joe has to tell a customer that he found out that he has six weeks to live...and he was told six weeks ago. His turn ends with him dropping "dead".
191* FearlessFool: Joe almost never backs down from ''anything,'' no matter how dangerous it is or how stupid it makes him look. The most notable exception is when he was challenged to kiss an actress, hired by the other Jokers, in a mall food court. Joe realizes that he's in trouble when his wife, Bessy, shows up, sits next to the actress, and says that he can kiss the actress, but he'll be [[ExiledToTheCouch sleeping on the couch]] if he does. He leans in, [[HappilyMarried then suddenly turns to Bessy and kisses her instead.]]
192* FeigningIntelligence: Some of the challenges and punishments will have one or more Jokers pretending to be experts in a particular field. Since the Jokers don't know jack about these fields, their attempts to behave otherwise end up being ridiculous and embarrassing (which is, of course, the whole point).
193* {{Flanderization}}: The punishments originally focused more on humiliation, but over time it's gotten to where they cause more physical harm and come off as pure torment, such as forcing Murr to get a prostate exam for no reason other than because [[ItAmusedMe it's funny]].
194* FlatWhat: [[https://youtu.be/4WVZTgl1vE8?t=51 When Q "gives birth"]]
195* FlippingTheBird: Done very frequently.
196* FooledByTheSound: In one game, the guys take turns trying to peddle home security systems. The one for Sal and Q has an alarm that sounds like Chinese men shouting, and one guy in the room asks if it's meant to fool an intruder into thinking that he's in a dojo filled with martial artists. The Jokers quickly [[SureLetsGoWithThat run with that]].
197* FourManBand:
198** Q - OnlySaneMan
199** Sal - TheSmartGuy
200** Joe - CasanovaWannabe
201** Murr - ButtMonkey
202* ForcedMeme: InUniverse, Joe mimes slipping backwards on a wet floor, [[LargeHam while making exaggerated hand gestures and yelling "Whoa! Whoa!".]] He does this no less than three times, then tries to have the rest of the Jokers do it. Sal just gets more annoyed every time.
203--> '''Joe:''' "It's sweeping the nation!"
204* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Joe is choleric, Q is melancholic, Sal is phlegmatic and Murr is sanguine.
205* TheFriendsWhoNeverHang: Ultimately subverted. Early on, most group based challenges would pair Joe with Murr and Q with Sal. Later episodes would feature each Joker pairing off with all the others at various points.
206* TheFunInFuneral: Murr and Sal once laughed until they cried at a funeral because someone's phone went off and their ringtone was "The Exorcist" theme. Whose funeral was it? ''Joe's grandmother's.''
207* FunWithHomophones:During a challenge, Murr will sometimes say that he can't have children because he's barren -- except that "barren" refers to a ''woman'' who can't bear children; a man who can't procreate is "sterile". On one occasion, he covers by claiming that he actually said "baron" -- as in, he's actually royalty.
208
209[[/folder]]
210
211[[folder:G-L]]
212
213* GagHaircut: For all four in the first season. Joe got a mullet; Q, bright red curls; Murr, [[http://i.cdn.turner.com/trutv/trutv.com/graphics/shows/photos/wildest-hair/murr.jpg shaved except for a tuft in front]]; and Sal, whose haircut is basically two bleached horns.
214** Murr gets one as a punishment in Season 5, where he gets his head and eyebrows shaved. To make things worse, the guys were to leave for London the next day to shoot an episode, and Murr was to sponsor his nephew's confirmation two weeks later. Taken up to eleven when the guys make him go take a new driver's license picture.
215** The following season, Q voluntarily had his head shaved; his hair was then made into a wig that Murr was made to wear for the remainder of the season. Again taken up to eleven when Murr is made to wear the wig when he gets a new passport photo taken.
216---> '''Murr:''' Stop screwing with my travel!
217* GotVolunteered: Two of Murr's punishments require him to volunteer himself for something unpleasant -- a prostate exam and a knife-throwing act (which doesn't actually involve knives).
218* GroinAttack:
219** Invoked in one game when Murr has to get a child to kick him in the nuts.
220** Later invoked in one challenge set during the shooting of a golf club commercial, when Joe is told to repeatedly beat up ''his own'' balls.
221* HeliumSpeech: {{Zigzagged}} when Murr has to deliver a speech while going back and forth breathing helium and sulfur hexafluoride, making his voice go higher and lower.
222** Q indulges in a bit of this, crowing, “And that’s how I win!” in a high-pitched voice after inhaling some helium when he won a game of “Fly Me To Balloon.”
223* HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier: The mission was to get people to comment on bogus news stories in Times Square, and when approached two women commented "We don't speak English." It was promptly lampshaded.
224* HilarityInZoos: One of Q's punishments has him spend a day in a zoo exhibit with a camel named Pepe.
225* HoistByHisOwnPetard: During the "What's the Scoop?" challenge, Q tries to "loophole" his way to victory by dumping his entire bowl of mashed potatoes onto a diner's plate. This backfires hugely when the guys tell Q that the challenge was ''how many scoops'' one could dish out, not how much of the volume of the bowl was served. [[EpicFail Q loses the challenge since his emptying the bowl all at once counted as just one scoop.]]
226** In the "Laugh Man Standing" challenge in episode "Flatfoot the Pirate," Sal has a lady leave her toddler with Murr to make him laugh, but it's Sal who ultimately cracks up and loses. Bonus points to Murr for himself adding a baby to the mix.
227** Murr himself falls victim to this in a subsequent "Laugh Man Standing" challenge when he has Rob Emmer dress up as the Kool-Aid Man to try to make Q and Joe laugh. Rob botches his appearance, which causes Murr to break and leave the room riding his Modobag.
228** And in yet another playing of "Laugh Man Standing," Sal has a pizza delivered to him under the name Tanka Jahari. He hadn't bargained on Joe actually calling him Tanka, which broke him.
229* HoldingInLaughter: The Jokers frequently have to restrain their laughter, especially during games where they actively try to make each other crack up and the one who laughs first/most loses.
230* HonestJohnsDealership: The intro to the car lot challenge invokes this, as does Q's entire outfit and demeanor.
231* HonorBeforeReason: In "Browbeaten", Murr asked a police officer to donate to the fake charity "Serious Shit". She put a dollar in the cup, then she talked about her motherhood raising two college-aged kids and having three more at home. Murr poured some money out of the cup to give to her, which negated his win.[[note]]Later in the challenge, the officer was within earshot of Murr [[MistakenForPedophile asking two girls if they were over 18]]. Murr had to throw the challenge to avoid getting into trouble.[[/note]]
232* HowDareYouDieOnMe: {{Parodied}} after Q beats up a paper-bag puppet, then has a "MyGodWhatHaveIDone" moment and tries to resuscitate it.
233-->'''Q:''' ''(giving the puppet mouth-to-mouth)'' Come back to me!
234* HumiliationConga: Some of the punishments essentially play out like this (the "Murr-athon" being a good example).
235* HurricaneOfPuns: When Joe has to stand in the street holding a sign that says "IMPEACH GENERAL TSO", he makes a series of Chinese-takeout puns.
236* IAlwaysWantedToSayThat: When Murr is in the park and has to hide from an elderly actress dressed like a nun.
237-->'''Q:''' I've always wanted to say this: Send in the nun!
238* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Almost every episode up to the first half of season 9 is named after the punishment inflicted on the losing Joker(s); after Joe left, each episode since is named after the celebrity guest who joins in for the punishment.
239* IllKillYou:
240** On two occasions, Q threatened the other Jokers with this during a punishment: the first after teaching sex education to his parents and the second during his tarantula punishment. Q also says "I'm gonna kill you" to the cowboy who drags him behind a horse during his rodeo punishment.
241** Sal threatened to kill Murr twice in the punishment where his sister Jenna and Murr got married, not including this ImpliedDeathThreat.
242---> '''Sal:''' ''(to Jenna)'' You're gonna be a widow soon.
243* IncessantMusicMadness: Q's "Drive, Drive, Drive" punishment has him making food deliveries in a car with several puppets dancing to the same music over and over again.
244-->''Drive, drive, drive, drive, drive''
245-->''It feels so good (So good!)''
246-->''To be alive (Alive!)''
247-->''Are we there yet? No!''
248-->''Are we there yet? No!''
249-->''Well then it's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5''
250-->''Let's...''
251-->'' '''repeat ad infinitum''' ''
252* IncestSubtext: {{Invoked}} with the jingle for the "Sister Tracker", especially given the "Sister in the shower" bit.
253* InstantWinCondition: The "Did I Deserve That?" challenge involves an actor throwing a cup of water at one of the Jokers, who is posing as the clerk at a convenience store. The Joker must then convince a customer that he didn't deserve getting the water thrown at him. The first time this challenge was played, the actor that was to splash Q completely bypassed him and threw his water ''at the wrong person''. The actor had been told that his target was someone "with a hat and beard" (a bearded Q was wearing one of his signature newsboy caps that day), and the hapless crew member who took the hit just happened to also have a hat and beard. After the actor realized his mistake, the other Jokers decided to give Q the win on the spot.
254** The Wheel of Doom has an "Instant Win" space. The "Receive $20 From Each Joker" space also qualifies.
255* IntentionalMessMaking: A few games involve making messes in supermarkets. One requires each Joker to convince a customer to join him in making a mess, while another has the Joker making a mess of a display while faking an injury and trying to get a customer to support his story to the "manager" (played by real-life former store manager John Szeluga).
256* {{Irony}}: One episode has Joe explain that he wanted to take karate lessons when he was younger, but his mother wouldn’t let him because she feared that he would get into a fight and get his nose broken. Some time after that, Joe got into a fight and, because he was unable to defend himself, got his nose broken.
257* JabbaTableManners: Q in the "R U Gonna Finish That" challenge uses [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40iM8j8-964&list=PL022ECC5B7E117A56 this approach]] and [[RefugeInAudacity it works]].
258* JerksUseBodySpray: An episode had a variation with a "Joker vs. Joker" challenge between Sal and Q in which each one presents a new (fictional) fragrance to a panel. Sal's fragrance was called "Eau Ver Compensate," a play on "overcompensate," which Q understood right away, but Sal did not (he persists in mispronouncing it, even after Q points out the word play). The packaging featured an overconfident looking guy [[CompensatingForSomething kneeling in front of a sports car]]. The "Inside Jokes" version states that the art department was asked to use the "douchiest" looking stock photo they could find.
259* JustAStupidAccent: Such as in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0ACVspDPZo this clip]], Sal faking not speaking English well is some sort of weird Italian-esque gibberish. Joe also puts on this kind of act when he pretends to be a FunnyForeigner.
260* KickTheDog: A lot of challenges descend into {{Schadenfreude}} if a Joker is having a bad time and somebody among them finds a way to make it worse.
261* KillItWithFire: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]]. During one round of Risky Readers, after Q persuades a young woman to let him read entries from his (fake) daughter's diary, the entries seem relatively innocuous until he gets to a part that has the daughter gush about her [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything vividly-described desire for hot dogs]]. After the challenge is won, the woman [[TooMuchInformation promptly]] encourages Q to [[FieryCoverUp burn the diary and leave no evidence of him having ever read it]].
262* KissingTheGround: After Murr, who has a phobia of heights, is made to go skydiving as a punishment, he kisses the ground in relief when he finally lands.
263* KnifeThrowingAct: One of Murr's punishments has him strapped to a rotating wheel while a magician throws knives at the balloons on the wheel -- or so he's told. There are no knives; the balloons are set to explode via remote control. The point (heh heh) is to make Murr ''think'' that there are real knives that might hit him instead.
264* LaserGuidedKarma:
265** What people who felt sorry for Murr during "Human Pinata" and Sal during the Garbage Barge punishment when Joe sent him to voicemail felt finally happened to Joe at the end of "Dog Days of Bummer".
266** The same people who felt sorry for Murr at the end of "Look Out Below" cheered when this happened to Joe again in "The Great Escape" and Sal in "Field of Screams".
267** Sal and Q get hockey pucks slung at them in their punishment in "Deal With the Devils". They get very direct payback at the end of the "British Invasion" episode, where they subject Joe and Murr to the same punishment, only with soccer balls.
268** After having tarantulas put on him and being embarrassed in a play in front of his firefighter friends in back-to-back punishments near the end of season 5, Q got the rest of the guys back in a triple punishment by forcing each of them to undergo a part of firefighter training.
269** Q immediately follows ''THAT'' during the episode "Catastrophe" when it's Sal's punishment by basically repeating the tarantula punishment, but with Sal's biggest fear; cats! Sal is actually MORE scared than Q was, and is not only sweating up a storm, but ''crying'' by the end of the punishment.
270** The season 2 episode "The Alliance" has Sal, Joe, and Murr form the titular alliance in the final challenge to vote Q into taking the challenge repeatedly. Eventually, Q suspects that something's afoot and demands that if he succeeds one last time, the other three automatically lose the episode. They agree, and no points for guessing what happens next.[[note]]Q pulls it off, and gets his revenge with a punishment that has two of the other three Jokers taking a dive for losing a quiz about Q[[/note]]
271* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Usually, on a losing statement, the guys will just substitute a line or refuse to do an action, but occasionally they'll drop hints of something being up (a notable one in particular when Joe was working as a hot dog vendor and challenged to make a wife joke). Other times they'll make references to "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" after winning or losing a challenge, incorporating the passers-by involved in the game.
272** Joe will occasionally sing the last four notes of the show's theme song for emphasis.
273* LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand: Invoked. Music that plays during any suitably dramatic/romantic/touching/heroic moment often tends to abruptly slow down and stop for comedy purposes, usually when a competing Joker is told to say something that ruins the mood.
274* LittleMissBadass: {{Parodied}} when Sal has to hide from a little girl who's trying to shake him down[[note]]extort money from him[[/note]]. This leads to the sight of an adorable little girl in pigtails telling someone on a bench "I'm shaking him down. He's been dodging me. I'm a straight-up bully."
275* LookBehindYou: Part of Murr's strategy in the Klepto Buffet is to tell a guy a tree almost fell in the parking lot. It worked.
276* LostInTheMaize: One of Sal's punishments required him to navigate such a maze. Obstacles included a little girl, an air horn, a scarecrow, a pile of manure, and Benjamin Cat.
277* LowerHalfReveal: Invoked once, when Murr is in an office behind a desk. The other guys make him get up to reveal that he's wearing a long pink skirt.
278* LyingOnAHillside: Parodied when the jokers are in the park watching the clouds, and Q says [[ThatCloudLooksLike that a cloud looks like]] [[YourMom Murr's mom]].
279
280[[/folder]]
281
282[[folder:M-R]]
283
284* ManChild:
285** Hilariously, ''Q'' was told to be this as an Ikea salesman, wearing pajamas over his uniform, lugging around an oversized stuffed monkey, and asking a customer to read him a bedtime story. Made funnier when the customer continues to treat Q as a legitimate employee, even after all of the above.
286** Season One had an unaired challenge (shown in Season Two's "The Stoop Sessions, Part 2") where each Joker had to beg a toy store customer to buy them a toy. If the customer refused, the Joker would throw a temper tantrum until the customer either left the store or capitulated. The only one to win that challenge was Murr, who got his mark to buy him a rubber ducky.
287* ManipulativeBastard: Murr isn't the best of the four at most of the challenges, but it seems like he can get people to do almost anything.
288* MeetCute: Invoked in one game where each Joker has to drop a bag full of fruit and "fall in love" with the first person who stops to help. It fails for Joe when the two people he has to fall for turn out to be underage, and he forfeits the game rather than be MistakenForPedophile.
289* MegaphoneGag: The series did this at least twice. The gag consisted of one Joker taking a turn holding a megaphone linked to a wireless microphone, and the other three Jokers saying some bizarre phrases at passersby.
290* MenDontCry: Inverted in a challenge that had Sal teaching his "daughter" (played by recurring child actress Ashyer Gibbons) that it's not okay for men to cry. This immediately draws the attention of an elderly Navy veteran, who says that, of course, it's okay for men to cry. The other Jokers acknowledge the man's military service as confirmation of his masculinity and, therefore, do not dispute him.
291-->'''Q:''' I love that he's a Vietnam vet, so you can't even discount him as, like, not manly. He's, like, more manly than anybody else in this park.
292* MilkingTheGiantCow: Joe as a horoscope reader, culminating in somersaults and cartwheels.
293* MirrorReveal: The four guys all got a GagHaircut punishment at the end of Season One, when the stylist turned the barber chair towards the mirror. Joe, who hates having long hair, was revealed to have been given a sparkly mullet. Q, who sports wavy black hair, was revealed to have bright red curly locks like ''[[Theatre/{{Annie}} Little Orphan Annie]]''. Sal's head was shaved down the middle, and the hair in the front of his head was bleached. Murr was given the hairstyle of a [[Film/TheWizardOfOz Munchkinland]] resident.
294* MistakenForDestitute: PlayedWith. A RunningGag on the series is the other Jokers comparing Q's looks to that of a homeless person. There have been times where Q was unable to participate in a challenge, such as one of the House Sitters challenges (because no one answered his ad), and the other Jokers cited his appearance as the reason why. He has also used this to his advantage though, such as one challenge where he was told to fall asleep on someone in a park, and he was able to do so because he looked homeless so people left him alone.
295--> ''(Q is in a restaurant, holding a large bowl of mashed potatoes)''\
296'''Joe''': You know, it's really nice of Redd's, with their Food for the Homeless program they're doing, with the big bowls of mashed potatoes...\
297'''Q''': I'm dressed exactly like Sal.\
298'''Murr''': I mean, you're wearing the same outfit, you both have a beard, you both have a good head of hair, but somehow, you still look homeless.
299* MistakenForFakeHair:
300** One of Murr's punishments had him trying to find someone wearing a toupee in a crowded restaurant. His method of doing this was tugging on people's hair, which led to ''immense'' discomfort to Murr and the other Jokers.
301** Another Murr-related incident had him pose as a botanist and accuse a bushy-haired redhead young man of wearing a wig (since Murr wore Q's hair at the time). Murr came over and tried to pull his hair, only to confirm that it's real after all.
302* MistakenForPedophile:
303** Murr almost got into hot water by asking if two school children were over 18[[note]]Children under the age of 18 are not allowed to be on the show without parental consent.[[/note]] ''right in front of a police officer''. He needed to blow his cover and lose the challenge (and eventually the episode) in order to avoid getting in trouble.
304--->'''Murr:''' We're on a TV show! That's why I'm asking. [...] Please don't shoot me! ''(thumbs-down)''
305** Apparently not by the actual parents/guardians of the children involved (since they obviously signed releases that allowed their children's faces to be shown on tape), but Q having massaged a young boy's shoulders at the mall and skipped hand in hand with a little girl at the supermarket could qualify for people not aware of the show or its nature.
306---> '''Sal:''' ''[while watching Q skipping down a supermarket aisle with a little girl]'' ''WHERE ARE YOUR PARENTS?!''\
307\
308'''Joe:''' ''(re the little boy in pink whose shoulders Q massaged)'' Any challenge that starts with "How 'bout this little kid in pink?" the answer is "No!"
309** In a challenge where the Jokers were supposed to “fall in love” with random strangers in the park, Joe had the bad luck to pick two successive people who turned out to be underage. He immediately declares a loss for himself for the entire scene, for fear of looking like an ever bigger creep if he kept trying.
310--->'''Murr:''' Joe takes the loss for legal reasons.
311* MistakenForProstitute: PlayedForComedy in the episode "Scarytales". Q's punishment is to portray a children's book author and present his latest book to a group of children and their parents. The book, written by the other Jokers, is called "The Remarkable Misadventures of Q the Dung Beetle," and features a fight between Q the Dung Beetle and his wife, who storms out of the house. The penultimate scene of the book is Q the Dung Beetle driving up to a female dung beetle prostitute and asking her, "How much?" Q's reaction?
312-->'''Q''': Even dung beetles need companionship.
313* MistakenForRacist: "Stripteased" has a very unfortunate moment for [[ButtMonkey poor Murr.]] Q reads his Twitter posts aloud in the middle of a crowded cafeteria, which only annoys him at first until Q adds in that Murr said he wants to bring back segregation. While Murr desperately tries to defend himself, a black girl recognizes him and asks for his autograph, so Murr tells her to sit back down so that his cover's not blown. Q can't resist pointing out the racist connotations of telling a black person to sit down in her own place.
314* MisterSeahorse: A very funny variant; as a punishment, Q, who is obviously incapable of becoming pregnant, was forced to go through simulated labor pains. What's worse, he's doing it in a room full of pregnant women who were expecting a Lamaze class, but instead got him experiencing the worst part of the process: delivery. HilarityEnsues as Q succumbs to shouting out loud, "Get this demon baby out of me!" in front of them while busting apart a nearby divider screen.
315-->'''Q''': ''(after "giving birth")'' Now comes the hard part: [[DeadpanSnarker what to name it]].
316* MonsterClown: Q has to be a clown in his punishment on "Smushed." His make-up job doesn't cover his beard and he isn't a great entertainer, so the kids treat him just like they would any terrifying clown. They scream at him from the start, boo at him, complain that he's a bad clown, and even hit him when he's face first in the cake.
317* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: {{Parodied}} when Q gets into a fight with a paper-bag puppet -- and after beating the crap out of it, he remorsefully performs CPR on it.
318* MythologyGag: In one "get the guy to housesit for you" challenge, Sal was forced to explain away a baby sitting in the middle of "his" bedroom with a jug of milk. This is actually a reference to "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTw0YtyDaiU The Do's and Don'ts of Parenting]]," one of the comedy sketches the Tenderloins did back in 2007.
319** When Murr [[ItMakesSenseInContext pretends to be his own twin brother]], he gives his name as "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDkf6Keml3Y Craig Murray]]."
320* NakedPeopleAreFunny:
321** The basic premise of the punishment in "Strip High Five." Joe and Murr, the two losers, must get a high-five from passersby or remove an article of clothing for every high five that they fail to pick up. Both Jokers are stripped to their boxers before Murr ultimately loses and ends up naked in front of the dozens of people who have gathered to watch the spectacle.
322** Joe is the first to be shown naked during Sal's Joker home invasion punishment in "Sweat the Small Things," first writhing on the couch, then doing jumping jacks in full view from Sal's bedroom window. Q and Murr join Joe in the window, pelvic thrusting in their birthday suits, to the horror of Sal's neighbors.
323** Murr becomes a victim of this trope once again in "Not Safe for Work," where he poses as a nude model.
324** It's also used successfully twice during the Now You See Me challenge in "Joker's Playhouse".
325** Another Murr punishment features him in a sauna with several very large towel-clad men. Suddenly, the Electric Slide is announced, and all the men gather to start the dance, waving Murr into the middle of the group. HilarityEnsues when the music starts and the towels drop.
326* NarratingTheObvious: In a punishment where Sal has to climb into the trunk of an unsuspecting driver, said driver whacks Sal with a baguette when he's discovered. Sal deadpans "You're hitting me with a loaf of bread right now."
327* NeverSmileAtACrocodile: Q's punishment in the Miami episode had him having to wrestle what (he thought) was his backpack off the back of a live, 7-foot alligator.
328* NonStandardGameOver:
329** In the second episode, the Jokers competed to pay as little as possible for a cup of yogurt with the loser being the one who paid the most. When it was Joe's turn, the cashier got fed up with his "sampling" and kicked him out of the store. The other jokers counted this as a disqualification, giving him the loss.
330** In "Do Something to My Face", Joe feels he cannot convince a stranger to protest with him. Q defies Joe, betting he can get a stranger to protest with him while holding Joe's "Wash It After" sign. Joe loses and gets the punishment, despite Murr having lost the most challenges.
331** In the Texas special, the last challenge was Murr taking commands with the blinding glasses. He was told to say "You look like you remember the Alamo" to an elderly couple, and Q was so sure that Murr wouldn't say it that he would take the loss for the whole episode if he did. Murr did, causing him to lose instantly while Murr was in last place. Sal and Joe even called him out for [[DidntThinkThisThrough making a needless bet when Murr was going to lose no matter what he did anyway.]]
332** In the episode "Tooth and Consequences", the last challenge of the episode was to get a selfie with a stranger. Before it could even get started, [[GameBreakingInjury Murr had a front tooth fall out]]. He refused to play the challenge, and the loss caused him to lose the whole episode instantly. The challenge then became Murr's punishment on the spot, where he had to get multiple selfies with a tooth missing.
333** In "The Alliance", the final challenge was one where the task was selected by lottery, and the players could vote on who would have to do it. Every single time, Q was voted to play. When he learned that the other three conspired to have him do every one (which he succeeded), and when a particularly difficult challenge came up (up-zip someone's pants zipper), he cut a deal with them: if he pulls it off, all three of them lose the whole show (it was a three-way tie for last that included Q at that point). He one-ups them by ''unbuttoning'' someone's jeans, which allowed Q to put them through his own punishment: a quiz about him on the precipice of a waterfall, where wrong answers put them one step closer to the edge.
334--->'''Joe:''' The Alliance has fallen!
335** In "Water Torture", the challenge was to protect someone after a child actor squirts them with a water gun, then insult the person. Sal (who had already received a thumbs down in another challenge) was the first one up. The kid ends up making so many mistakes, and they have to shoot so many multiple takes that Sal starts to get annoyed. Joe comes up with the idea that since Sal already has 1 thumbs down while the rest of them don't have any, they should just make ''this'' Sal's punishment! They then tell the kid to deliberately mess up each time until Sal basically can't take it anymore and storms off the set before the other 3 reveal what they'd done.
336** In "Remember the Pact", Murr would lose if the other three did not get a thumbs down so they made a pact to make Murr lose, every time the joker doing the challenge would get a difficult task, they would say "Remember the Pact", at the end, they told Murr about the pact.
337** In "X Man", Q is told to paint a red X on one canvas during the art-class challenge. When he can't bring himself to do so, Joe tells him that he just lost the episode and punishes him by making him paint an X on ''every'' canvas in the room. Q later considers it one of the worst punishments he's ever suffered.
338** In "Prince + Charming", Murr was the first to go in the "Dating Disaster" challenge. He asked someone on a scale of 1 to 10 to rate his dating profile and got an answer of ''[[BrokeTheRatingScale negative 10]]''. The other Jokers instantly gave him the loss since the score was so bad.
339* NoodleImplements: The "Inside Jokes" reveals that for one "Laugh Man Standing", Q brings a bag with sandwich meat, an old photo of Joe, and a lightsaber. He doesn't get to use any of them after Sal gets him knocked out first.
340* NoodleIncident:
341** Los Angeles, 2008: Joe was pushed into wearing something Kelly green.
342** How did Q's tooth get so jarred? All we know is that it involves a German police officer punching him in the face...[[note]]On Tell' Em Steve-Dave, Q said that he was in Germany during Oktoberfest when he got in a fight. He felt someone grab his shoulder, and thinking it was one of the guy's friends, he punched him. Turns out that the person that he hit was a cop. Q was then relentlessly beaten and taken to jail, then quickly let out because of the ludicrous police brutality.[[/note]]
343* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Joe's common trick of "nosing" (touching his nose to someone without them noticing) is a variant, although sometimes they're just challenged to get as close as possible.
344* NoShirtLongJacket: In the season one episode where the guys have to ask people to donate to a fake charity, Q notices a man that is not wearing a shirt under his jacket, and asks him to donate money to his "charity." Not appreciating Q's humor, the guy threatens to kill everyone in the neighborhood if the charity turns out to be fake, and says he'll go looking for him. Q refuses the money for the sake of the safety of the people living in the area.
345* NothingIsScarier: In one punishment, Sal was made to walk through a cornfield maze at daybreak, which he was told was full of booby traps and jump scares. The other three remarked how they left much of the beginning of the maze empty just to freak him out more.
346* NunsAreFunny: In the season 6 challenge "You Didn't See Me", the Jokers have to get a stranger to cover for them as they dodge someone they've been avoiding: a prostitute, a mob enforcer, a little girl with pigtails, and a nun.
347--> '''Q:''' [[IAlwaysWantedToSayThat I've always wanted to say this]] - send in the nun!
348* ObfuscatingStupidity: Joe is once told to ask a woman who's getting married soon if it's a ShotgunWedding. He avoids trouble by asking her in a way that implies that he doesn't actually know what a shotgun wedding is.
349* OffTheRails:
350** In "Pulling the Rug," Murr is planted in a crowded restaurant and find a specific patron wearing a wig. Things don't go to plan when Murr finds the wig but ''fails to recognize it as such'', giving the other three an opportunity to keep him out there longer.
351** In one game, Sal has to distract a shopper by offering to take their picture while Q uses a large fishing rod to hook the shopper's bag. Q, however, develops a sudden fascination with cargo pants and decides to go shopping mid-game, leaving Sal hanging. When Q returns with his new pants, Sal retaliates by plunking himself in a massage chair. They end up losing the challenge and the episode.
352* OhCrap:
353** After losing an episode, Murr gets dressed as a piñata and hit with bats by the other Jokers until candy comes out. Unfortunately for Murr, they decide to bring in a ringer: Vinnie, Joe's brother-in-law, a muscular man who wasn't exactly pleased about Murr groping his wife, Joe's sister, during a raunchy political correctness video on a previous episode. Murray is understandably terrified when they hand him a bat and let him give a PreAsskickingOneLiner before going to town.
354** Murr had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MQpUuTY7DE an epic one]] after being told he has to jump out of a plane. A series of [[RapidFireNo rapid fire no's]] follows, accompanied by Murr running away while frantically stripping off his jumpsuit.
355** Joe had a pretty epic one in "Pseudo-Sumo" when he realized he had to fight 300-pound sumo wrestler Byamba.
356** Q had one at the beginning of his punishment in 'Spider-Man' when he found out that the thing he fears the most -- spiders -- were going to be put all over him while he's shackled to the floor.
357** Q had a particularly painful one after refusing to draw an X on a child's canvas in "X-Man," costing him the episode and leading to him being forced to draw an X on all eight canvases in the room.
358--->'''Q''': Oof, I think I'm just gonna draw a red X on my head, you know what I'm saying?\
359(thumbs-down)\
360'''Joe''': Oh, that's interesting because we just checked the scoreboard, buddy. [[WhamLine You lost this episode.]]\
361'''Murr''': '''''[[SuddenlyShouting Aaah!]]'''''
362* OhNoNotAgain: Implied by Q when Joe starts singing "Scoopski Potatoes" during the mashed potato challenge at Redd's.
363-->'''Q:''' Whenever he makes up words, I get scared.
364* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Q and Murr.[[note]]Full names: Brian Quinn and James Murray.[[/note]] [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in that they regularly go by their full names when conversing with strangers.
365* OpinionFlipFlop: In Q's sheriff punishment, he boasts "I'm the sheriff of an awesome town." After he gets his ass kicked at a saloon, he comments "This town sucks!"
366** At the end of their motivational speaker punishment, Sal and Q tell the group of strangers attending that they were their favorite of the day, then are told to both agree that they sucked [[RefugeInAudacity within earshot of them]] while leaving the room.
367* PantsPullingPrank: Done twice as a challenge, where the Jokers have to get a stranger to untangle earbud cords before a special guest walks over and pulls down their pants. The first time featured [[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys Bully Ray]], Wrestling/TommyDreamer, Wrestling/VelvetSky, and Luke, a child from a previous challenge. The second, filmed in Hollywood, starred Jay and Silent Bob for three Jokers; the recently fired [[ButtMonkey Rob Emmer]] went during Sal's turn and pleaded for his job while pitifully pantsing.
368* PantyThief:
369** Murr's very first punishment was to go into a laundromat, steal other people's underwear, and, ultimately, wear it on his head. It did not go unnoticed.
370** In "Strip High Five", Joe runs off with Murr's clothes except his underwear.
371** In a Housesitters challenge, Q and mark walk up to a drone stealing Q's underwear.
372* ParodyOfEvolution: When Q and Sal put on a presentation about dinosaurs, the "March of Evolution" appears, with Q one step below human.
373* PayingInCoins: In one game, Joe has to hide from a hooker after paying her with Canadian quarters.
374* PieInTheFace: The first time was delivered to Sal at the end of his "Butterfly Crime Scene" punishment. Since then, Joe has put his face into a tiramisu during their first bakery challenge and took a pie to the face during the "Do Something To My Face" punishment, and Q took a pie to the face at the end of a game played during the second cruise and had his face shoved into a cake at the end of his "Smushed" punishment.
375** With all the indignities that he's suffered over the nine seasons of the series thus far, it's almost surprising that Murr has yet to been the recipient of such.
376* ThePigPen: Sloppy Joe, an overweight, shirtless man with a habit of chugging milk jugs and spilling it onto everyone, is a character that tends to pop up in punishments where the loser gets dirty.
377* PizzaBoySpecialDelivery: Doesn't happen in-show, but is referenced in Sal's past as a delivery boy, having a door answered by a topless woman.
378* PopUpTrivia: In 2016, a set of reruns with added production trivia started airing as ''Inside Jokes''. Since they're old episodes, they tend to spoil the losers immediately.
379* PottyEmergency: Poor Q, having to beg for anti-diarrhea medicine to be poured directly into this mouth.
380* PottyFailure: One of Sal's punishments involved being locked in a room with strangers and the only way out was to pee his pants in front of them all.[[note]]He had to do this ''twice'' because the first group refused to let its segment air.[[/note]]
381* PrankPunishment: Every episode ends with the Jokers pulling a grandiose prank, called a punishment, on whichever Joker lost the most challenges in that episode. These punishments often place the losing Joker in [[CringeComedy awkward public situations]], and are sometimes tailored to each Joker's specific fears.
382* PrecisionFStrike: Countless times, although the "f" words are bleeped out, of course.
383* PreciousPuppy:
384** In a first season episode, all four Jokers are holding very cute puppies as they talk about having to do or say what they're told in a pet store specializing in puppies.
385** Joe's dogs appear from time to time.
386* PressXToDie:
387** A recurring challenge puts one Joker in a mobile scooter at the mercy of the other three who are controlling it. The Joker loses if he disables the scooter or says "I'm sorry."
388** Lampshaded in a different challenge where three of the jokers control an RC car with the fourth having a fake remote while not being allowed to apologize as the RC car zipped around. When it was Murr's turn, the other Jokers used the car to send an invitation to a man minding his own business at the park. Murr got to read the note, said "I'm sorry", and he realized his mistake immediately afterward.
389--->'''Murr''': I suck at this.
390*** During Sal's turn in the same challenge, the Jokers steered the RC car into the street. When trying to retrieve the car, he almost got hit by a taxi, whose driver honked at him. Instinctively, Sal turned and screamed, "I'm sorry!" to the taxi driver, securing his loss.
391* ProductPlacement:
392** Happens pretty obviously with Kellogg's Granola Crunch in one challenge.
393** Happens in season two with Dairy Queen.
394** In some episodes, the start of a commercial break has a special mini-challenge segment centered around a sponsored product, such as Cheez-It and Fiat. The challenges are otherwise identical to the normal ones, but they're not part of the episode proper.
395** Many challenges take place at chain restaurants, most notably White Castle (see Incoming Ham above).
396** Three episodes were shot entirely at Ride/UniversalStudios; two in Orlando, and one in Hollywood.
397* PunctuatedForEmphasis: The ''''''WHEEL! OF! DOOM!''''' intros.
398* PungeonMaster: The narrator pretty much always makes at least one pun relating to the nature of each game when announcing the results.
399* PunnyName: Consistently used in the "Cranjis [=McBasketball=]" game. [[note]] DontExplainTheJoke translations are provided. [[/note]]
400** Disfatt Bidge. [[note]]This fat bitch.[[/note]]
401** Juanita Indacaboosa. [[note]]You want it in the caboose-a[?][[/note]]
402** Eetwont Flush [[note]]It won't flush.[[/note]]
403** Dadood Frumcheers. [[note]]The dude from ''Series/{{Cheers}}''.[[/note]]
404** [[MeaningfulName Meaningful Punny Name]] with Simmy Kantstandyourbitz [[note]] Can't stand your bits [[/note]]. The name is a pun of Simmy Kustanowitz, the Vice President of Development & Original Programming for truTV.
405* PyrrhicVictory:
406** For a debate challenge, Murr and Q have to make a girl choose which one of the two she thought was uglier. [[spoiler: Q]] won the challenge but did not feel happy about it.
407-->[[spoiler: '''Q''']] ''(sounding defeated)'': Well, I won that one.\
408[[spoiler: '''Murr''']] ''(sounding ecstatic)'': No, I won that one.
409** One challenge had a Joker allowing the others to use his cell phone and confer with a stranger to approve an action being done with it. When it was Murr's turn, he said didn't want a message being sent to his ex-girlfriend only for Joe send it anyway. Murr sprinted over to confront Joe who contested that it was an accident due to the phone's touchscreen. Once the dust cleared, Murr declared that he won the challenge. [[spoiler:Probably a good thing, because Murr would been involved in a double punishment with Sal if Joe didn't send the text.]]
410* RapidFireNo: Whenever Murr is about to be subjected to a particularly unenjoyable or grueling punishment, he tends to rapidly say no as he pleads to back out of it.
411* ARareSentence: Says Joe to Murr once: "Put the tortilla back in your ass!" Only on this show...
412* RealJokeName: During Q's turn in a "Cranjis [=McBasketball=]" challenge, one of the guests in the waiting room answered to the name "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPmACuP5bIQ The One-And-Only Egg Montoya]]"; the gentleman's name really was Eric Montoya, and he explained how his friends had nicknamed him "Egg." The guys were flabbergasted, but did not award Q any extra points.
413--> '''Q:''' ''[upon learning that Eric Montoya's friends had nicknamed him "Egg"]'' Did I just win?
414* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The punishment of Brother-in-Loss involved [[spoiler:Murr getting married to Sal's sister Jenna as Sal was forced to watch while tied up to a dolly. They even went as far as showing them signing the marriage license and only referring to Jenna as "Sal's sister". Sal, of course, threatened death upon Murr the entire time and was gagged with duct tape before he was able to object.]]
415* RecognitionFailure: At a pawn shop, one guy starts talking about how much he likes the show, and doesn't realize that he's talking to Sal and Q.
416* {{Reconstruction}}: Of the CandidCameraPrank show. The genre had fallen out of favor due to being seen as unkind to the random people who were secretly filmed while pranksters made fools of them. ''Impractical Jokers'' preserves the gimmick of covertly filming random people's reactions to pranks, but with the important distinction that the Jokers themselves are the butts of the jokes, and people's unscripted reactions just confirm that the guys have successfully made fools of themselves.
417* RedHerring: It's not uncommon for the guys to mislead each other during challenges or punishments that involve locating something or someone. To name one example, when Q is forced to locate a dirty diaper in a kids' playground, the other Jokers eventually imply that the diaper in question doesn't actually belong to one of the ''children''. [[spoiler:Q takes this to mean that he has to check an old woman who happens to be present, but it turns out that ''this'' was the RedHerring; the diaper actually ''did'' belong to one of the kids.]]
418* RedHerringTwist: An epic version came during Q's punishment at the end of Season 9 episode "Moist Richard"; Q was made to believe that his punishment was to host an impromptu podcast, which included getting raked over the coals by a caller (played by Q's friend Bryan Johnson, who actually does host a podcast with him). Partway through, the other Jokers revealed that the fake podcast was merely misdirection, [[spoiler: causing Q to hurry home to find that the other Jokers had cleaned out his closet and donated all of his clothes to charity in their names!]]
419* RefugeInAudacity:
420** Most commonly seen in the "Don't I Know You?" challenges, the most outrageous claims (such as Murr getting ''molested by an octopus'') get usually nothing worse than polite confusion.
421** One challenge required the Jokers to pile as many scoops of mashed potatoes as they could onto people's plates until they protested. Sal just nonchalantly scooped potatoes onto the plates and managed five before having to admit that he didn't work at the restaurant, ending his attempt. Murr tried distracting the diners, but only managed two before they told him to get lost. Q dumped the entire bowl onto one diner's plate -- but it only counted as one. Joe, on the other hand, performed a made-up song and dance called "Scoopski Potatoes" while pulling off ten -- more scoops than the others combined -- just because the diners were laughing too hard to protest.
422--->'''Sal:''' The trick is to make them laugh so they don't care!
423* {{Retool}}: Following Joe's departure from the show during Season 9, it's been tweaked to just feature Sal, Q and Murr, with the fourth Joker's position filled by [[GuestStarPartyMember a new guest star]] in each episode. This is also reflected by a brand-new opening, complete with a highlight reel for each Joker.
424* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Joe has a pet dog named Cannoli, who is without a doubt one of the cutest things you ever saw! Later episodes show Joe's other dogs, all of whom are just as cute.
425** He's now up to 5 impossibly adorable dogs, all of whom were featured in the challenge "Watch Joe's Dog" (one of the dogs died not long after the first of these was filmed, and Joe got two more dogs before the second iteration of the challenge).
426* {{Rimshot}}: In one game that takes place in a music store, Casey Jost follows Sal around with a small drum set and gives him a rimshot whenever he makes a pun.
427* RodandReelRepurposed: One challenge has the Jokers attempt to grab bags in a mall with a comically oversized fishing hook.
428* RuleOfFunny: When Murr has to be a ring girl at a professional boxing match, he's given a Princess Leia costume consisting of the slave girl bikini and cinnamon bun style wig. The other Jokers comment that they know the hairstyle doesn't match the costume, but they think it's funnier this way.
429* RummageSaleReject: When Q and Sal are punished by acting as turquoise ring salesmen, they're made to wear the tackiest, most mismatched suits imaginable.
430* RunningGag:
431** If there's someone to be called for offscreen, it's Larry. As well as Irene, Dalton, and the mysterious gangster Santiago.
432** Sal and Murr's embarrassing pictures.
433** Joe "nosing" someone.
434** Sal and Q using the aliases "Ja'Crispy" and "Tony Gunk" respectively.
435** Murr claiming to have "a foolproof plan" for winning a challenge (and then have said plan fail phenomenally).
436--->'''Q''': [[LampshadeHanging Do you go to the bathroom without announcing you have a foolproof plan?]]
437** Jaden Smith.
438** Whenever someone asks the Jokers for directions, more often than not, the response they're forced to give will be "Up your ass and to the left".
439** Cranjis [=McBasketball=], which usually comes up during iterations of the challenge "The Name Game."
440** The Jokers are often told to flirt with women by asking if they've ever seen Theatre/{{Hamilton}}. This is because Murr is a big fan of the production.
441** Sal's flat feet are joked about on a regular basis.
442** If Sal endures a punishment designed to provoke his fears, it will involve cats, little girls, and sick people, and a good chance that Benjamin Cat will show up at the end. There's also a good chance that his father will show up to watch and express his disappointment in his son.
443** Joe pretending to be a silly foreigner.
444** Creator/GaryBusey showing up for shenanigans of his own.
445** Joe slapping Sal whenever the latter is wearing blackout glasses.
446
447[[/folder]]
448
449[[folder:S-Z]]
450
451* SadisticChoice: One of Sal's punishments involved a series of these for him. He was told that he would get to keep two nice pairs of sneakers sponsored by [[UsefulNotes/NotablePlayersOfTheNBA Anthony Davis]], by making increasingly difficult decisions that would determine if they'll be damaged in some way, or remain in good shape. This quickly became a HumiliationConga for Sal, as he agreed to have his pants cut short, sold his soul to Murr by signing a contract with his blood, poured a bottle of wine all over his mother, and stepped over hot coals barefoot. It culminated with Sal being told to either keep the sneakers, or have them given away to a boy who won Anthony's basketball free throw contest. After giving a flimsy justification, Sal [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere promptly bolted]] with the display case that contained the shoes (mercifully, Anthony gave his own shoes to the boy).
452* SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud:
453** Joe occasionally did this for eating noises. Additionally, he and Sal were told to make eating noises for the customers sitting near them during one challenge.
454** During Sal's punishment with Anthony Davis, the latter preceded every scene transition by saying "Swipe".
455* {{Scatting}}: Joe did this during the "Klepto Buffet" challenge, which was referenced in a later clip show.
456* {{Scotireland}}: For one game, Murr wears a kilt and introduces himself as "Seamus O'Murray" from "[=McDublin=], O'Ireland", with an accent that can't decide which of the British Isles it's from.
457* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: In one episode, after a lot of false starts with a child actor who was supposed to cue in for a challenge involving Sal, Joe came up with the idea of just abandoning the challenge and turning it into a punishment for Sal (who was the only one on the Loser Board anyway). Murr asks if that's against the rules, to which Q replies, "What rules? We make the rules!"
458* SecretDiary: One game has each Joker discover that he accidentally grabbed his daughter's diary and then try to read three entries (written by the other Jokers) to someone within earshot. If the other person tells the Joker to stop, he loses.
459* SecurityBlanket: Murr has one made by his grandmother that he still sleeps with, and even admitted that he will cuddle with it after sex.
460** In the [[SpinOff "Inside Jokes"]] episode that mentions behind the scenes facts about Murr's {{Flashmob}} punishment, where a [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom Mola Ram]] {{Expy}} throws his blanket into a fire, it mentions that two copies of the blankie were made. Once the Flash mob disassembles, the other guys reassure Murr that they burned a copy, Joe takes out the "real" blankie as proof, and throws it into the fire. Murr later found the actual blankie safe and sound at home, which he tweeted to relieve fans, and on ''After Party'', production showed that his true blankie remained safe and sound.
461* SeriesContinuityError:
462** When they were trying to talk Murr into jumping out of a plane, despite the fact that he's terrified, Sal reminds him that they made a pact a long time ago that they would never back out of a punishment. How soon we forget the infamous Human Pinata episode when Joe DID back out of a punishment, Sal? Coincidentally, Murr took the entire punishment in that as well!
463** Though Joe actually ''did'' take the punishment in "Do Something To My Face," had Joe not made the bet with Q, Murr would have have been the one to take the punishment because he would have had the most losses no matter what.
464*** Actually, Joe ''volunteered'' to take the loss for the whole episode if Q was able to get someone to march with him while holding the "Wash It After" sign. Murr never uttered a word either way and was the simply the lucky benefactor of Q's success.
465*** This was the second time Murr escaped punishment when he was about to lose the episode. The one time before came in "Bigger in Texas"; Q, convinced that Murr wouldn't ask an elderly couple if they remembered the Alamo, volunteered to take the loss if Murr did actually say the line. No points for guessing what happened next.
466* ShirtlessScene: Happens a few times in the show, especially with Joe.
467* ShoutOut:
468** In the "Dino-mite" challenge, Q and Sal are dressed as John Hammond and Alan Grant from ''Film/JurassicPark.'' Joe and Murr are also both wearing different outfits from the ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' films.
469--->'''Q:''' Welcome to Staten Island!
470** In another challenge, the guys were using voice-altering technology and made references to ''{{Film/Taken}}''
471--->'''Q''': Give me back my son!\
472'''Joe''': You're about to be taken.
473*** ''{{Film/Taken}}'' is referenced twice more, with Murr having to tell a woman that she's about to be taken, and one of the descriptions Sal is told to repeat in a round of "Have You Seen My Wife?" is that his wife "played the villain in Taken".
474*** Thrice now, as Murr himself was taken as the punishment in "Lady and the Tramp."
475** In the episode "Indecent Proposal" [[spoiler: Sal's]] punishment consisted of him posing as a dance instructor, and going around the room asking people if they would allow them to sleep with their partner in exchange for money, much like in [[Film/IndecentProposal the movie of the same name]]. The punishment ends when after receiving no takers, he flashes a BriefcaseFullOfMoney, and tells people that they missed out on a huge sum of cash.
476** One of the punny names Murr had to read in the Cranjis [=McBasketball=] game was "[[Series/{{Friends}} Albie Darforyu]]".
477** When Sal goes into the sewer for the Zombie punishment, he encounters "[[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Middle-Aged Karate Tortoise]]".
478--->'''Tortoise:''' Kowabunga, dude.
479* SituationalSexuality:
480** Q did this in an episode during a round of "Have You Seen My Wife?" where he decides instead he's going to ask passers-by if they've seen his husband.
481---> '''Joe''': He has a great set of tits!
482** Sal poses as Joe's husband during the "Vehicular Manslaughter" challenge in "Bidder Loser".
483*** Murr played Joe's husband in a challenge as well, where they had a passer-by settle a debate about what race the child they'd be adopting should be.
484* SixthRanger: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] with the "Fifth Joker" challenge. Joey Fatone could also be seen as this.
485* SlaveCollar: In one challenge, Sal has a woman named Carissa on a leash and collar while she's DressedLikeADominatrix. PlayedWith, though, as while he's holding the leash, she exudes the confidence of being the one in charge.
486-->'''Sal:''' I'm in over my head here, guys.
487* SoldHisSoulForADonut: During Sal's punishment with Anthony Davis, Murr gives him the following choices: sell the soles of Anthony's sneakers to Murr, or [[RhymesOnADime sell his soul]] to Murr. Sal ultimately went with the latter, with the act even involving having to sign a contract with his own blood. Q and Murr heckled him over the act afterwards and in the following episodes, attributing his resulting streak of bad luck to that.
488-->'''Murr (with a demonic voice filter):''' You fool!
489* SomewhereAMammalogistIsCrying: One challenge has Murr trying to pitch a video game called "Suck Off the Chimp". The chimp in question is drawn with a prehensile tail, which is a trait of New World monkeys.
490* SoreLoser: Sal didn't take getting caught cheating in a "Repeat After Me" challenge well. The other jokers took away his win when they determined him saying "It's fun to say" was illegal. Sal told them they were "full of shit" and later said he didn't want to do the challenge again after Joe won.
491* SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace: Defied in the punishment where Sal's sister and Murr get married. Immediately after the minister says "If anyone here objects...", Joe puts duct tape on Sal's mouth. Sal's muffled shouts were in vain, as neither the Jokers nor the minister claim to hear him objecting.
492* SpecialGuest:
493** Q finally meets his long lost twin Rosie O'Donnell when the guys get her to appear during one of his punishments. Rosie, ever the good sport, even dressed like Q for the bit.
494** One episode had Q call in Music/{{NSYNC}} star Joey Fatone to take his place during a challenge at a restaurant. He aced everything the guys threw at him.
495*** Joey covered for Q again during the Nitro Circus special when Q was medically unable to do the obstacle course for his charity of choice. To the surprise of everyone, Joey made second place.
496*** A later episode took place at a hot dog chain owned by Joey, who once again joined in on the fun.
497*** And now Joey hosts the Impractical Jokers After-Party segments after the show.
498** Music/ImagineDragons were featured in a punishment for Joe and Sal, where they had to perform as the opening act for a concert in a venue packed with over 14,000 people... without actually knowing how to play instruments.
499** Another one is Creator/DanicaMcKellar, Murr's childhood crush who he was tricked into interviewing wearing only a speedo[[note]]he was tricked into thinking he was competing in a bodybuilding competition[[/note]].
500*** She returned in a later episode to help Murr recreate the incident in reverse during a "Don't Laugh" challenge.
501** The live punishment special was hosted by comedian Creator/HowieMandel.
502** Murr surprised everyone during a "don't laugh" challenge by bringing in Creator/GaryBusey, who portrayed a hulked-out Murr in a ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' scenario.
503*** Like Fatone, Gary has since become a recurring guest on the show.
504** Creator/MatthewLewis filled in for Sal on a challenge in "Universal Appeal". Like Joey, he succeeded.
505** Creator/JasonMewes and Creator/KevinSmith showed up in the 200th episode as their characters Jay and Silent Bob to take part in the pantsing on the boardwalk challenge.
506** Every episode from the second half of season 9 onwards involves at least one special guest, usually participating in the punishment (with the name for the guest in question being the episode title).
507* SpeedDating: One of Q's punishments has him attending a speed-dating event with a pair of large turkey legs attached to his wrists -- and he can't leave until he's eaten both of them. When he's finished, he's very nauseated from eating so much turkey at once.
508* SpitTake: Q does this upon hearing the name "Chinese Name" being called during a receptionist name-calling challenge Murr plays.
509* SportsDad: One of Q's punishments has him being an obnoxious father to a little girl playing baseball.
510* StagParty: For one of Joe's punishments, the guys tell him that he has to [[JumpingOutOfACake jump out of a cake]] at a bachelorette party. It turns out to be a BaitAndSwitch, however, and he jumps out in front of a gathering of elderly war veterans.
511* StraightMan: Joe can do just about any task while maintaining composure. Lampshaded on many occasions.
512* SubvertedCatchphrase: Recent episodes extend "If You Refuse, You Lose", to the likes of "If You Refuse To Do Or Say What You're Told, You Lose" among others.
513* TakeThat: The Jokers feel that their home borough of Staten Island doesn't get enough respect compared to the rest of NYC. Thus, during Joe's "Captain Fatbelly" punishment, they tell him to tell the other boroughs (and then the rest of the world) to suck it.
514* TakingAThirdOption:
515** During the "Hot Potato" challenge of the episode "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", Murr and Sal are passing a propane tank back and forth, trying not to be the one holding it when the lady between them gets up to leave. However, at one point the lady winds up holding it, and both Murr and Sal leave, making the game a draw with no losers (Murr was nice enough to let her have the bag Sal brought it in).
516** In the "Toy Vey!" challenge from "No Child Left Behind", Sal and Murr create toys for each other to pitch to a focus group. Sal gets one hand raised for Heather the Cookie Monster for Girls and Murr gets one hand for Grandpa Whoopsie. The third person in the group refuses to pick either toy, so the challenge is declared a draw with both Jokers getting the win.
517* TakingTheBullet: One challenge requires a Joker to save someone from being squirted by a kid with a water gun. It ends up not getting to this -- Sal goes first, and the kids keep screwing up and annoying him so much that the other Jokers turn it into a punishment.
518* {{Technobabble}}:
519** In one challenge, Joe advocates for a holiday called "Reverse Hyperkinetic Particle Matrix Awareness Sunday". Naturally, nobody has any idea what the hell that means, including the jokers themselves.
520** And the time when Sal has to admit a bad habit of his (provided by Joe).
521--->'''Sal:''' ''(with help from Joe)'': I use dimethylmercury instead of inorganic mercury salts when calibrating my nuclear magnetic resonance device, like I'm some kind of asshole.
522* TheTalk:
523** In one punishment, Q had to give a lecture about the birds and the bees to a class full of students [[spoiler: ...only to find out that he was lied to, and he instead has to give the lecture to ''his parents'']].
524** In another episode, Q is an office worker who has to give the talk to everyone who comes in, each time starting with "When a man loves a woman..." and mentioning that the woman has a "socket".
525* TheTeetotaler:
526** Sal has to be somewhat of one in his liquor sample punishment on the episode "You're Cut Off".
527** Joe revealed he is one during a nightclub challenge and in the episode set in New Orleans when he refused to drink a Hurricane during another challenge[[note]]Joe abstains from drinking because at age 19, he lost his father to pancreatic cancer brought on by alcoholism[[/note]].
528* ThatCloudLooksLike: One game that's sometimes played has the Jokers tell people what random clouds look like (it's always bizarre) and trying to get people to agree.
529* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch:
530** "Welcome to White Castle, bitch."
531** "Make it rain, bitch!"
532** "We're in London, bitches!”
533** “Aloha, bitch.”
534** "BOOM! I got your nose, bitch!"
535** "That's how you play chess, not checkers, bitches."
536* ThisIsGonnaSuck:
537** A frequent reaction during punishments when the joker being punished realizes what he's in for.
538** In one game, Murr tells a guy on a bench that he's been dodging a nun after he gave her mono(nucleosis). When the "nun" approaches the bench and Murr ducks behind a tree, the guy looks like he'd ''really'' rather be anywhere else, especially when the "nun" asks him where Murr went and follows up with "You wouldn't lie to a nun, would you?" The poor guy can't even look her in the eye.
539* ToiletHumour: Shows up occasionally, but nothing reaches the level of Joe's punishment of opening up a public bathroom door while on the can, and asking for a little help with his paper shortage emergency.
540* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Doughnuts for Joe and soup for Murr.
541* TrailersAlwaysSpoil:
542** Thanks, [=TruTV=], it's not like anyone minds being spoiled on who the loser is by a commercial airing ''during the episode''.
543** Season 2 part 2 has been the worse so far in this category. They blatantly show who the loser is and what their punishment is right in the preview of at the beginning of the each episode. In the first two seasons they would at least blur out their faces so as not to give it away...but they're not even bothering keeping it a secret anymore.
544** Particularly egregious in "Not Safe For Work" commercials, where they prominently show Murr acting as a nude model, which is quite obviously the episode's punishment.
545*** Right at the first ep of Season 2 part 3- Enter The Dragons- the entire week showed commercials for the show with Sal and Joe playing drums and guitar during a rock concert...and by the time the episode aired that very scene was blurred when the narrator mentioned tonight's losers. Generally, this means that they've removed the in-episode spoiling, but seriously, unless you haven't seen [=TruTv=] or paid any attention to the commercials all week, you KNOW who the losers are and what their punishment is!
546** The blur effect doesn't even work that well some of the time.
547** The episode "Catastrophe" has the punishment where a certain joker is chained to the floor and people put cats all over them. The title suggests this, and the preview shows it. If you know the Jokers well, it's blatantly obvious who the loser is.
548** One episode involves the loser being the leader of a breakdance crew, despite not being able to breakdance. They do a good job of blurring the loser...but neglect to blur the shirts of the crew, which have the loser's name clearly emblazoned on it.
549** ''Inside Jokes'' doesn't even try to hide who the big loser is, outright spoiling it with a Spoiler Alert at the beginning of each episode.
550-->'''Note''': Spoiler alert: It's [joker(s) being punished]!
551* TrashTheSet: In one of Joe's punishments, which is set during an Arabian Nights play, he is dressed up as a genie whose flying movements are controlled by cables, so he naturally ends up knocking down the entire set during acts 1 and 3. He's even told to punch a wall at one point.
552* UncomfortableElevatorMoment: The point of one challenge: Sal had to make an annoying noise, Q had to ask a pretty woman to pop a pimple on his back, Murr had to act as though he was having a PottyEmergency...
553** Exaggerated in "Elevating the Game".
554* UndesirablePrize: Double Subverted in one of Murr's punishments where he played against a boy named Jake on a game show. If Jake got a question that Murr missed, he got to take anything he wanted from Murr's apartment. Instead of his flat screen televisions or video gaming equipment, Jake took the following items from Murr: his shower head, his front door handle, his bedding and his Georgetown University diploma. It was later revealed that the other jokers influenced Jake on these decisions because they knew each one would hit Murr pretty hard, particularly the Georgetown diploma. At the end of the punishment, Jake got an Xbox 360 signed by all four of the jokers.
555* {{Unishment}}: The jokers have mentioned on numerous occasions that Joe is the hardest of the lot to punish because he has little shame. He looks like he's enjoying at least half of his punishments. (This is especially true when, while dressed as Captain Fatbelly, he gets to tell everyone who's not from Staten Island to "SUCK IT!")
556* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: A lot of what they do is highly unusual but is barely batted an eye at. One of the reasons it works is because [[BigApplesauce most of what they do is done in New York.]]
557* UrineTrouble: Sal at the beginning of the challenge "Puppy Pushers".
558-->'''Sal''': The guy who worked here told me in 30 years, he's got peed on twice. I'm not even five minutes 'til it pissed all over me. ''(the other Jokers laugh)'' I got pissed on... ''(holds up puppy)'' ...by that.
559** This is literally the title of a Season 8 episode in which Sal's punishment is to pretend that he's been stung by a jellyfish and must ask random beachgoers to urinate on his injury. He ultimately has no takers, so the other guys send in a barbershop quartet who "serenade" Sal with a tune referencing his loss and punishment before one of the singers actually does pee on him.
560* VitriolicBestBuds: Sal and Murr get on each others nerves a lot, making fans question if they hate each other. Sal and Murr are actually great friends and have said that they play up the arguing for the show.
561* VomitDiscretionShot:
562** Q laughs so hard at Murr's punishment in "Not Safe For Work" that he ends up puking in a bucket, with only his back and germophobic Sal trying to escape.
563** Sal had to drink pool water as part of a challenge, which lead to him going back to where the other guys were after drinking it and throwing up in the garbage in the back.
564** In the episode "Stare Master", it happens again during Murr's turn at a Kid Copycat challenge, where the Jokers tell a child assigned to the Joker to do something, which the Joker has to copy. The challenges they have Murr and the child assigned to him do are so funny that it causes Q to throw up for the 2nd time, but he ducks behind a tree to do so. Afterwards he accidentally spits in the face of germophobic Sal, and HE proceeds to throw up.
565** Both Sal and Q end up vomiting again after Q drinks from a glass of water with dollar bills in it in "Statue of Limitations." All it took for Sal was HEARING Q start to throw up and he began to retch.
566--->'''Q:''' ''(sounding miserable)'' [[ShapedLikeItself The watah tasted like dollahs...]]
567** In one punishment, Sal drank breast milk that had been left out in the sun for a few hours. He promptly threw it up.
568* WearingAFlagOnYourHead: Q as of season two has taken to wearing an American flag scarf.
569* WhenItAllBegan: [[http://www.trutv.com/shows/impractical-jokers/comic-book.html How the four came to be -in comic form!]]
570* WhamLine: Whenever three of the jokers say, "WEEEELLLLLLLLLL" [[note]]This is usually done when the other joker has been deceived in some way.[[/note]] such as in Murr's skydiving punishment.
571** [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nPpHDzG2UL8&feature=youtu.be “Why would I need to buy a house?]] [[spoiler: Cause I need a nursery.]]"
572* WhamShot: A few times. Such as Q's father appearing during a White Castle tip challenge.
573* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Deliberately played InUniverse when Q is punished by reading a "children's book" based on his life called ''The Remarkable Misadventures of Q the Dung Beetle''. Not many children's books feature domestic violence or beetle prostitution.
574* WhatTheHellHero: Q catches a ''lot'' of flak for the art class punishment after painting red X'es on all the canvases, even after the nature of the show is revealed.
575-->'''Little Girl:''' If you do this, [[ThisIsUnforgivable I'll never forgive you.]]\
576''(after Q paints an X on her canvas)''\
577'''Little Girl:''' There's no words to describe how much I don't like you right now.\
578'''Q:''' I don't like me either.\
579''(after everyone learns that they're on the show)''\
580'''Little girl:''' I still hate you!
581* WheelOfDecisions: Several times, the guys face their challenges according to the [[PunctuatedForEmphasis WHEEL! OF!]] [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom DOOM!]]
582* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: Some people who hear the strange names during the Cranjis [=McBasketball=] challenges have this reaction. Murr was asked this after reading the name "Wicked Fot", to which he replied "Mr. and Mrs. Fot".
583* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes:
584** Sal is not only a germaphobe, but is also terrified of cats. Naturally, the other jokers are all too willing to exploit this.
585*** Actually, if the episode 'Ruffled Feathers' is any indication, he seems to be scared of almost ALL animals, from hawks to lizards! Though it might have more to do with the fact he didn't didn't have proper training for handling the more dangerous animals (which Q hints at via a DontTryThisAtHome warning to the crowd).
586*** He can also list the number of times that he's been scared of little girls (the corn maze, the VR room, etc).
587** Murr has a deathly fear of heights, which is taken to dizzying new levels when he is forced to jump out of a plane!
588** Murr also has a phobia of sharks, and sure enough wound up spending some time in an open water shark cage.
589** Q has a severe case of arachnophobia, as was shown in "Spider-Man".
590** The most literal version is [[Franchise/IndianaJones Indiana Murr's]] punishment in "Prince + Charming", where he has to charm a fake snake by playing a flute while sitting in a pit of REAL snakes.
591* WithDueRespect: One challenge requires the Jokers to say "No disrespect..." and follow it up with something disrespectful.
592* WithFriendsLikeThese: The punishments might make viewers question if these guys can really be good friends, but they really are the best of friends.
593* WitnessProtection: In one game, Sal has to be somebody who was relocated multiple times by the FBI after testifying against a mob boss (represented by a photo of Sal's father).
594* WritingAroundTrademarks: One of Murr's punishments was taking part in the mock game show ''[[Series/AreYouSmarterThanA5thGrader Is Murr Smarter than a Young Child Student Between 4th and 6th Grade?]]''
595* XtremeKoolLetterz: Joe's fictional boy band "The Yoloboyz (with a Z on the end)". Their motto is "Hey! Do it, but do it with a Z!" In another episode, Joe and Murr pitch "Safe Dogz" (live dogs that are capable of storing one's valuables).
596* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: Q is told to speak this way at White Castle and belts out ''"GOOD MORROW, SIRE, AND WELCOME TO THE CASTLE OF WHITE! WHAT IST THOU CRAVING?"''
597* YouDidntAsk: Q had to be kept in a zoo exhibit as a punishment with the rule being that he must stay until the other jokers unlock the gate. They never told Q that the gate wasn't even locked... which Q found out the hard way when he called Joe late that night.
598* YouLookFamiliar: One challenge is for each Joker to get past a receptionist as many times as possible while wearing a different disguise each time and stopping if he's recognized.[invoked]
599* ZombieApocalypse: One of Sal's punishments was having to save his nieces from one that took place underground.
600
601[[/folder]]
602----
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