The Tenderloins

**The Tenderloins** are a comedy troupe that formed back in 1999 and its members are Brian Quinn, James Murray, Prince Herb, and Joe Gatto.

The guys formed a comedy troupe called The Tenderloins in 1999. Lifelong friends, they had started performing improv together while still attending high school in Staten Island. As Prince later said, “it was the only way to meet girls.” The Tenderloins grew more successful and began touring nationwide, drawing more fans and attention. Soon they were filming comedy sketches, many of which attracted millions of views online. They won the grand prize ($100,000) in the 2007 NBC *It’s Your Show* competition, for a sketch they called “Time Thugs.” Things really took off for The Tenderloins from there!

## Origin

The comedians met in religion class during freshman year at Monsignor Farrell High School on Staten Island in 1990. They became interested in drama and improv and joined an improv club because "it was the only way to meet girls", as their private high school was only for boys. Prince Herb kept a list of words they felt embarrassed to say in a public setting. When searching for a name for their comedy troupe, Prince’s list, which included "culottes", "gargoyle", and "nougat", was used. The group eventually chose "The Tenderloins".

## Career

### Stage

After finishing college, James Murray worked for the Staten Island Ferry where he ran into his friend Prince. They reminisced about their enjoyment doing improv. After reuniting with Joe and another friend, Mike Boccio, they practiced improv at Joe's house three days a week, for six months. The Tenderloins began in 1999 as a live improv comedy and sketch comedy troupe.

The troupe briefly consisted of five members. However, Gideon Horowitz soon left the group for personal reasons. After the success of *Impractical Jokers*, the Tenderloins have also taken part in several American and international tours. They have performed in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, and participated in the San Francisco Sketch Comedy Festival and the Miami Improv Festival.

### Internet success

In 2006, following years of live shows, the Tenderloins redirected their talents to filmed comedic sketches. Brian Quinn subsequently replaced Mike Boccio as the troupe's fourth member.

The Tenderloins' comedic sketches have accumulated millions of views on YouTube. In 2007, the troupe won the $100,000 grand prize in the NBC *It's Your Show* competition for the sketch "Time Thugs".

### Television

Following the troupe's online successes, the four were signed to develop a scripted comedy pilot for Spike TV based on their own lives. The pilot was shot on location in 2008 on Staten Island, as well as at other locations around New York City. Spike TV ultimately passed on the series. A second pilot starring the Tenderloins was officially selected for the 2009 New York Television Festival.

On April 12, 2011, truTV announced a new series to star the Tenderloins. *Impractical Jokers* premiered on December 15, 2011, executive-produced by the troupe themselves. Season 1 consisted of 16 episodes. The first season was watched by over 32 million viewers.

The show's second season premiered on December 13, 2012 and consisted of 28 episodes. Its third season had 31 episodes and premiered on January 2, 2014. On April 21, 2014, truTV announced that the series would be renewed for a 26-episode fourth season. With the fourth season renewal, a 6-episode spinoff series, *Jokers Wild!*, was also announced. The show was renewed for a fifth season, which began on February 2016. On July 22, 2016, a sixth season was announced, which began on February 9, 2017. After another successful season, *Impractical Jokers* was renewed for a seventh season that began on February 1, 2018. In March 2018 TruTV announced the Impractical Jokers was renewed for an eighth season that will consist of 26 episodes and will premiere sometime in February 2019. A feature-length movie, *Impractical Jokers: The Movie*, was released theatrically on February 21, 2020.

In 2019, the troupe will star in a new TBS series, *Misery Index*, based on the card game "Shit Happens" created by Andy Breckman, who created and wrote the popular TV series *Monk* and the recent Netflix series *The Good Cop*.

### Live tour

The Troupe has toured steadily over the last four years with its highly-successful, "Where's Larry?", "Santiago Sent Us," & "Cranjis McBasketball" tours playing to hundreds of thousands of fans in the US and UK, including three sold-out nights at Radio City Music Hall, a sold-out Madison Square Garden, and five sold-out shows at London's O2 Arena.

### Radio

In February 2017, Murr tweeted that he and the group had recorded the first episode of an upcoming limited-run show for SiriusXM Radio. On August 17, 2017, *The Tenderloins Radio Show* made its debut on SiriusXM Radio channel 94 (Comedy Greats). In the hour-long broadcast, the comedy troupe pranks friends and acquaintances, takes calls, answers emails from fans, and does sketches in a segment called "Tenderloins Theatre".

### Podcasts

#### *The Tenderloins Podcast*

The group began hosting a podcast in April 2012.

#### *What Say You?*

*What Say You?*, an occasional podcast hosted by Prince and Q, was named Best New Show at the 2013 Stitcher Awards. The increased popularity of *What Say You* sparked a friendly competition among the friends, spurring Joe and Murr to release their own Tenderloins podcast without the other two members. In 2015, *What Say You?* was nominated for the Comedy, Entertainment, and Best Produced Podcast Awards at the 10th Annual Podcast Awards. Prince and Q have stated that the podcast is their own side project, not a replacement of *The Tenderloins Podcast*. The group explained that it was difficult to coordinate the schedules of all four members outside of work, making it challenging to produce their troupe's official podcast with any regularity.

## YouTube Channel

On November 10, 2006, Brian Quinn and James Murray filmed a sketch comedy video titled “Gordon: The Greatest Fish EVER” about Q, who played “Brian”, a man living with his roommate “James” (Murr), who has an unhealthy and insane relationship with his pet goldfish, Gordon. The video gained over 255k views and over 5,000 likes, encouraging The Tenderloins to make more sketches. Q, Joe, Murr, and Prince continued making sketches for years, even spanning into the early years of Impractical Jokers, officially ending their YouTube sketch-comedy careers in 2012.

## Sketches

* Gordon: The Greatest Fish EVER (https://youtu.be/FxzHTTymDV4), November 10, 2006
* Meet Sal, Inappropriate: Episode One (https://youtu.be/WnFeg1jT5qI), November 13, 2006
* Time Thugs (https://youtu.be/ZyV0LK5GJyY), November 21, 2006
* How Smart is the Average Person? (https://youtu.be/DKr\_DPr\_zXo), November 22, 2006
* Maximum Security Workout (https://youtu.be/oKp49XuPboc), December 5, 2006
* Blind Cops: Episode One (https://youtu.be/Ytxm16XI9q4), December 5, 2006
* Healing Nicely (https://youtu.be/iRRwo17p4ss), December 14, 2006
* Daddy’s Got MOVES (https://youtu.be/WBaWJraCa9s), January 5, 2007
* My Husband, The A-Hole (https://youtu.be/RIYM4ZrktLE), January 25, 2007
* The Do’s and Dont’s of Parenting (1952) (https://youtu.be/kTw0YtyDaiU), February 16, 2007
* Chicken Suicide (https://youtu.be/xjI5M0vjBIw), February 20, 2007
* The Comedy Roast of Jesus Christ (https://youtu.be/34txalJZw3E), February 20, 2007
* Blind Cops: Episode Two (https://youtu.be/U43ve9W\_CTw), March 10, 2007
* Whitman’s Sampler (https://youtu.be/URDUUhLklnw), March 15, 2007
* Geico Guidos: Airport (https://youtu.be/E\_sewOWUzbo), April 10, 2007
* Meet Sal, Inappropriate: Episode Two (https://youtu.be/0tHIj3DeSbc), April 12, 2007
* John Mayer Concert T (https://youtu.be/9b7wqo7IznA), May 4, 2007
* How Smart is the Average Person 2: Staten Island Edition (https://youtu.be/UAbDOujqkhk), May 29, 2007
* Geico Guido: Testimonial (https://youtu.be/Y4jFvTQG7jI), May 31, 2007
* The Sex is in the Mail (https://youtu.be/b7UyhlGDvBY), June 22, 2007
* Comment Responsibly (https://youtu.be/gLAfPm90CmI), September 24, 2007
* Still Healing (https://youtu.be/\_30hyd9zlPM), September 26, 2007
* Clown Show Intervention (https://youtu.be/clgRId8x0ZM), October 21, 2007
* Give Truth For Christmas (https://youtu.be/YFxZZnnUuTw), December 4, 2007
* Somebody Call Mary-Kate Olsen (https://youtu.be/aMqWMXi8P4A), January 28, 2008
* Wii Love Jetpacks (https://youtu.be/T0eJHddYIww), March 17, 2008
* Almost Back to the Future (https://youtu.be/b4O36O3Oz-8), December 26, 2008
* The Incredible Sulk: part 1 of 3 (https://youtu.be/DIOaY1kUZfs), January 26, 2009
* The Incredible Sulk: part 2 of 3 (https://youtu.be/Idr0erOpFz0), January 26, 2009
* The Incredible Sulk: part 3 of 3 (https://youtu.be/zV106U3kszk), January 26, 2009
* Joe Puts His Nose on it (https://youtu.be/FEhXywTKOSo), April 3, 2010
* Mustache Wars (https://youtu.be/bWLaQwbp-uo), February 23, 2012
* The Craig Murray Incident (https://youtu.be/LDkf6Keml3Y), March 28, 2012