Episode Guide
Crash Test Dummies The Closer Tipping Point Full Mental Jacket Blue Man Dupe The Dumbbell The Eggman Cake Loss The Antisocial Network Impractical Jokers is one of the funniest prank shows on TV. Given it’s 8 season run and numerous live performances that have sold out both sides of the globe, these four lifelong friends are consistently funny and imaginative with their dares. It’s always tough for a show like this to remain funny without feeling contrived or stale but Impractical Jokers maintains a comedic consistency, testament to the show and the four characters manning the ship. For anyone unaware of the format, Impractical Jokers sees four lifelong friends, Sal, Murr, Q and Joe, competing against one another, playing outrageous pranks on unsuspecting people across two or three rounds. The one who loses has to take part in a punishment at the end and this year they’re more brutal than ever. The sketches are well written too and incredibly funny as always, ranging from the lads posing as cab drivers and computer-illiterate amateurs through to pretending to be Doctors and playing hot potato in a shoe store. The material here feels fresh and new, despite the well-worn play on the “Do And Say As The Others Tell You” and certainly doesn’t feel like an 8 year old show. When it comes to the punishments, Impractical Jokers has never held back and this time around they’re really brutal, ranging from closing laptops in an internet cafe and asking people to move seats in a busy theatre through to a fashion show promoting familiar coats and a disastrous cake judging contest, Jokers continues to drop a great array of punishments. With only 9 episodes this time rather than the usual 26, Impractical Jokers makes the most of its shorter run-time by packing harsher punishments, tighter written comedy and imaginative sketches involving the production crew throughout its episodes. This works really well here, striking just the right blend of originality and the core concepts that make the show so funny. The self-aware jabs at this being the eighth season certainly motivates the four to make the most of proceedings here too, and the show continues to excel because of it. As Impractical Jokers reaches the end of the season, it’ll be interesting to see where the show goes from here. With more and more people recognising them in the streets but the comedy continuing to be of a high standard despite this, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see this one renewed for another season. I hope it is too; Impractical Jokers is one of the funniest shows on TV for a reason and having followed this one since the first episode, the Jokers still have plenty of life left in them yet.
