Joe Gatto on the Rise of Impractical Jokers, Writing a Kids Book, and His Big 2025 Goal

we're an 18-year overnight success right people like who are these guys oh they're four they're friend yeah you know how much we tried and failed three failed Pilots for television multiple you know tries to get the movie made which didn't happen and finally got it made you have to Outlast the nose you have to just keep going against the nose are you all right built a community of fans a mega force of awesome fans that I'm I love and we've done our cruises we've done these things I see people come out to the shows together that people fly together to come see it's like so crazy from different states and they've developed a friendship just based on that when you were coming out of jokers was there like a period of grief for from leaving the show what's going on everybody welcome back to another episode Travis makes Friends Podcast today I am making friends with the one the only Joe gado Joe what's up man hey how are you welcome to the show I like that we have a Time specific time to become friends yeah yeah by the end of this it's really there's a timer right up there literally there's literally a clock counting down to our friendship right right right we got to get to know each other I was going to say so where do we start then well I feel like I know a lot about you I know nothing about you you have you have a very nice demeanor I like to cut of your jib appreciate appreciate we're we're on the right track Joe you live in one of my will get you everywhere there you go you live one of my favorite cities Las Vegas that's a good spot I love Vegas yeah that's a good time not a bad one um you uh you like to laugh that's true that's true we're we're best friends that's it that was much all right wrapped it up thank you guys so much um um Joe dude you've got so much stuff going on man um leaving in practical jokers was like one of those things where it was like oh no Joe's going away but then it was also kind of a happy thing because now you have like 12 different projects that you're working on you can't get rid of me I was to say you got you got a children's book coming out um where's Berry where's Berry yeah yeah where's Berry is a kids book I did with uh penguin publishing group and it's uh great it was so cool to do because I've I got to see the book come to life because the illustrator Luke flowers was very talented and he actually like Drew like my son and like the bear and like I he put my daughter and he is a family portrait so he drew my whole family and it's just something really cool about seeing your kid as a cartoon you know what I mean it was just and the story came together so nice personalizes it for yeah and it's something to do with that I did with my kid part of my legacy my daughter's nine and my son is seven nine and seven yeah two years how's that gap for you uh fun fun they actually best buds which is great they don't hate each other yet I was say good I like the two years I'm three I have two older sisters I'm three years between them okay so I think uh with my middle sister it was a little too it was one year too much I think yeah yeah our kid so we have a three-year-old and a 5-year-old that's why I'm asking that's perfect I'm trying to predict of my future you're trying to get a free copy I'll get I'll send you a copy we're friends we're friends yes yeah that's awesome very five so what's how old is a boy girl would you say uh yeah yeah so my son's five my daughter's three so he just started kindergarten like three days ago you got the reverse you got the older brother I've got the older sister and so and so I have an older sister who's like the same distance apart that my kids are it so it's kind of like reversed a little bit so I'm I'm curious to see how they're going to be like once they get up into you know like junior high high school there's benefits there's benefits for both I think I I grew up with older sisters I like that the way they mold you to understand and appreciate and talk to uh women and also having like older mama birds which is nice I think it's very nurturing I came from a very loving nurturing uh relationship with all of them but older brothers have that protection thing which is nice but sometimes you could go sideways it's like exactly my brother will kick your ass he's like what are you talking about I like actually I don't want to do that no no you're wrong yeah that's kind of the vibe I'm getting so far with Cam my son he's just kind of like I mean so right now he's just a bully because he's doesn't know how big he is compared to her you know what I mean so but he wants to fight and wrestle and stuff and he always just comes up to me and punches me for no reason so he does that to her but I'm like cam you can't do that to your little sister my sister was uh so me and my middle sister got into you know we started getting into each other's business and I remember she would like hit me all the time and my dad said you could never you could never hit your sister you can never hit your sister and he said to my sister he's like you can never hit your brother there and that was like the rule you know and me and my sister are super tight now so it was funny but we had that like high school when she was like you know 14 15 16 where it was like very we had to navigate those wall yeah the pre and post puberty time cuz I mean that's why two years is good you're kind of in the Gap closer together three years you have a little bit of a head start sure well listen man uh there's there's so many things that I wanted to talk to you about uh but let's go back in time for a second because um I say this a lot people probably listen to my show and hate how repetitive it gets but it does fascinate me how you can go from just like going to a school regular upbringing all this kind of stuff and then just decide to go this crazy alternate path that almost nobody chooses and then the people who do choose it almost nobody's actually pulls it off and does really well with it and uh you were one of the people that was able to do it so um I was listening to an interview with you in um I think it was Pete Holmes um I love love Pete Holmes stuff he's so so fun such a great guy to talk yeah yeah um I I always like his show cuz like I it's hilar he's just a naturally hilarious person but then also he he's very uh attentive you know pulls out actually he a conversational for sure for sure um but I was listening to that and uh you you told a story that I had not heard you tell before which was um the moment that you kind of realized that comedy was going to be the thing that helped you like avoid you know feelings of embarrassment feelings of shame or whatever it was at the time um can you can you like do you think that that is was a skill that you learned from that point forward after you realized it because you were so young or do you think that that like you were just kind of naturally funny and that gave you permission to do that more often yeah I think part of me was naturally funny and it's not to be afraid to use that part of you yeah I think that was the license that I got got yeah cuz basically what happened was you so I tripped in a packed Italian restaurant on Easter Sunday with a bunch of Italians eating their their Easter food I was with my sister who were speaking of and she pointed and laughed at me and everybody did like one of those I got like dead quiet and people were like oh you know I could see people snickering whatever and I popped up and I went Tada and everybody lost and started laughing and I walked away like a peacock and my sister like that's not fair you know like one of those things and I really remember being like oh you're supposed to be embarrassed yeah that's right so that's like the embarrassment Gene I was like okay so that I don't need to feel that you I turned a feeling of that into a great feeling yeah and I think I just might have kind of got addicted to that and being able to but I do think now what feeds my soul even more is to be able to do it for people because you hear all the time about like life's tough everybody's going through all this stuff yeah you know and it's like you got to be there for people and I have a fan base that's very vocal about what I've helped them with and uh I'm not afraid of conversation or being in on stuff you know and I'll hear these things so now it really motivates me in a way to be in people's lives entertain and help besides loving it which is self- serving I also love that I could be that for people and I love to be able to you know to have the families come together and left together watch and be part of their story so yeah that's I got to be one of the coolest things about being a comic is is that you know so many things going on in people's lives you know what I mean but they can turn on Impractical Jokers or watch them stand up and just like immediately get taken out of this like everything's going to [ __ ] mentality and just like put a smile on their face I always say life sucks suck hard you just got to get out there and you know do what you got to do to get through it it's it's it really is it's it's tough and you know you be at this point in the game you know I'm 48 years old I've been through a lot of Life stuff that stuff kind of molds your outlook and also makes you appreciate what you can do yeah you know so I think jumping in and doing these different types of things to entertain has been so fun like the kids book I never I I used to sell kids books I was a baby store salesman back in the day oh really yeah I worked at a company called Giggle and I sold high-end baby gear furniture and stuff like that and uh in SoHo and one of the things we had were kids books and I was a personal shopper so I needed to know like everything about them I met a lot of the authors and things like that so I would read all these kids and I was I had no kids I was an uncle I it was very weird but I just like read all these kids books and I liked like the stories and the way and then as becoming a father I was like oh it was cool to read these books and I saw how much they're part of the routine I was like it be kind of fun to do this and so I when I approached my you know people I was like I think I want to make a kids book and they're like okay let's see it and I sent it over and I was like oh all right let's do it and then yeah I was like all right sure and then it came together great and then now people have been receiving it pretty well and I was like so that was something that was like another another Avenue you know yeah I was I was going to say the funny thing is uh so so I've always been a big fan of comedy and um for whatever reason I just always was drawn to it uh but my wife sitting over here never like was not like a big standup person like she didn't she didn't watch any of the like comedy or stuff with me um and so when we watch stuff together we would just find stuff that we liked together and we'd watch that together one of the first I think Pro probably the first like comedy show that she actually would watch with me was in practical joker I have you guys to thank for for opening great tast her mind to things that are funny you know so since then we've watched a lot of comed it's hard I don't watch comedies with my wife we she didn't really even watch Jokers she didn't like really Vibe with it like she was like I see you in real life you're funny she's like you know when you're doing that stuff she didn't you know cuz the embarrassment stuff and and whatnot but she it's funny because like we don't even really age much on comedies because she also loves like serial television and I'm a movie guy so right there but we have connected on Horrors and I don't know what that says about us that's very like I wasn't big in horror and then she was and she opened my eyes to the genre and I've you know I of course love the classics and all that but all these side we just watch a lot of horror together and I was like hilarious I was like that's weird that we enjoy horror together what's your what's your I'm going to ask this just for my producers sake Eric who's going to be listening to this and editing this great um he's a massive horror guy uh and uh very classic films in general yeah but he has a whole like film schooled podcast and he talks to you know producers and directors and all this kind of stuff um what what would be your favorite you think horror that's come out recently not a classic recently recent horror well of recent times our first date that my I took my wife on this so this is you know 12 years ago 13 years ago I guess and uh it was called it was Let the Right One In they remade it it was like a it had the you got to watch the subtitle one though Eric I don't want you got to go for it but it was about this uh it's it's kind of like a weird weird love story about a vampire girl young girl that uh you know has a steward and the stewards grow up She doesn't bite them they just take care of her and then they die and she has to find a new one and stuff and it's a it's such a weird interesting story and it's got horror elements to it but it's like tells a really cool story I'm not a big pop out horror guy like I'm not a big fan of of like the jump scare jump scare for me yeah it actually takes me out of most Horrors really I don't yeah like that but I like the creepy stuff you know like when four friends go to a cabin like all you're I'm in with that sentence is a group of friends it starts with a group of friends they go on a trip I'm in yeah he he literally was just showing me like clips from this movie like the the terrifier or something like that that came out it was like there's like two or three different things and it was just like this is disgusting bro like like the most creative murders I was just like and he's just like cackling like show like this is awesome huh and I was like I guess you're in some murders and's in a heart is probably already see but Barbarian is unbelievable yeah Justin long does a great job in that and he's uh he's phenomenal great guy too but the the movie is great Barbarian I probably say in recent times that's one I was like this is good all right well Halloween's around the corner we got got to start start start somewhere in the genre you dress up uh you know so backstory you do hold on the question really is do you do family outfits last year was the first time that we did family outfits I'm sure she's got pictures somewhere hit me with the outfit what was it uh I was Luigi yes my son was Mario okay we had matching mustaches that's amazing and Princess Peach and my daughter was Princess Peach okay and were you a Cooper Trooper oh you a toad great choice toad but she kind of copped out though if I'm being honest and she just bought a t-shirt with a mushroom on it that is that's a Joe move that's what I do yeah I do that I was like I'm in a full Luigi outfit and she just got a t-shirt that has a mushroom on I don't know this my son's obsessed with minions and he uh oh yeah so he was like uh he's like you know we're going to be minions and I was like okay cool I was like I'll be grw cuz I kind of look like Carell anyway I like I'll be G and he's like no you be a minion I'll be gr so he was like a little Gru and I was just just big and my and my my daughter was like oh I want to be a minion want to be a minion of course on October 30th she's like I want to be a a skeleton and it was like so now was the minions and a skeleton it just didn't make any sense we were all off brand that's hilarious yeah yeah I'm sure we'll do something again this year I don't know you're in the right age for it it's fun you know but now my daughter's starting to pick out her own outfits what she wants to be and she's super obsessed with horror too she was she was Pennywise last year really she I was like this is we got to tow it back I was like what's going on here what about blue what into anything else true oh man okay so you got the children's book going on uh standup comedy now as well so this was one of those uh things that just came out of Co shutting down production of Impractical Jokers you kind of stepped away from Jokers and then we're just kind of like what's another creative expression for me or how how did that why why stand up yeah because the bills don't stop coming so it's like got what am I going to do here was part of that but it was also so my team around me when I you know I decided you know it was personal stuff came up and I had to make a pivot my agent and my manager were like well you know you perform live your whole life you know you should try your hand and stand up see how it goes and I was like okay I was like I'm familiar with the format of course but I've never done it by myself I've always shared the stage with people I've been a collaborative Creator so I like all right let me try it so I tried it and I loved it and it went really well and I was like okay let me try to develop this format and I really appreciate it as the art form so for two and a half years I toured with my night of comedy and that would just be came I filmed my special and uh you know that is uh coming out September 17th or just came out September 17th depending on when this air is but yeah so that came out and that was really cool so now I'm doing it again because I had so much fun doing it and was like okay I was able to take the summer off be with the kids take care of other projects and different things I had going on and I was like oh all right so now we're back out tour with a brand new hour and uh yeah let's get into it tour is on uh is on sale now and I'm I'm just starting a tour in uh September with that and I'll do it all you coming through Vegas I will sweet I will be there and you better come out get bab we're friends we're friends we're friends we'll put you on the list now he like I know I know yeah yeah ask Joe ask Joe about I get I got to get you I gotta get you a kids book I gotta put you on the list I mean this is a very one-sided friendship we're going to be so far so far give me some time okay deal um I I did want to ask you about the beginning of jokers because uh this is something that that uh that I love when you just see a group of friends that get together and do just things that they find funny and then they convince somebody with money that it's also funny and they give them a chance to do it and then it goes really well right this happened a few times I feel like you know it's always sunny I felt like was that way just very low budget just a few friends filming some stupid [ __ ] turns into like 17 Seasons or something crazy like that um and then you have you know Workaholics was kind of the same way from what I understand Lon Island the guys from Ming up yep so so funny um so talk to me about the of Impractical Joker so cuz you guys were doing as I understand it you were doing improv together just to like try to get funnier or to be able to make it a career or just just a hobby just to just to have me for me it was always the fun and hobby there was different levels of it in the beginning I mean Sal I would say was probably the most serious about becoming ultimately a comic and in comedy um but we all enjoyed each other made each other laugh and enjoyed improv comedy so that's where it started and that helped us you know get your bones of being in front of people which it all comes down to sure sure also the mindset of improv is yes and very positive I think it helps when especially when you're in such the business of everybody judging you and it hard being with a core group of friends that you could rely on all those things I help help that so we started doing the Improv stuff you know and decade until anything really even happened you for a decade uh almost yeah 1999 we started our we did our first improv show March 2nd to uh March second or March 4th 20 this is after like practicing improv just the four of you together in my mom's basement we just literally got together in my mom's basement and just made each other laugh taped it watched ITB what did you do did you like have prompts or setups Yeah well yeah we would do we would think about stuff we would write stuff before we came in just to pull from like kind of pull from a hat as a prompt because we couldn't ask anybody you know thing so uh it's kind of like is anybody have a suggestion nobody's in there um yeah so we would do we would do that kind of different different exercises stuff was teaching improv had taught improv and made an improv troop down in Georgetown so we had a we read books together we went and saw UCB things like that you know so it was all we were in in the culture you know I used to go watch Rob rigle um oh really who's now a good friend of mine but I used to he's the best I used to watch him do stuff and he's unbelievable to watch to watch him do improv and that's how I got to know him and you know fast forward years later it's he's Rob rle he's just always so funny but I used to like go and study these people like that we used to go watch you know racio Sans am po they were all you know down doing UCB stuff and got Tina F you just watch them do their thing huh and you know if you pay attention and and treat them as professors yeah in your mind it's like you know you study comedy you figure out what's what were good moves what's not and um ever since then we just you know kept at it really and it was always on the side you know we even in the first season of jokers the three other guys had their day job still yeah like s was still doing his bartending at that point as I understand it essentially they basically say like we'll pick you up for a season yeah and then six episodes If It Go six episodes and you got six episodes to prove whether or not you get another season of this so a lot of people from what understanding way keep their jobs first season because you don't know what's going to happen until you get renewed for the second like you don't even know you know so like until you get your premiere date for your second season you don't even know what's going on because you can even film your second then they could like nah something new comes out or something who idea was the format for Jokers it was really a group effort I mean Murr had been in a meeting uh because he was in of development he was uh he was temping all the time but then he ended up working at the production company that made the show ultimately in La New York in New York always New York that was in our contract that we stay in New York we didn't want to yeah leave New York so we did the whole like you know they were like looking for a prank show like quote unquote like that was pretty big and we were like okay what's our version of how are we funniest and that's it so it really became out of like we kind of could sell this as a prank show but it's not really at all because just messing with each other right it's pranks on each other which is what makes it awesome that's why that's why it works I think people always you hear from us people all the time you got to show the reactions of the people you got to show there's no there's no reactions we always look like a crazy person on purpose because if people were getting mad or angry we would stop and be like this is not working this is not what we're out to do so if you just look like a crazy person in New York which is easy to do like that's it like we we're the the perfect spot for me was like is this guy what's up with it you know like kind of like laughing at you but trying to hold it in like that was a that was a sweet spot so there's so many I mean obviously YouTube has made like you know prank shows a dime a dozen but there's so many that do it so poorly because I just like if you're just going up and terrorizing people like it's just not funny like you know what I mean like it's like I guess congrats on having the balls to do stupid [ __ ] but also like that poor person like I would have swung at you too you know I mean just come up to people and scream in their face oh and then you don't get it I'm doing are you though why are you so upset what do you mean why am I so upset you yelled at me on the streets of New York my family's behind me I was about to throw down what are you talking about don't be a dick yeah that's that's just nature just don't like you deserve to get punched sometimes 100% and like if I if we ever got to that it was like the license to be able to say no is what kept the show in its right space yeah because you are choosing the good of somebody else's existence over you and that's what it's about right it was like okay all right I'm just going to suck for me I'm going to lose one hopefully I'll make it up in the next one and not get punished but I can't tell this woman that she looks pregnant like you're not going just not going to do it you know cuz at the end of the day we're you know we're nice guys we're friends and also it was a weird thing because it's such a weird dynamic because you would say something to your friend that you wouldn't want them to say cuz don't do that you're going to look like a jur or or or even the punishments like you think of this amazing thing it's like oh we going to get him so good did you guys come up with most of the punishments all of it all of them all it yeah and you know we had a writer room that would pitch us stuff and we would always integrate it together they've come up with some good stuff and we would help build on that but we were always had our hands and everything yeah but it was like always like a thing where it was like oh we should it's like oh I've so mad at you but I'm so proud of you as you're getting punished you know it's like I'm so mad I remember one of the ones I was like I was so so mad it was the one where I was eating boiled eggs and and it was like I had to eat the eggs in a so they book a conference room and they hid hardboiled eggs and I had to open them and find them and eat them dressed as a maintenance guy and they had a meeting going on and I'm just like digging around trying to find these eggs and it was so stupid I'm like this is so dumb but I heard them laughing so loud and I was like looking at the faces of the people and there was one woman like trying to take notes of the meeting and I'm on a ladder with just shell falling and she's like looking at me I'm like this is per this is exactly what the show is yeah it's just it's just interesting that you'd have that and there's a million moments like that I did over 300 episodes you know a decade of my life and it was just like crazy to just have those moment just build and build and build and you're like this is this is why it works are there any moments that are kind of like gift that keeps on giving type of a thing like like continuous jokes that exist between the four of you guys I mean up your ass to the left I mean it was something we just we said once somebody came up to us asking for directions way before anything was happening and I think it I think it was me I think it was all of us we were just sitting there or whatever in somebody ass direction we like yeah up your assing to the left up here and you're just going to go on there like oh thanks and they walked away and we [ __ ] lost it and then that it made its way through it's throughout our life whenever anybody asks you any of us not even even with each other anybody ask me anytime it's just up your ass to the left and it's so and then you have to follow up you're right up here and you're going go you got to do this right so then it just graduated into the show where it was like we're so good at doing this we would just do it to people's mouths as they were talking to us like people there's one shot in the show I remember s was in the middle of mass Square Park or some place and a lady walks over and she's like where's this he goes it's directly up your ass and to the left and the woman was like okay actually went to the left and it was like what is going on not register I just it just it was just something that just always stuck with us and now our people meet me at like the meet and greets after my show and be like where do I where do I go like when they're done like you go up your ass to the left over here like that people say it to me so I think that's something that transcends because it just was something we've always done you know which is it was great and and it actually became part of the show and then it became part of the culture of jokers and right it's just something that I would say is the gift that never yeah yeah and the Larry Larry bit Yeah well that got made on the show and then just became its own Beast like you can't even I mean literally I just thought the idea to yell at name Larry and then who would have thought like I always think like what if I yelled Frank yeah you know what I mean like it's so funny it was just like Larry seemed like the right word right the right time and then and it almost worked yeah almost worked almost kind I still can't find them so close I mean the sucket thing is something I get all the time too you know when I was Captain fatbell I told people to suck it and I get these little like kids at the meet and greets like can we do the suck it I'm like sure we have pictur of me like 12year olds I'm like your parents say like that's still with the whole family like suck it I'm like this is weird man what is going on uh um but yeah all that stuff just to be I mean you grew up you know um I don't know how old you are but like I'm 48 like so you grow up like you quote things whatever just to be the thing that people are quoting is so funny I remember one of the coolest things ever in my life and I don't know if it'll ever be top with a fan there was this kid I was at a Target and I'm just you know I got a baseball hat on I'm just like checking out whatever I get on the end of the line and the kid's with his mom and he start he's like 14 I guess and he starts yelling me he's like Larry whatever and I'm like I was like go this kid and then I realize his mom goes stop and I realized he's just doing it he doesn't know I'm there he's just doing it like to mess with his mother that's hilarious and he did it and then somebody like down the line like smiled like they knew what he was doing and I was like this is unbelievable right so I paid myself the self checkout and then I tap him on the shoulder I took my hat off I said he's not here and the kid went and I walked away and I was gone I was gone like no picture he can't prove that story you know like I was just gone it was one of the coolest things I was like wow the be what are the chances all that to line up believe no was going to believe you I was like like what else going in an insane asylum one day it was just so yeah I swear to God I saw him you know uh but yeah like just to have those moments is is you know very fortunate yeah I'm I'm unbelievable man unbelievable you you've done now I mean so many different Creative Expressions which one's your favorite uh movies I mean that's why I gotten the thing to be a writer director so to be able to have when you're thinking about one thing for so long and then you get off like you just start writing and I always loved writing so to write like scripts and scream plays and just realize how many ideas you have up there it's really fun you know TV show ideas and different different things that you produce I always loved behind the camera like that was I never wanted to end up in front of it it was just happened you know I I couldn't act I wouldn't want to act I don't go out to audition really like that's not my thing like I've done guest spots and stuff cuz it's fun you know um but I don't I I don't feel natural in that skin but I feel very natural behind the camera directing producing being part of that part of the machine and I became that on Jokers which is yeah you know for 10 years to be able to have my arms around that Behemoth was really trial by fire fire you know if you think about some of the stuff we do I remember we have the idea it's like hey uh we love Scar and S right and we're like okay let's start doing this we'll lock blah and then we're like What if there was a zombie apocalypse and we're like let's do it and then we like figured out how to like do it so we found the the location team found an underground sewer entrance to a basement of this abandoned building and in Brooklyn and we got it and it was multi- level and we cast all these and it was it was basically a short film that we were doing as part of the show and it was so many different pieces of it and different and when it was done I was like wow this is so cool so any idea we had was just like make it happen yeah and you people are like oh it's a funny show they tell each other what to do it's so it was so much more than that there was so much writing and idea development so I really enjoyed that part of it being behind the scenes for writing and directing are is there a genre that you typically find yourself writing in action comedy action comedy yeah action comedy is where I'm where I do I do do some horror stuff too actually cuz yeah CU it's fun to think about that kind of thing but I do uh I action comedy is really like you know I grew up like loving like the rush hour movies and you know a lot of buddy I say that's got to be one of my favorite genres for sure where but I mean I think that's a dude thing yeah well no I mean I think I think there's co- viewership to that more than straight action yeah no totally well it's like uh it's like watching a a dramedy or you know or like watching a romantic comedy versus watching like a drama romance you know it's like romantic comedy is going to pull from both sides a little bit more but still give what's your favorite romcom what do you think babe how many do I watch you don't watch much romcom I don't it's not it's not at the top of my genre list Love Actually is for me Love Actually oh yeah we watch it every Christmas love actually yeah I'm Legit trying to think right now romcoms that just friends be just friend just friend just friend up the top of the list somewhere for sure nice you get that one yeah yeah yeah because it is it is hilarious yeah but I always find myself like rooting against the couple like halfway through the movie you got love the break up the Vince Von Jennifer Anon one no that's a good one that's a good Vince Von is I mean he's so good he's so great so great no that's true that's true I'm definitely just not thinking of any right now yeah um but action comedy though is is a great job yeah yeah I love it I mean I I I I like you know a lot of them pop up that are fun now too I remember when I saw spy For the First Time The One meliss McCarthy that P did I was like I was like wow this is so it felt so fresh and well done and I was like I love that that is there and whenever I write I'm like I can't help but put comedy in even some my my horror stuff has got you know but that happens now with the comedic stuff you know there's a lot of comedy in in horror now which is great but uh I was like you know this is I can't help but make it funny you know so if I think of a great action premise I'm like the once I get to the dialogue part it's like you got to throw stuff in there well that's I think what makes Deadpool like Deadpool Wolverine that whole that whole but anything Marvel even I mean they they basically made comedies you know inside these crazy worlds yeah you kind of watch it in real time too especially with uh like Thor and stuff like Thor one was very serious he's a God and whatever and then like by Thor 4 he's just yeah he's just [ __ ] around the whole and you go the reverse with the Guardians of the Galaxy right Guardians of the Galaxy the first one comes out and the last one had more heart than most Pixar movies yeah yeah very true yeah oh man um okay so you have all this stuff going on family life is now it seems like also going really really well great um and I I know there's something you know we won't dive too much into the personal stuff but I do find a lot of the um advice that you gave on like relationships and stuff like that very helpful especially for people that are trying to accomplish things in their career because that's something that I've always you know I've I've never I've never struggled with ambition more than after I had my kids for sure you know what I mean cuz it's like before it was just like I'm I'm going I'm I'm there's always something motivating me there's all regardless of what it was like I'm always going to the next thing moveing the next thing and you have kids and you're like man I I feel like I'm doing all this stuff for them but also I'm not there yeah 100% what how do I keep accomplishing what I want to accomplish without you know being a stranger to my kids like how how how how have you found that like I said seems like in the last couple of years was like a big reset for you where you kind of found that balance if there is a balance I don't I mean that's the first thing I always say is like there's not a balance what you have to do is really just be okay with it you know you have to find how you're okay with it because like there's I I have friends that have just had kids and whatever and I say the biggest thing when you have a child is you instantly become aware of your mortality yeah your the clock is ticking it's like okay how am I going to I lost my father I was 19 years old still probably had the biggest impact in my life out of anybody in my life and I barely knew him you know the first couple years you don't even know anything putting your foot in your mouth figuring anything out right so then and I had him for you know I was just 19 when he passed you know so it's like it's like okay so for me I already come come at it with that lens it's like all right what do I got to do here for my daughter and son you know and then after you realize that's like okay now I got to get them all set up and you're never focusing you're always focusing on them but you're not necessarily focusing correctly like you're you're just you think you know you're doing yeah okay so I think the first step was always like okay you don't like you know I tell the story time I came home from tour right before Co right before the world shut down my daughter she's 5 years old the time I come home she comes over a big hug she goes daddy I love when you come to visit and I was like oh that's hysterical and also heartwrenching at the same time you know what I mean so I was like okay well something's wrong here you never have to guess what your 5-year-old is thinking 100% right so then you then you worry about the kids but you forget about your partner so that's a hard part too like you're getting pulled in so many directions and it's it's really hard I think now it's interesting to see how the world has looked at Men's mental health and it's coming to the spotlight a little bit more which is kind of fun because you never really thought about that at all everybody in our generation had a dad that you didn't my dad never picked me up from school my dad you know you know he helped me with my homework sometimes you know yeah it was just standard because that's like how it was yeah so now it's like to have dads be involved in different parts of it and and be able to be there for like School pickup and like you know I cook breakfast for them before school and then drop them all like it's just all that stuff you have your routine that you're part of their life helps fill part of it but the biggest thing is like the mental balance it's the mental balance it's like you have to be where you are you have to be where you are everything's going to keep going but you're in here for five minutes you have five minutes to play with your kids that's going to be the best five minutes of their day that's going to be the best five minutes you're going to remember when you go to bed say what was the best part of the day they be like when we played cards like that's it you know so be there for that five minutes in a way that you can be don't be on your phone checkin don't be like worrying about it cuz kids are smart too my my daughter will be like what's the matter and I don't think think anything's a matter and then when I think about it I'm like I'm not here you know sure yeah I think about that a lot where I you know kids are going to learn your behavior more than they're going to learn from what you tell them you know so that's they watch they see everything man soak it in like a sponge you know so as soon as they have a phone and a reason to ignore me they're just going to do that same [ __ ] to me put your phone down I'm ready to connect like well I was ready for eight years exactly now they're 13 they're talking to their friends or whatever it's like I know that day is going to come and it's going to come regardless of even if I'm amazing parent like but they'll be balance they'll be like I have nieces and nephews that are very much part of the family like they won't even be on their phones when we get together and hang out because we're having so much fun laughing and talking and that's a testament to the way they were raised you know and I know other kids that are like barely look up to their talk to their parents and it's just like you know but both kids are happy both kids are living their own existence you know I don't know how happy the parents are with the relationship with their kids but you know so it's just really you have to find out something that's a balance for all of you yeah the hardest part is I think the partner I mean that's what I had to find out was like with my wife it was like okay you have to also remember that you have you don't know what anybody's thinking I always say that all the time even if you think you have each other's Soul your soulmate or whatever no one knows what you're thinking you have to say what you're thinking you know because we do this thing as humans where we get mad that somebody we know and love the most in the world knows you should know that's the stupidest thing in the world to say to somebody you should know is the dumbest sentence it should be out of your mouth like when you say it you're wrong like they don't know you should know only if you told me is how I'm going to know right so I'm not talking about the huge big things of course you know it's wrong like but I mean like you should know like if it's a little thing that's bugging you you got to catch it when it's little man yeah so much easier to squash a bug well you said something too that was interesting because I something that I resonate with where you you're gone so much you're doing so much you have so much on your plate that when you are together you don't want to bring up the little thing that that you don't want to talk about vacation time right vacation yeah it's like smile yes exactly we only got us a little bit of time so like let's not r it by talking about serious things three days together happy you forget about the four days apart miserable yeah right like that's the worst thing that's when the damage is being done because you have nobody to talk to you're by yourself and you're thinking about all the things that are wrong right when you have time to think about it yeah you know so I think uh I think it's really really important it's a big lesson learned for me and it's a it's a way to a happier existence I think you know it also reliev some pressure off yourself just know you're not going to get it right you're not it's fine nobody does you know that was probably the hardest thing I think as a parent when I when we first had our kids was just realizing that like even if I dedicated the next 20 years of my life to being the absolute best parent that I possibly could be and ignored everything else in my life I would still [ __ ] it up yeah for sure they would still be in a they would still be in a therapy session as a 26-year-old complaining about my dad was around too much oh what the exactly exactly he loved me so much it's ridiculous I was smothered by his love like godamn he provided he protected how dare he not give me any Independence and then you and then you got to make money right you need you got to provide for the family in a real way too like or as a unit or whatever like money's got to be made by the family so how's that happening the pressure of that you have to be a little selfish at the end of the day because even like it's even more for the kids at that point too because it's like if I don't if I don't work and and make money enough to where like we're good for the rest of our lives then like guess who's going to be taking care of my ass when I'm 70 they're working at they're working at the whole trying to take care make money help you pick up the night shift so yeah it's definitely one of those things you I I've struggled with a lot is like I've like I said I've never I've never felt my ambition leaving my body as much as I did when I had kids because I was just like man I just want to just want to hang out yeah you know I want to be it's it's I I would say it's your focus taking over instead of your ambition right because ambition we're just chasing this thing that we think we have to do it's like oh I got make this thing Happ you know but then you look at the kids you're like oh I did it it's like here they are like this is what it's about for me right you know especially if you like your if you got [ __ ] kids you're like get me out here I got to go to work I'm sorry I'm so sorry but I got to go yeah yeah I'll be back in a month I got a podcast in Alaska I got a deal for a six Monon thing yeah I hear the milk is like a couple states away gotta go I'll be back don't wait up oh man okay so when you were when you were coming out of jokers because all something that you decided to do right like this was like all elective it wasn't like most like most people when their television career ends it's because contract didn't get you were more like hey I got it's a different thing than the I got to shuffle my priorities and and focus on some other things for a while was there like a was there like a period of um I guess like grief for from leaving the show like something like that that has you mour you're mourn the you mourn not being part of such a a thing that you Lov because it was going well it's not like it was like yeah I was yeah jumping out a sink of boat or anything like it was more like you know I just uh you mourn that part of it like going to work with your friends every day and laugh and having a great time is is great you know and then realizing like I think more it's like all of a sudden that gets replaced with okay like what now you know so that that takes over and you get into a different spot and then in my personal life you know I had different things that were Weighing on me you know going through all that and it's like all that for the first time ever in my life at 46 years old I lived alone like I had my own apartment never I always had a roommate lived at home Liv with Bessie had the family you know so that's a very dark weird spot to sit in this CL in the what do you call that in this apartment you never even thought you'd want or have and you just had to do it and you're there by yourself and then you're just like oh God this is really weird so you deal you deal with that a lot and um I think that's probably the part of the process it was the most it wasn't more like you know you it was a morning you know it's like it's like this is I built this thing you know I was part of it wasn't like I got cast on it and it was like oh I did it was great I did three seasons of show you know I was on I was on Cheers for three you know no it's like I created built this thing worked my heart and soul for three of my best friends yeah and just had this thing and left all the time and just you know so but then you know you just have to deal with a lot of the which is funny it's just like always like uh are are they still friends that's all that stuff all it's like yeah we're just not friends from work anymore you know what I mean like you see each other social media helps with that stuff where you're able like people see us together like oh they still know each other you know SS on my podcast I'm on theirs or whatever you know were friends for like two decades before the show I know yeah it's like yeah doesn't stop we're friends at this point we're friends like 38 years like it's insane it's like 32 years you met when you were like we met 14 years old yeah so I'm 48 so that what's that 36 years right high school or something you guys High School all went to High School freshman year in high school so 32 years I know these guys which is longer than most marriages in America you know I mean so it's like it's insane but uh yeah I think that was probably what I I dealt with the most yeah yeah just a period of just like man what do I do next but I think hearing about that I think is really relatable helpful for a lot of people because that happens in so many ways all the time for so many who just don't feel like they have a lot of options you know what I mean or just kind of whatever they get fired or something unexpected happens and now they're sitting there like man what do I what do I do you know you know you kind of it's like a loss of identity at a deep it's like who you know who who who are you what do you what do you do and you just got to go back to the roots okay it's like what do I want to do all right I know i' like to make people laugh how do I do it now you know and then it's like like I said before like the bills are coming so like all right I got to make money what am I what am I going to do here you got to do what you got to do yeah you got to figure out the next step and and figure it out and then try to get everything aligned it's like all right I got to get this family back together I got to figure out what I want to do and all of it just it's just weird because it all is a tornado and it just is all going on I I was talking to my therapist a lot and talking about how it felt and it was like I felt like I was covered in rocks right but you could just you could move one rock at a time right and that was really what I had to do I had to be like okay let's work on this one thing and get a little bit more light in here and once you did that I mean that was my process yeah you know so I will say the biggest thing I learned though with anything when you're dealing with anything to anybody that feels overwhelmed like you don't have to go through anything alone The Human Experience is something we all have you know we all have the good times the highs the lows whatever and everybody can relate to you in some sort of capacity so going through it alone is you're just making it harder for yourself that's I mean that's one of the reasons I started I have this show is just because I mean we're actually like a legit epidemic of loneliness that's causing physical issue like this is all mind-blowing stuff to me I don't understand I don't understand how science works you know what I mean like I'm not not that into it but I also like read these this came out from like the US s like Surgeon General that uh loneliness loneliness is worse for your physical health not even just mental health physical health than smoking like 14 cigarettes a day or something like that and in the US is we've never been asow lonely as we reportedly are today which is really ironic because we're also the most actually connected than we've ever been but it also I think just proves that human connection is more about in-person actual connection rather than like oh I follow you or like we're friends Facebook orever FaceTime you yeah like exactly yeah so we were just everybody start smoking that's the message as long as you do it with somebody else yeah smoke share cigarette you guys got it cigar that's going to be the clip great great awesome job on the podcast cut all this out don't smoke kids please don't smoke it's bad just don't smoke alone I think that's really what we're saying yeah no it is interesting I feel in the loneliness it's it's heavy man it really is it is you know that's why I could tell while you made a podcast to make friends I was desperate I was like what am I going to do I'll just make a podcast to meet some people people have to spend time with me we have like 45 minutes so we got we got to figure it out you for friendships you know that's one thing I thought about a lot recently with the show too is like as adults how do you how do you make friends that's the number one question I get in my podcast to Cool Moms so I have a podcast Two Cool Moms where me and my friend Steve Burn talk for a half hour about like you know whatever and then we take fan submitted dilemmas and people write in all the time and one of the number one questions I get I I've said this one other things is how do I make friends as an adult it's like the biggest query because I think now like you said a lot of people during the pandemic and the way our world divided lost a lot of friends yeah and now they're trying to meet people and I work is more virtual 100% you're not you're like what are you doing right so I I just always say you got to remember that every best friend started as a stranger and you need to just say hello to people it's hard because like even if you're not comfortable I'm an introvert or whatever you need to if you are having a problem of not making friends you have to get out of your own way and say hello to the stranger yeah now I'm not saying to go out there and talk to strangers and ask them for cigarettes cigarettes cigarettes stranger kind of light you know but uh I will say that like there is something to getting out of your own way and putting yourself in scenarios where you'll be able to meet people it's a big part of it you're not going to meet people at home binging the latest show on Netflix like by yourself like you're going to have to do what you have to do and just get out there and try to meet people yeah that's why I encourage people to go to like events that's why I love Live Comedy I love I have so many people come to my show alone and leave where you you have something in common right there you're sitting in the same theater watching the same person that brought you out Music Live Comedy any live event is great and it's not get over it's not weird to go alone it's not part of a community like that you had to get out of your own way just go and you're going to talk to somebody you're going to start to talk about somebody about what's going on well especially when you're in an area where you know beyond shadow of a doubt that you have something in common yeah like you didn't just randomly show up together to this same comedy night to watch somebody do comedy it's like there's probably a reason that you're there which gives you a really great start to a conversation cuz like you're not just like out at a random bar and you have no idea if you anything what going to talk about oh you drink water too yeah no way you breathe awesome we're buddies I think the big thing is like you have the you know have you seen them before you could say that to anybody in that room and not be weird and that's right you know how long you been watching Jokers whatever did you watch there's so many there's so many entrance points to the conversations that make it less awkward yeah you know what I mean that was another cool thing I loved about the show was it built a community of fans a mega force of awesome fans that I'm I love and it's I've made seen so many friendships and know so many groups of friends that have happened because of the show like personally know them like we've done our cruises we've done these things I see people come out to the shows together people fly together to come see it's like so crazy they from different states and they've developed a friendship just based on that and that's that's another reason I love comedy so much um that's like the coolest way yeah to connect with people to me anyway like and it's the coolest impact to have from like an like influencer you know whatever actor perspective is to is is comedy to me cuz it's like it's such a unifying thing you know I mean like you're not no you know shade of these people but you're not like a political pundit who's like really well known for vitri all you know what I mean or like one one group will love you and adore you and worship you but then another group is like you know what I mean like I hate you're if you're in that space right they either don't know who you are know who you are and think you're okay or love you like it's like there's not right you get some hate from some comedians right they get some hate and stuff but I think a lot like for you for you guys specifically though for for the Jokers it's like how do you hate the show they didn't know us or they absolutely loved us like that there was no middle ground either way it was but the big thing that I love about especially now too being by myself people were like I didn't know you did stand up right so now people come out and see me do stand up and they become a fan in a different way but even with like Jokers or or my stand up people come out be like they didn't know who you were and they they're like huh I told you he was I told you they were funny I told you he was funny so there's like a badge of honor to show people and introduce people to Comedy because it's something that's going to make them feel good and you did that for your friend like think about that right like that's so great like you're going to find this hilarious yeah it's like recommending like a great movie where it's like you know it's something and then when you what do you think it's sending the meme in the group chat 100% crushing it right getting the Haas like I've done it I dro the phone walk away get a couple laugh emojis you're like oh man it's like the unexpected hug from the kid like you didn't even realize you did something that they made them want to hug you you know what I mean like it's really it's just something to that and that connection you know that those are the best the hey Daddy what's up I love you yeah what do you need what's going on you want a popsicle no just love you okay great okay nice nice nice I'm on my to what you do does Mom know does Mom know what happened around for some mess somewhere yeah exctly you go up there you're like you know they they said they love me what happened what's going on is there a fire burning somewhere my kids and my wife says she loves me too why your mom love me Mom said she loves me what's going on oh man um okay so anything on the horizon that you haven't done yet that you're like hm I think I might want to try my hand at that uh direct a future film that's that's the number one thing I'll be focusing on and I'm hoping to do that in 2025 I'll put it out here here let's let's do it let's put it out to the world yeah that's what I want I would love and since we're friends you can cast me the we yeah the third thing you got out of this um yeah I think I think directing a director yeah directing a film would be is is would be something that's like ah this would be really great to do how do you even get into that world for somebody if somebody's listening watching right now that's just like this is totally Greek to them but they love TV they love film they love all these things and they're thinking like how do you even get a show developed how how are we even in talks to like get Impractical Jokers on the air how do you go like I want to direct a movie and then get in contact with a producer and have a script and like how does how does all this stuff come together it all comes down to just sticking to it right I mean we I used to laugh all the time I was like we're an 18-year overnight success right people like who are these guys oh they four they friend yeah you know how much we tried and failed three failed Pilots for television multiple you know tries get the movie made which didn't happen then finally got it made uh the Impractical Joker movie so like it's it it's really just you have to Outlast the nose you to just keep going against the no and then eventually you know something will go you also like have to do what you need to do to educate yourself to be able to do it right I can't just be like I want to direct a movie like I have to learn how to direct I need to know how to direct so I've spent my years like learning that art form and you know trying my hand on doing just little things here and there um but if you're just chasing your passion I used to do comedy it was my 5 to 9 right from 9: to 5 I was selling baby stuff and from 5 to 9 I was working on my passion which was I was writing I was editing we were doing comedy shows so I think that's a big part of it it's like you just got to stick stick with it and you hear it all the time it becomes like cliche but it's not yeah like so many people give up so many people like I want to do this oh it didn't happen I just heard something very interesting I forgot who said it a famous actor was like I'm GNA I think it was Brian Cranston I'm going to give myself I'm going to give myself uh three years out in LA and if it doesn't happen then I'll know it's for me and he's like don't go save your time he's like you should go because you want to act and you should go and you should go and fail and fail and fail for 10 years yeah and then then if 10 years you don't want to do it you know you've never wanted to be an actor and I was like that's such an interesting perspective yeah um we're just talking about this before we hit the record button about how many artists there are who are insanely talented but never actually catch a break or never get to do the thing um and my wife and I were actually talking about this and I was like you know I look at that and a lot of times my my my heart hurts because I'm like God they're so talented how does nobody see this but also at the same time I'm like you know it's not a terrible case scenario for a lot of people if they actually love the craft right to just do it I'm going to play in this bar to exactly ex having a great night and they can make a living doing that it's like I don't have to go work at Walgreens like people are going to people are going to pay me to come play the guitar and this coffee shop like yeah they may not be famous but they may make 70 80 grand a year or what whatever it is you know what I mean to be able to do the thing they before that level if they are working at the Walgreens and then at night they get to do a couple gigs they come back to the W next day been like oh that's what I love and want to do how do I get there it fuels it all it's all part of it you know yeah I mean you're more likely to make it later is is my is my broader Point bring that up to say that like even if you're you know eating the [ __ ] sandwich for 12 years it's like yeah but God it's fun you know it's like well that's not a bad case scenario like you didn't lose like you know what I mean like that's not an l about the people that got famous and when they got famous like think about all the famous people and when they got famous a lot of it happens here in this part of their life right they you your Justin Bieber and whatever you know that that happened early on you know but I think there's a way few and far between most child actors you can't base your goals on those out not literally one in a million shots you know but then if you look at it like you know it's like child actors a lot of child actors fall off why because they fell out in love with their craft it was a job but a lot of people who join acting in their life start later in life or have started because they made a decision that that's what they wanted to do and that was calling to them so it's like a little it's it's interesting way to look at it all yeah and then the people typically who are searching just for the fame are willing to do stuff that makes them not good people to be around anyway or famous in flame out yeah it's like oh yeah remember that guy who did that oh oh yeah yeah what was his name yeah exactly they just bounc because they're like that was that was terrible yeah I I it's it's interesting like and nobody has the answers right we don't know it happens sometimes it doesn't happen sometimes you know but try to live a good life I think is really just the point of it all do it you're going to make you smile we only got a limited time here so you might as well do it yeah pursue the things that are going to be give you enjoyment in the process of doing them I think I heard Tom S sigura say that actually I think it was on one of the special specials he said that he was like um he said I think I just realized what he was talking about when he when he moved out to LA to pursue standup full-time and he was just like I think just realized that you'll you'll all you'll get more enjoyment pursuing something even if you don't get it then you will attaining something that you didn't want with you know just like go the that you actually want to do you're probably enoy chase you might even enjoy the chase more and failing than you would succeeding it like you know yeah you know because I have an accounting degree and I can't imagine my life if I was an accountant in a cubicle like nothing gets accounts but that's just not me like I was like I know I knew it as I got the degree I'm like well this was a mistake if there were something that's like directly opposite of what you do for a living it's balancing a ledger trying to get tax season done yeah oh man well dude thanks so much for doing this I know you got other stuff got that you got going on I know you got some shows tonight that you're doing here in Nashville um so we'll get you out get you going to those things but uh dud thanks so much for doing this uh where where can people go uh learn a little bit more grab some more information from you my uh my website joat official.com is really where all you get everything but of course Instagram is where I'm most active it's joeore and then um children's book coming out children's books coming out get tickets my new tour that's out watch my special special's com um and uh where's the special going to be the specials are going to be on YouTube on 100 pound gorilla's website and on on their YouTube and then uh I think that's everything yeah the special that's oh and listen to my podcast Too Cool Moms Two Cool Moms there you go there you go Joe G thanks so much for doing this man we're officially friends we're officially friends I mean yeah as long as you as long as you're on board yeah for sure for sure you seem cool enough um well thanks for doing this if you have not checked out anything that Joe's done you might be living under a rock or something like that um there's about 10 seasons worth of hilar hilarious and practical jokers can go binge watch um I promise you will definitely laugh and have a good time with whoever you watch it with um it's got the podcast got kids get a copy of his children's book thank you so much for tuning in we'll catch you guys on the next episode remember to leave every relationship better than you found it peace out