There have been a lot of pranks on Impractical Jokers, and one almost resulted in the death of one of the Jokers. The unashamed pranksters of Impractical Jokers have been delighting viewers, confusing civilians, and embarrassing one another since 2011. For many seasons of Impractical Jokers, the members of The Tenderloins, James “Murr” Murray, Brian “Q” Quinn, Sal Vulcano, and Joe Gatto, have been putting one another in uncomfortable and contrived situations.
Though he’s lost the games least often, Joe Gatto has endured his share of punishments on Impractical Jokers. In fact, because he only rarely gets punished, it sometimes seems like the other three Jokers pull out all the stops when it comes to getting him back. A long-time member of The Tenderloins comedy troupe, Joe is one of the wilder members of the crew. He was always willing to take on any challenge with an impressive amount of confidence, and his departure from the show in the middle of season 9 left a big hole.
Joe Gatto Almost Died Filming Impractical Jokers’ 200th Episode
Gatto Actually Left The Show To Spend More Time With His Family
When Joe announced his departure, some may have assumed he was leaving because of something that happened on the show. Joe would have good reason, considering he nearly died in the 200th episode of Impractical Jokers. There have been a few episodes of Impractical Jokers where they’ve teamed with the Nitro Circus crew, an action sports collective led by Travis Pastrana, which had a two-season show on MTV from 2008-2009 but now goes on live tours.
These episodes often involve the Impractical Jokers performing physical stunts. In an interview on the All Good Things podcast, Joe discussed how one of the stunts nearly cost him his life,
“I almost died literally when we were filming one of them. We did, they made us do this thing for the Nitro Circus, where we had to do like every 100th episode. This 200th episode, where we did this whole thing with the Nitro Circus, so I went first because, you know, I had to set the tone. So, I go first. My mini bike breaks down, so I’m like I’ll just run it. So I run as fast as I can, as it’s live TV, and I just run it and I literally almost have a heart attack, and they had to take me underneath. And during it, I’m trying to recuperate during the whole thing. I’m literally with doctors. They have me on oxygen underneath the thing, and I was like I gotta do something here, so then I just stopped.”
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Episode 200 happened in season 8, so it wasn’t out of the question that this was the reason for Joe stepping away. However, that isn’t the reason for his departure. Instead, Joe revealed on his Instagram on December 31, 2021, that he would not be returning to the series because he had to deal with some family issues, namely that he and his wife Bessy were separating, and he felt it was important to focus on his children. His last episode was season 9, episode 17, “Moist Richard”.
He made sure to mention his love for his Impractical Jokers co-stars in the post, writing,
“Outside of my family, my relationships with Murr, Q and Sal have been the most important in my life. I know they will continue to make the world laugh.”
It was never going to be easy to replace Joe on Impractical Jokers and his departure fundamentally changed the dynamic in the series that always depended on the chemistry between the four leads. Instead of introducing a new fourth member, The Tenderloins have brought in guest celebrities in Joe’s stead. Having a new person join the Jokers every week makes each episode feel more surprising, but the back-and-forth between the original crew was one of the selling points of the show, and that is missing without Joe Gatto.
Impractical Jokers Guest Star & Champion Sumo Wrestler Byamba Passed Away In 2020
Byamba Was One Of The Preeminent Sumo Wrestlers In The World
Even before Joe Gatto left Impractical Jokers, the show still had many guests come through. World-renowned Mongolian sumo wrestler Ulambayaryn Byambajav, or Byamba, appeared in season 4, episode 11, “Pseudo-Sumo”, as part of Joe’s punishment. Joe, dressed as a baby, took on the hulking Byamba in front of a roaring crowd and was, of course, easily defeated. Sadly, Byamba died on February 28, 2020.
His tribute page says that Byamba passed away after a protracted illness. The page describes his many accomplishments, including winning four World Sumo Champion titles and performing in over 1000 live sumo exhibitions. He was an incredible athlete and performer and his appearance on Impractical Jokers ensured a whole new audience got to experience the fun-loving kind of person he was.