Impractical Jokers' Murr Says Sal's Kitten Punishment Was The Easiest
After having been on the air for over a decade, the cast of "Impractical Jokers" has been through almost every form of torture and humiliation that could be allowed on television. But even then, not all punishments need to pack an extravagant punch to be effective.
When asked on a 2018 Web Chat episode about which punishments were the easiest for him, James "Murr" Murray, while feeling none of his punishments were particularly easy, is quick to think of the easiest one on the show in general. "I'll tell you the easiest punishment in the show's history," he answers. "It was putting kittens on Sal's chest."
The punishment in question from the show's sixth season saw Sal Vulcano be forced to face his fear of cats by strapping the Joker down to a platform and allowing kittens to crawl all over him. While Murray may have seen the prank as simple to set up, being surrounded by such a flurry of felines was no walk in the park for the cat-fearing Sal.
Sal's punishment was sweet, sweet payback for Q
Being surrounded by kittens may be a dream come true for many, but Sal Vulcano's seemed more like a living nightmare. Occurring on Season 6, Episode 4, Sal is brought into a familiar warehouse room — the same that, in the season previous, saw Brian "Q" Quinn get trapped in while having tarantulas crawl all over him. Q, who felt Sal was having a little too much fun with the punishment, aimed to return the favor by making Sal get up close and personal with some new furry friends.
The team began their torture experiment with a bevy of five-week-old kittens who Sal was afraid of and thought looked very ugly. Things only get more intense when the team brings in a crate full of adult cats. Much to Sal's dismay, a seemingly endless number of cats are thrown in. Unlike the kittens, the more agile cats move around and place themselves all over Sal's body, with a pair that get in a brief skirmish, particularly upsetting him. The punishment ends with the team setting a piece of meat and some cat treats all over Sal, turning off the lights, and having a person in a cat suit feel Sal all over.
Such a simple punishment may not seem all that terrible compared to some of the other Jokers' notorious pranks, but it nevertheless had Sal flashing through his nine lives.