The Most Brutal Punishment In Impractical Jokers History

Since its debut in 2011, "Impractical Jokers" has been making audiences burst out into laughter one off-the-wall prank after the other. The reality series follows four lifelong friends — Brian Quinn, James Murray, Sal Vulcano, and Joe Gatto — competing in various dares, with each "joker" rated on their performance. The joker with the lowest rating will then be subject to a "punishment" that sees the other jokers command the loser from a remote location and create bizarre scenarios meant to act as an elaborate form of embarrassment that involves the unsuspecting public. These bonkers situations have ranged from Quinn giving his parents a colorful lecture on the birds and the bees to Vulcano insulting kids in a talent show to Murray taking cigarettes out of smokers' hands. The gang has been putting their hearts and souls into crafting their outrageous brand of humor since high school and have taken their act all the way from their childhood basements to a theatrical feature film in 2020.

It's hard to look away from such wild mayhem. But, at the end of the day, it's all in good fun. No matter how harsh a treatment the boys put each other through, their love and camaraderie shines through and glues both them and their fans together. But, even with the best intentions, sometimes certain pranks take a turn no one can see coming.

In Season 7, Episode 6, "Turning the Tables," Brian Quinn is given a particularly gut-wrenching punishment. While teaching an art class of mothers and their children, the others task poor Quinn with taking a red paintbrush and drawing a big "X" on one of the canvases. When he initially refuses, the "Impractical Jokers" crew decide to amp up the punishment — he now must mark each and every canvas in the room with a big red "X" (via YouTube). 

Quinn goes about the task slowly and painfully, each canvas getting harder to mark up than the last. The mothers and children look about in confusion, not quite knowing what to make of the strange scenario. The others in the back go ballistic at the scene, with Sal Vulcano even covering his eyes at a few points. Near the end, a particularly vocal child does all in her power to prevent Quinn from going through with the action, but eventually, he does so anyway. While doing the deed, she remarks, "There's no words to describe how much I don't like you right now," to which Brian replies, "I don't like me right now."

It's not often the guys get this uncomfortable with a prank, but then again, how many times do they involve innocent children in their devious plans? The slow nature of the scene fully allows the humiliation to sink in, with Quinn looking especially nauseous by the end of it. And who can blame him? 

Fans have gone on to deem this "Impractical Jokers" punishment as one of the most (if not the most) brutal of punishments dished out by the show, which is saying a lot. The YouTube video showcasing the moment is full to the brim with comments from shocked fans, many of whom seem to agree it's tough watching Brian Quinn paint those red "X"s. One such YouTuber is TheNameisEthan, who comments, "This was probably the toughest punishment I've ever seen."

For some, the punishment went so far that it becomes impossible to get any level of enjoyment from watching. A comment from YouTube user ishdakfgp touches on this sentiment. They write, "No joke, I could not watch this video. This is the worst punishment by far." Part of what makes the scene so hard to watch is the painfully slow-burn nature of the act that lets Quinn (and the viewers, by extension) absorb every last awkward second. YourPalBadger notes the grueling manner of the prank when they comment, "Turned a 4-minute video into a half-hour video with the pauses I had to take."

At the end of the day, this punishment, as with all the others in the show, are always done in good fun. But with it, it doesn't change the fact that this is a moment that will live on in infamy as the show's most savage moment. It seems Quinn isn't the only one getting punished this time.