Syracuse University Welcomes Comedian Joe Gatto with University Union

By Mia Gonzalez

On March 4th, Joe Gatto was in Syracuse, New York for his comedy show. His career skyrocketed after starting a show with his best friends: James Murray, Brian Quinn, and Sal Vulcano. Although Gatto is no longer on Impractical Jokers, he continues his comedy around the world.

Once arriving at the venue, there was an electric feeling from each audience member excited to see Joe Gatto. Before coming out, stand up comedian, Mark Jigarijan (Jiggy), started the show with a few comedy bits. Additionally, he spoke about his relationship with Joe Gatto and how honored he was to be there. Once finishing his comedy set he was introducing Joe Gatto. But the crowd was cheering and applauding so loudly that you could not hear Jiggy introduce Gatto.

Joe Gatto appears out of the curtain and the crowd stands up and continues their loud cheerful applause. Gatto comes running out throwing candy to the crowd on the lower bowl of the auditorium. He began his show by introducing himself and his incredible career. He spoke about his remarkable television series Impractical Jokers that contains over three hundred episodes and speaks about his favorite skits he has done on the show. He mentions that one of his favorites of all time is in 2018 when his castmates made Gatto pretend to be a manager at a local restaurant and break tables and in 2017 when Gatto lost a challenge and was forced to be in a play and his character was a genie.

He continued his show with multiple comedy bits explaining how people recognize him in public. The first one he speaks about is when he was recognized as Steve Carrel- an actor who plays a vital role in Despicable Me, Beautiful Boy, and The Office. For instance he mentions at least three times he got recognized in public- at the Fresh Sandwich spot “Jimmy Johns” as Steve Carrel, on the New York subway when a girl called out his name, and when he was chasing down his dog on his street.

For his hour of comedy the entire auditorium continued with laughter and applause. His big gestures, facial expressions, and interactions with the audience will continue to be a memorable experience for all those who attended. Once leaving the stage the crowd continued to laugh and talk about the jokes and skits he spoke about during his comedy show, and will continue to be remembered show for the audience.