Scheananigans with Scheana Shay - Joking Around with the #1 Guy in the Group

Episode Date: November 24, 2023

This week, Scheana is joined by funnyman Joe Gatto of “Impractical Jokers” fame, with her sister Cortney on the co-host mic. They get into all of your burning questions: why did Joe leave the show, would he return, what was his worst moment while filming? They also discuss tips on avoiding abduction by your rideshare driver & both share spoilers on new projects in the works. Plus, Joe reveals what group he is especially popular with…prisoners!? Tune in to find out more!  Follow us: @scheana @scheananigans Co-host: @cortney.erinGuest: @joe_gatto @gattopupsandfriends Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.Visit Pillsbury.com for weeknight dinner recipes as easy as Fill. Roll. Bake.Start all your shopping trips at rakuten.com or get the Rakuten app to start saving today.It's golf. It's not golf. It's Topgolf. Head to topgolf.com/GOODASGOLD to book a bay and Come Play Around.Produced by Dear MediaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The following podcast is a Dear Media production. I host the types of conversations that most of us only have in therapy. RealPod brings you the heart-to-heart moments we all need to be having and will leave you feeling comforted no matter where you're at in life. So leave the filters at the door because it's time to get real. Tune into RealPod wherever you get your podcasts. from vanderpump rules to motherhood and everywhere in between it's time to catch up with sheena shea this is shenanigans and now here's your host, Sheena Shea. Hello, everyone. Welcome back to shenanigans. I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving. It is Black Friday. Be sure to check out shop.dearmedia.com if you want to get some of my new merch. They're doing discounts today, this weekend. Don't know how long it's going on for, so I would recommend hopping on today.

Act now if you want the deals is really the message. Yes. Without further ado, I have someone sitting across from me who has been a dream guest of mine since I started this show on a TV show I have watched for as long as I can remember. We've got my sis on the co-host mic. Hi, guys. Because she made this all happen. Courtney, please introduce our amazing guest. We have Joe Gatto. Hey, I'm here.

I did it. Thank you. So, Impractical Jokers is a show that I have been watching for so long, so many years. But in the pandemic, when we were staying at my house in Palm Springs, it kind of just became a part of our regular daily routine where we knew if we put on TruTV at whatever time, it was just going to be a marathon. We've seen the movie.

My sister also works with Miss Paula Abdul, as I'm sure you guys have talked about. I love Paula. Forever my girl. Yes. No, literally. So good. So this has just, yeah, been, I, I hoped a long time coming. I don't

know if you remember, but we briefly met at a chargers game last season and I got your manager or someone's info and then they never reached out and I was like, damn, maybe I should have not just given him my info. I should have got it. But yeah, that always gets lost in the shuffle. It's always better to take it in your own hands. That's how I've literally met everybody that I've been a fan of. Basically, just either seeing them life and just being like people get so thrown off when like somebody of, you know, is like, hey, here's my number. And they're like, what? I'm like, no, this is my cell phone.

You're like, you just give it like you got to do it. Yeah. So I realized that I shouldn't have just given him my information. I should have gotten his. I didn't even know you had given any information. And then it took court coming to see me perform. I went to Joe's comedy show. Love it. Second time I've seen you live. And I know my sister had mentioned in the past, like, I would love to have you on the podcast. So I was like, it's a shot in the dark. You know, I'm just going to say

it. What's the worst that could happen? And it worked out. You're like, yeah, Monday. And I was like, oh my God, wait, it's all happening so fast. I don't waste our time. No, I loved it. It worked out so perfectly. We already had studio time booked and I really prefer doing these in person. So I had Murr on my podcast back in, it might have been 2020, 2021. No, I think I was pregnant. I think it was 2020.

You were pregnant in both years. I was, yeah. Super, super pandemic times, but it was over Zoom. But just having all of you guys, anyone who could be a part of the show and his team had It was, yeah. Super pandemic times. But it was over Zoom. But just having all of you guys, anyone who could be a part of the show, and his team had reached out. I was like, oh, my God, we got to get him. He said he was also going to ask you to do the show. And now it finally has happened.

No one asked me ever besides her, and now I'm here. I mean, it just goes to show you, if you want something to happen, just send your sister. Time is everything. I would argue that this isn't like the first time something like this has happened to. Where you like something and I was like, I got it. I love that sibling love. I'm tight with my sisters. So I help my sister out. So that's good. Yeah. Well, this is manifesting at its finest. You've tweeted me before. I remember I saw it and I sent it to her and her boyfriend. I was like, Oh my God, Joe tweeted me. He knows me. I'm glad that we finally got to sit down. It's so nice to meet you. Me too. You as well.

So a lot of people sent in questions. I'm sure you could guess what the number one question was. Am I going back to the show? Yeah. Why you left? Are you ever going back? So we don't have to get into that yet unless you want to just jump right in. Or at all. yet unless you want to just jump right in but i have so one thing i do whenever there's someone

i know i eventually want to get on the podcast i just start making a list of things in my phone and there were several things that when i had more on the podcast we didn't necessarily get to answer all of them so so i'm getting mars left over you didn't necessarily get to answer all of them. So I've got Mer's left over. You didn't even do any fresh thought. Sorry, Mer was prepped for you specifically because you tweeted me and I asked you to do my podcast and you were like, let's get into it or whatever you said. But then Mer's team had reached out and I was like, well, I kind of already have the show prepped for Joe, but some of this could work for Mer. So these are the ones that I still had for you. I honestly, I don't even know where to start because it's like now you're here and I have so many questions, but how many

seasons was it that you did? I did nine and a half. Okay. Nine and a half. Do you guys plan these pranks together? Do you sit down with production? How many just off the cuff things, like what goes into just making a season it's a mix of everything it's like you know we're comedians we've been comedians a long time comedians for friends first and then comedians as well so it all comes together in a different ways of things a lot of it came just from hanging out and we were like i want to be funny if we tried this it all comes at the beginning especially was just social experiment how long can i hold this person's hand will that stranger hug me what happens if i do this? And it just compounded. And then it started getting a little bit more

goal oriented where we're like, okay, because we didn't always just do the earpiece thing. It was always like, let's try to, if you look at the numbers, actually, percentage wise, it's probably pretty low of the things. We just did a bunch of like challenges that we made up. So then one, we fell in hard on this thing of trying not to laugh. And it spawned so many different challenge ideas where you had to try to keep it together which is fun and then the focus group stuff and all these other things preparing stuff for each other so it was really fun every season to sit down six weeks and do pre-pro of all right what do we do in the season and then the punishment stuff was always

just like it would go one of two ways we'd all sit in a room and be like okay here's some stuff we could do we know we would lose a certain amount each time. Then there'd be stuff that's specific to a person. If they can, he's definitely afraid of heights. He's going to jump out of a plane, you know, things like that. You know, for me, it normally came down to, they just love to make me make them laugh. So whatever they thought I would do funny, really, my stuff really wasn't about embarrassment. I really don't get embarrassed that easy. So it was more just like, what would be funny to watch Joe do? And I specifically remember one, we were sitting in the writer's room and you know the writer's like hey we need punishments and i was like i just sat out loud i said what if i was a massage chair

well you know you're gonna have to do some stuff you know but and i knew like what the motivation was because at the end of the day it's a comedy show we're trying to make people laugh you know it's not really about like getting people or whatever our show is really a show about friendship so it was like and we just said that and i was like oh that'd be really fun and we and sal just started laughing me q sal and murray were laughing about it we didn't even develop anything further i just said that's it we'll just go ahead like that's make me massage chair so we send it in you have to get everything approved by the network and you know how network life is right so you send it in and it literally said massage chair punishment joe's a massage chair at the time goes what he's like what is that well and we just got him on the phone we knew we wanted to do it we're like he's a massage chair and people have to sit on him and he has

to pretend he's a massage chair he's like you're just saying the same words and we're like just trust us and at this point like we had done so much that you know credit to them they let us pretty much do a lot that we wanted yeah and we did it and it was just hysterical i didn't know certain things that had happened which was fun like they brought byamba in like the sumo wrestler to sit on me which i had known and stuff like that so it was like interesting to to do that but a lot of it just came from a place of what's socially weird what's fun and then you know we'd have writers pitch us ideas everything went through us yeah figure out that's it love that you don't feel embarrassed I also didn't feel embarrassment I

think until I turned like 24 and then all of a sudden I started feeling embarrassed all the time and I was like why have I never felt embarrassed you just turn 20 something and then it just happens like I wish that stayed with me you know you can get it back you can get it back yeah for sure but what the imppractical Jokers remind me of is like, I feel like you guys were like the original like YouTubers almost.

Like I'm 26 now and like a lot of the YouTube videos I watch, like, I feel like it does so well and it did so well and everyone loves it so much. It reminds me of like the David Dobrik vlog squad

and like the laugh track and everything. And it's just like a really like cool concept that works in so many different ways. We hear from a lot of, we hear a lot from a lot of those guys about how they grew up watching us. So a lot of it is, I mean, we've been doing it for a while, you know, I'm old. So I see so many ways that it's like

you guys inspired so many different forms of content. I see it with so many like big creators today. Yeah. No, it's always been on my bucket list of things I want to do in my career, your show specifically, but a hidden camera type of show where someone just, cause I feel like that's something where I'm stepping out of my comfort zone. Now, after 11 seasons on a reality show, I'm sure I would get recognized more than if I did this, you know, a decade ago, but I just think it would be so fun to just put myself out there to have to do something really embarrassing because that's what Joe or whoever in my ear is telling me to do. You can just do it. We could go to Ralph's after this or something.

I was going to say, or if there was like a celebrity version of like John Quinones, what would you do? And it's like you and Brock like fighting somewhere really public just to see what happens. Let's make it happen. That'd be so funny. Seriously. Was there ever a punishment that you were just like, absolutely not? Or have you agreed to everything on this show? No, we wouldn't produce it if we knew our thought our friends were going to say, because at the end of the day, we're friends. So we wouldn't make our friends do something. There's some that took a little bit more

coercing that we need to do people to do. But for me, no, there wasn't really anything. There's been moments where I was like, what do we do? Like, you know, like the worst thing I've ever did hands down was steal the baseballs from children. They had Noah Syndergaard, Mets pitcher, throwing out baseballs. And they said, you know, we'll put Joe. And I had a bunch of kids. And they're like, we'll put Joe in there and just make Noah throw it to keep throwing it to Joe. And I just told kids I could buy it on eBay and put it in my fanny pack. And I just kept doing it.

But it was kind of like, it started getting, if our show ever felt people were getting angry or if it felt mean, we stopped and recalibrated because that's on our show. We're supposed to feel embarrassed. We're supposed to look crazy, things like that. But if it felt mean, we always knew it was off. And there was a couple of times where it told the line, but there was this one woman who, you know, I'm out there doing my thing and she was holding a baby. And I just said, oh, you want a ball? Give me your baby. And he'll throw a ball to me. So I grabbed her. I was like, and I was calling them Jeter. They made me call him Jeter. So I was like, Jeter, Jeter. And everybody was yelling at me, it's not Jeter. Jeter, Jeter, throw me a ball. I got a kid. I

got a kid. And he threw me the ball. So I got the ball and the woman was like, oh, excited. I gave her back the kid and I put the ball in my hand. And she just lost her mind. And she was like screaming. She was like, what are you doing? I was like, and in hindsight, like you just gave a stranger your two-year-old child to get a baseball. Like, so how am I wrong here? But it was just like one of those things, I guess, you know, she was in her feels, you know, new mom, whatever was happening and just got really bad out of control. And she was like yelling, like screaming. The whole place came to a halt. She screamed at me.

And in my ear, like I'm waiting for the guys to give me an idea of what to do. And I go, what do we do here, fellas? Like under my breath, silence. And you look back on the video, like it'm waiting for the guys to give me an idea of what to do. And I go, what do we do here, fellas? Like under my breath, silence. And you look back on the video, like it's like we edited everything, right? And I look back at that moment on the video and the guys are all looking at each other like, like everybody's speech. So I'm like, I got to get out of this by myself. And that was like probably like one of the moments I was like, oh, this is a tough one. Right.

You know, we worked it out though. I feel like when, especially when kids are involved. I remember there was one with Sal where he had to go and ruin, like, the artwork. Or was it Q? Yeah. And all of these kids, they've spent so much time making these paintings and just going The worst moment of my existence, hands down, is when that little kid looked up at Q and he goes, why?

Like, we had to take it out because it felt so mean. And we were like, oh, no. But the parents were all in on it. So, like, that's the way that it goes around. around hopefully it teaches the kids some character yeah yeah maybe that would have needed to happen to me when i was younger and i'd be like different most resilient you wouldn't be embarrassed about anything yeah right yeah who out of the four of you would say has like wanted to back out the most from a prank or if they're just like no no this is well you could say no so that was always the safety okay so it really just ran the gamut. Yeah. Like being able to say no is a nice tool in the show.

Yeah. Because you don't want to do it. You don't want to do everything. Right. But you don't want to do everything. Yeah. Like you don't want, if you're just out there being willy nilly and going, that's my problem with a lot of these pranks too.

Because I don't consider this a prank show. I consider this a hidden camera comedy show. Yeah. Because that's really where we were scripted. We thought things out. We improvised if we needed to be. Yeah. You know, we didn't know what was going to happen. The general public was a nice piece of the sauce. really where we were scripted. We thought things out. We improvise if we needed to be, you know,

we didn't know what was going to happen. The general public was a nice piece of the sauce, but like we never got mean, you know, we, we, or we tried not to. And if it started getting mean or you could just be like, no,

this is, I'm out, I'm out. And you could just, you know, hit the rip cord. So I think that was a good part of the show to have. I think it's pretty even across.

I probably said no, the least, but it's pretty even. It's not far in a way. There's been no the least, but it's pretty even. It's not far and away. There's been moments for all of us. Yeah. Yeah. I've always wondered when y'all are sitting in like a doctor's office and you have like

a fake broken arm or you're filling out paperwork at these focus groups and whatnot. What type of doctor's office are you going into? Like, what are the other people in the room there for? Is it like a psychiatrist sort of doctor or? It depends what we're doing. We would get, we would get doctors and or focus group spaces that could look like offices that say that we were giving free psychology exams or free to be part of the study, you know, but like we've got, we've got a real dentist. We'd be in a dentist office. Like you saw us with the dentist chair, like we'd be in a real podiatrist office. We did that. We got

a lot of real doctors that were on board because it's like a commercial. It's like a six minute free commercial, you know, and then people are and it's they all know what it was in good fun. They knew they weren't going to look bad. Their patients weren't going to necessarily get mad. We'd be more conscious not to be mean to people's clients, you know, like massage parlors we did and stuff like that, you know, so it was like it would just be a little different. But we were never, you know, Yeah. Some people were just like, no, get the hell out of here. What are you talking about? I remember there was like some places we really, really wanted to do that we just couldn't

get and we kept trying and trying. But then some places were like, yeah, like Ikea. I was like, sure. Oh, yeah. I was like, what? We were like, okay, yeah, fine. Well, it's like the girls that get it, get it. And the ones that don't, don't.

Right. Like, you either get it and you're cool or like, you're not. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You either get it and you're cool or like, you're not. Yeah. Is it easy to knowing that at the end of, you know, the bit that you're doing, you're going to have to have someone come over and sign a release and you're going to be able

to tell them like this was a joke? No, you don't really think about that. Oh, okay. Because in the minute you're still living, it doesn't matter because you can't say it now. Like when it starts going in, the husband gets up. It's like, I'm going to break your neck. You can't be like, got you.

Like, it's like you have to live in that moment yeah but you had to fight through those moments to make the best tv so when it got uncomfortable that's when you knew it was right yeah like when it felt when you wanted to it to be over that's the stuff that ended up on tv because i talked to strangers i'm very good at talking to strangers it was like i have two skills now from the show one is i can hear multiple conversations at once because i had the earpiece going in. I'm listening to three people, right? I'm listening to earpiece. I'm listening to what's going on. And I'm thinking about whoever's talking off to the side. But then the other one is I could, you could really just talk to people. We used to talk to people for 10, 15 minutes in the park before we even started anything to see

if they were a good mark because you didn't want to waste your time, you know? So like you really had to like test the waters. So I'm pretty good at striking up conversations with people and being normal because you wanted to sell the turn. Yeah. Like if I'm just talking to you, like we're having a nice conversation and all of a sudden I start like smacking myself in the face. You'll let it go once if we were talking for 10 minutes and I was fine. And that's what we need.

You know, I feel like Brock would be good at this. My husband is such a good conversationalist. I mean, he could chat up literally anyone of any caliber. That would be funny to say. It's a skill set. Do you talk to your Uber driver? All the time. Do you say, how long have you been driving for?

No, I always, that's a very delicate relationship, the Uber driver, more than most marriages. And I would say, because like you want it, if they want to talk, I'll talk. And if they shut down, I'll shut down. But like in the morning, like on the way to the airports, if it's early, no way. I like lying when I'm in Ubers.

It's a good opportunity to be someone else, especially if they're like driving you home or picking you up from home. They don't need to know that this is my house. It's never your house. And suddenly I'm a different person, especially when I travel too, because the last thing you want an Uber driver to hear

is that you're not from there. Yeah. So suddenly- Or that you're not going to be home. Yeah, that's so true. But if I'm in like a different city and i'm like i don't want them to think that like i don't know where i'm going and that they can kidnap me and i won't even notice so i'm always like yeah i'm just going to work like if i go to a restaurant or something like going to work that's a very that's a life hack everybody listening out there that's great you ever given me that i don't know i probably need to get home to my kid right now i probably

saw it on tiktok or something like within the past few years. Another thing I do, and this probably isn't foolproof, but if I get into an Uber, I immediately like reopen the doors. If like my bag is stuck to make sure like child lock is off. That's a hundred percent smart. Yeah. But they could probably turn it on while we're driving. Like it's probably not foolproof, but at least if it didn't open right away, I'd be like,

Hey. Another hack is people open when the doors open, they put the window down before they shut the door. away, I'd be like, hey. Another hack is people open, when the door's open, they put the window down before they shut the door. Oh, that's neat. Yeah, so there you go. A lot of hacks. I'm here to help. Tips and tricks for those listening and watching.

Who are afraid of being abducted by Ubers. Or just want to have some fun with your Uber driver, you know, live a new life. I love your entrance sentence could define the whole ride. Like if you get in and be like, thank God I had to get out of there. You guys would do that too. Getting off a phone call. And then it's like, bye mom. And it was like, you're saying something ridiculous. I actually just saw another video of a girl in Uber. And she said that the Uber driver was flirting with her and making her really uncomfortable. And then the Uber said, do you have a man? And she responded, I am a man. And she said it was silent.

Oh, I saw that somewhere. And I was like, that's hilarious. Shut him up real quick. Shut him down. That's awkward to hit on a passenger. Yeah, just don't do it. To all you Uber drivers out there listening, please don't. Yeah.

Yeah. No. So the longer that you've been on TV, obviously the more and more people who are going to recognize you. Yeah. Did it get more challenging each season to film? Or I know sometimes you guys would break the fourth wall a little and leave those parts in the show.

But did you find it more challenging? Or there were still a lot of people who were just like, had no idea. Still a lot of people had no idea. Do you think anyone would ever fake it? They tried. We see them coming miles away. They're on a camera.

We see that moment of recognition before they know it. Oh, that's a good point. And then they walk over and they act like a robot. They'll be like, I'll take a cheeseburger, please. You're like, you know what's going on. But we did, though, the hardest part, the biggest challenge for us was when we, you'll notice later in seasons,

we stopped filming in parks and as couples, as in teams, because one guy could look like somebody, but if I'm standing next to him, then, you know, it's like, oh, that's them. Yeah. So that we kind of had to move away from that, which was unfortunate because I love doing that. And the other thing was in parks or like supermarkets or whatever, we'd be talking, you have no idea who I am. It's going great. And then here comes somebody else being like oh my god can i get a picture and they yeah they get you so our our like production team would do like a secret service circle around us and if they saw somebody coming in they would literally put their arm around the shoulder and walk them away oh that's so there's just people getting abducted like taken all around us like a bunch of liam neeson's just taking everybody it's got to be in

the title yeah i didn't check the door if it's locked. I don't know if I get out of here. I feel like I'm a huge fan. I've wanted to talk to you for years. I got you. I find you. I'm just at my little cute sister. No, seriously.

Okay. I have so many more things that I want to ask you. We're going to take a quick little break and then we'll be right back. All right. Holiday times are upon us. We had Thanksgiving this week. We've got Christmas coming up, New Year's. If you're like me and you like to host parties and you like to cook, but you don't always know what to make, or maybe you have a picky eater at home, let me tell you, Pillsbury is for you. It is one of the things that always takes me back to childhood. So especially around the holidays, there's just a nostalgic thing about seeing some

Pillsbury crescent rolls in my refrigerator. If you have a picky eater, let me tell you, there are so many things you can do with these crescent rolls that turn the side dish into a main dish. Weeknight recipes are as easy as fill, roll, and bake. So you can roll up all of your favorite ingredients into a crescent roll. Quick and easy spin on weeknight recipes. They also have so many reference recipes on Pillsbury.com. So if you want to do like pepperoni pizza crescent rolls, you want to add some veggies and cheese in, I mean, you name it, they got it. You can find Pillsbury in the dairy aisle. Dinner prep is ready in 30 minutes or less. And I'm telling you, the side dish is now the main dish and you're not going to regret going down that dairy aisle,

picking up some Pillsbury for the holidays. Find more weeknight dinner recipes at Pillsbury.com. And from cooking to shopping, yes, the holiday season, it is upon us. And let me tell you, if you're going to be spending money, don't you want to be earning cash back on everything that you buy? Well, Rakuten is for you if that is what you are looking to do. It's a shopping platform that partners with over 3,700 stores across every category. I'm telling you, they've got beauty, they've got clothing, electronics, home, department stores, pets,

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your fashionista friend. Maybe you have some white elephant games coming up, toys and games for the little ones, electronics for your boo. And let me tell you, membership is free. It's easy to sign up. So start all your shopping trips at Rakuten.com or get the Rakuten app to start saving today. Your cash back really adds up. All right. So I wanted to just kind of ease in, you know, ask some general questions about the show that I've been dying to know just ever since I started watching it, because also as someone who's been on a reality show, the behind the scenes is always so interesting. And I feel like you don't get to see a lot of that on like on our show. We don't break the fourth wall hardly ever. So watching any other shows, especially one like yours, that's a hidden camera. I've always just wondered, like, how do they do this? Do people ever see the earpiece? And do they actually?

No, for the most part, no. I mean, we do. We have tricks to, like, cover it up or move it quickly. When Q had long hair, it was great for him. He just had a stain. But, like, we'll do a take it out. If we think they saw it, we'll take it out, turn our head that way on purpose, put it back in. There's one punishment where I had to get sunblock applied to me by strangers as a punishment. I had to lay in Central Park, in Washington Square Park and get my whole body covered.

So we're sitting there and as we're setting up, I'm just setting up my thing. I put it down and this NYU kid comes over. He's a really cool dude. He comes over and he's like, Joe, I'm a huge fan. And he's like, I take quick picture. And I'm like, yeah. And so we take the picture or whatever. And he's like, oh, and he just sat down.

And I was like, oh, this will be funny if we do this. Can, if we get him to do it and we don't think. Cause he thought you were just. Right. I thought I was just chilling. And I was like, if he just thinks I'm in my regular life taking the sun and I get him to apply, this would be great. Yeah.

So we're like, and then like Sal, like was like, do we use him? And we're like, I'm talking to Sal like off the shoulder, like he's saying stuff. I'm like, oh, yeah, I went to NYU. I was like, use him. And like stuff like that. Right. So then we all get on the same page. Pete McPartland, who was the showrunner at the time, came out to like get the kid away. And me and Sal had been talking, but he was off comms because he didn't want people to know he comes out in season and we want to keep him. So I go, hey, Pete, good to see you. He's like, oh, hey, man. And then the kid goes, oh, is that Pete McParland? Because Pete had been on the show and the behind the scenes stuff.

So he recognized him. That's how big a fan this kid was. And he still hasn't caught on. So the guy walks away. He goes, oh, you are working. I said, oh, no, no, Pete's at work. He goes, well, I said, yeah, the offices are right here. He said, he's in the production office.

I just came out. We were writing just to hang out and get some sun. And he's like, no. I said, yeah. I said, I'm human. So I'm sitting there and I take out the sunscreen. I'm like, yeah. I said, yeah. I said, I'm human. You know? So I'm sitting there and then I just start and I take out the sunscreen. And I'm just, I'm like, yeah. I was like, you know, I said, but it's hard, you know, being out here.

Get my back. And I said, you know, and he's like, oh, and he starts asking me questions. He's like interviewing me like you are. And I just talking to him and he's just applying sunscreen to me or whatever. And I had to get him to do it on my whole body. So then he like halfway through when I get him to do my thighs, he's like, he's like, are you sure enough? I said, yeah.

And I knew it was coming. So I took the earpiece out. I said, no, I'm not. I said, look, I don't have any earpiece. And I showed him my ears. Look, I said, wait, there's no cameraman. Everybody was hidden really well. I was like, they knew that if they got caught, they were done. So all the cameramen did a great job. And I was with this kid for 25 minutes as he applied sunscreen. And then when Sal, Murr and Q, the way we did the reveal was they just came in the park to be like, hey, oh, you're in the park too. And he's oh you're all here and he goes wait a minute and his face just melts it was so fun that's so good i'd be like come on man you couldn't get the spray on right i think it was so

much better that we used the one kid that knew me like it made it totally different so like that was the thing we just go with stuff sometimes yeah how else would you convince someone to put sunscreen i don't know i was pretty pretty convincing. You think so? Yeah, I've done some crazy things. That one? I don't know. I wouldn't know how. I mean, I could probably convince men to put sunscreen on me. Yeah, that's easy.

But like the vice versa. The vice versa. Yeah. To get people to put it on you. Yeah. Because we had done a challenge where we had to ask people to put it on. We put it on people and we all started with the same amount. And whoever had the least amount at the end won.

So you're just like, we're dumping it on people. And they were covered in it. Yeah. That's funny. Yeah. whoever you had the least amount at the end won. So you're just like, we're dumping it on people and they were covered in it. Yeah. That's funny. Yeah. Do you miss the show? Yeah. I mean, it was a decade of my life,

you know, it was how I did my, you know, a big part of my life for a while. So in the beginning, for sure, I did a lot. Yeah.

I miss working with my friends, of course, you know, what a job that is, right? Yeah. Is there a world where we see you back on screen with your friends? I'll never say never, you know, do screen with your friends? I'll never say never.

You don't know. I love that. I don't say it. I don't see it in the immediate future. But, you know, I mean, there are, I love creating with them. We are friends. Yeah. So I don't see, I don't see why it might not happen at different points.

It's just not in the cards for me right now or them or us right now. You know. What about a Tenderloins tour on stage maybe not necessarily on camera i think on stage you probably might happen first okay or easier because you're in charge of that you know you don't need to sign off on a new show whatever you just get out there and do it yeah totally and i love to tour with the guys i mean we all love touring together it's you're on the road with your friends it makes it a little less lonely a little bit different that was a biggest adjustment for me doing stand-up solo so i saw that about a couple years ago and to be talking for an hour by yourself up there instead of with

a collaboration is a different thing and also creating the content by yourself yeah it was a little different so it was a very different process for me because I'd never really done any solo stage work it was always my whole you know since 99 I've been on stage with people you know yeah that was a big that was a big exchange for me that and in comedy clubs, the smaller stages I wasn't used to, I'd never done comedy clubs. So when I did stand up, I know we're in like arenas and theaters. So once I got back to the theaters, I felt way better and I felt like my show got way better. Yeah. Well, I still cannot wait to come and see one of your shows. I swear every time you're in town, I'm out of town. I was just in Mexico.

Take a trip to New York. I'm playing the Beacon Theater. January 20th. January 20th. Beacon Theater. It's a big show for me. Wait. Yeah. Come on through. I've been wanting a little winter New York. Literally, I was just talking to my team today about are we doing New York in December? Are we going to just push it to January?

And literally today I said, I think we push it to January. Yay! and Watch What Happens Live might be in the cards then for you. Yeah. I mean, I know our season 11 is premiering in January. So? We don't have an exact date yet, but I think it's maybe around then. Okay. All right. So am I working out? Yeah. No, you came right. That's it. Of course. Yeah. I'd love to. Can we talk about, I know there was a lot of news and press around why you left. Can you say a little bit about that? I know we saw that you were saying you wanted to focus on your family. You've reconnected with your wife, which I think is incredible.

Yeah, me too. Yeah. Yeah. I think everything that's been said is said. I mean, you know, I had some personal life issues going on I needed to take care of. So it affected my mental state and what I could do. And so decided to go and the standup thing started because, you know, the bills keep coming. You got to figure it out and provide for your family. And I had to make a transition into still, I love to make people laugh. So I was like, what can I do here? Talk to my team. Yeah. Next thing you know, they're like, try stand up. And that's how that whole thing panned out. And I always wanted to, uh, you know, I always had, I never wanted to be on camera. It wasn't my dream. You know, I just ended up on and love jokers, but I just got

to be myself, which I loved. Like I'm not a character, but I always wanted to be a writer and director. That was my dream in life to become a writer and director of film. So I've been able to pursue that and do things and then, you know, take care of being a good dad and all that so it's and then getting back together so that's all that worked out no but it's fun to travel again be on the road again yeah being on the road's different now because i you know i control my own schedule too so like i still i get to drop them off to school on thursday or friday morning before i leave so yeah it goes a little less days seeing them and work all that out, which is nice. And I get to take them with me, which is good.

My daughter came to Cincinnati with me. Had a great surprise. It was so fun. How old is she now? She's eight and my son's six. So they're fun. That's such a fun age. Yeah, I had the summer off, which was great.

I got to teach my son how to ride a bike, how to swim. It was really fun. She's a two and a half year old. Yeah. She's catching up. Yeah, so it's like every age is a girl. Girl, that's excellent.

Yeah. And every age has just been the best. You're about to get into real fun. Yeah. Like they start giving back in a real way, like a three, like that was really, and I didn't find the terrible, for my kids, I didn't have like a terrible twos thing. I think at three, they're a little bit harder to manage with their personalities because they get frustrated on how to express what they want because they're not there.

Even if they know words and how to talk, they just don't get it yet. So that's a little weird. Totally. Well, I just want to say, I know that this industry can be tough and especially anyone who is married knows that marriage is work. So for you to be able to step away from something you love doing and focus on your family and for you guys to come back together, I just think is so admirable and incredible because not a lot of people, you know, make it in this industry and in marriage and in life and all of that.

In any marriages or industries, yeah. It's hard enough just, you know, without cameras in the whole world watching you. But when I saw that you guys had reconnected, I was just like, wow, that is so incredible. Because obviously as fans, we missed you when you left the show. It definitely was not the same, but it's like, you have to do what's best for you at the end of the day and your family. Family comes first. So the fact that you were able to do it all literally

and now you're on the road and you're doing so many other things you've been passionate about, I just think is incredible. Oh, thank you. Thank you for saying that. Sorry, kind of. Yeah, and everyone expects to know things about your life.

Like it's different. Like she has been through so many relationships on her show and that's what people feel entitled to. But I'm like, that has nothing to do with you do on screen or anything. And they still feel entitled to that information, which is stupid. Yeah. Well, I think it's true when you're like, cause you're you, you get that part of it, right? You're you, you're not a, you know, so they're like, oh, they feel like they, they know you. Like it's when you meet people too. It's like when you see them and they're like, oh my God, they're, oh, you're not as fat as you are on TV. It's like, thanks.

So many backhanded compliments yeah it is but then also like you've been there for people in a real way like yeah you know as therapeutically and you get people come up to you like oh my god i have cancer and i'm like oh i'm i'm sorry like they hit you with that stuff but that gives you a like it fulfills you in a different way where it's like okay i've been here for these people through as many years have you been doing it so that's that's a big thing you know're doing. No, literally this happened to me at BravoCon. She saw it. I had like a full meltdown because there was a woman who came up to me and she asked me to do a photo or a video for her best friend's mom, who was like literally like dying that week. She's like, she's not going

to make it much longer. And I was like, someone else came up to me and they're like, you did a cameo for my friend going through chemo. And it was just like so much love. And it was so overwhelming, but I was like, and I just like took it love. And it was so overwhelming. But I was like, oh, yeah. You had to breathe. Yeah. And I just like took it. She's like, what's wrong? I was like, no, it's good.

It's OK. But I was just like that video, like doing a video for a woman who's dying. And this was like a dying wish. And that's what she wants. Oh, my God. It's like you have impact. Yeah. And it's so crazy.

And I mean, your guys's show is one that, you know, I mean, in the pandemic, when the whole world is shut down and freaking out and no one knows what's going on, it was just a place to provide comedic relief in such a crazy time. So that's when I started watching. Yeah. Well, I mean, we, True TV, the station plays in hospitals and prisons. So we have so many people that have come out of prisons that you got me through the hardest time. Thank you so much. My rental car broke down.

True story, my rental car broke down last night. They had to tow it from my hotel. I had to sum it up. So the guy shows up and gets out

and he goes, no way. I go, yeah. He goes, dude, I watched you for five years in prison. I go, hey man,

that's good to see you. I'm like, how you doing? He's like, oh great. I've been out three years. We gave a hug. Really nice guy. Oh my God. But it's so funny.

Could you imagine that guy's mind? Like he's toed, you know, paying the bills, towing his truck at like midnight and it's my car. Yeah. And you don't even live here. I know, it's so funny. So yeah, but like you're there for people in a real way and that's not lost on me at all.

I mean, and you came to the meet and greet, you see what it's like back there. Like you get these, you spend time with people, talk to them, hear their stories. It's really, it's really good. What I was thinking too at BravoCon, it's like, and same with like your meet and greets, they're fast and someone gets 30 seconds with people, talk to them, hear their stories. It's really, it's really good. What I was thinking too at BravoCon, it's like, and same with like your meet and greets, they're fast and someone gets 30 seconds with you, 60 seconds.

They want to prepare like what they have to say. And it's like, they threw that on you. Like, can you film a video from my friend who has cancer? And it's like, they don't realize what they're throwing on you so quickly, but they know that they're only going to have a few seconds with you and just want to get it completed, you know? Yeah. Yeah.

But it was just, it was like so much love and so overwhelming and like the best way possible. But it was just like, I was fine signing vinyls and taking pictures, but then it was just like, boom. And I was like, oh my God. And then at the very end of BravoCon, the last woman I met had told me she just got diagnosed with cancer. And I was just like, oh my God, it was so many people that you're just like and she was like I'm just like this made my weekend like I'm about to

start chemo next week and like I was just like wow you never know it's like you can see comments and whatnot but then when you get the in-person interactions with people and you actually see the impact you have it's on a real person right yeah yeah no it's so crazy but it's good yeah no your guys's show has brought so much joy to so many people and yeah i've just i've been wanting to have this moment for a long time i always say too i don't laugh a lot not like no she doesn't it is so hard to make her laugh yeah i think i'm just like i have a high standard of things that make me laugh i'm not gonna laugh at something that's gonna be worthy of your giggle yeah i hear you and it's funny because she gets like really stoked when she makes me laugh oh yeah you guys make me laugh. I'm not going to laugh at something that's not that funny. It's going to be worthy of your giggle. I hear you. And it's funny because she gets like really stoked when she makes me laugh. Oh yeah.

So you guys make me laugh. Yeah. Alright. Just wanted to let you know that. Good. So good. I'm over it. Alright. Nice. No literally it's like if I send something if I get a genuine LOL I'm like wait was that funny? Did you think am I funny? Tell me again. Tell me again. She's a hard one to impress for sure.

Alright we got a lot of questions on Instagram. That was Tell me again. Tell me again. She's a hard one to impress for sure. All right. We got a lot of questions on Instagram. That was the main one. So I did have to ask that people want to know if you've, I know we talked about this before, if you've ever watched VPR or if you heard anything about the scandal. Oh, well, I'm on social media a lot. So things will pop up. People get, people get crazy about it.

Oh my goodness. Yeah. You're in a different type of thing. Because what you do out there is people are like, they're sides. Yeah. That's different. Like, all of us. Like, I was Team Joe.

I was Team Sal. Oh, but they're all funny. Right. No. That's not what I was like. Oh, no. It was just Team Ariana. Right.

It's polarizing. It is. No, it's crazy. So I've seen it. Yeah, I've seen the drama. And I hope you're okay. I feel like it's polarizing. It is. No, it's crazy. So I've seen it. Yeah, I've seen the drama. And I hope you're okay. I feel like it must have reached like indigenous tribes. I think everyone heard about the Sandoval.

Even like this most recent season of American Horror Story. They talk about it in it. Really? They literally spoof it. It's Andy Cohen and Emma Roberts' character. And she's on an episode of Watch What Happens Live, and she makes the joke that she fucked Tom Sandoval to get the part on the show, and it was just like...

And, like, Kim Kardashian's the lead in this season, too. Like, it's, like, a massive season. That's insane. And I was just, like, watching at home, like, am I dreaming? Like, I'm so confused. It's so crazy. That is nuts.

Wow. But safe to say, Team Ariana. I'm like, that's the right answer. Oh, you're going to try to divide my crowd now. I'm like, nope, that's wow but safe to say team ariana i will just say i'm not a fan of drama i hope everyone's okay everyone is she's crushing it on dancing with the stars right now she's probably going to win the whole thing so there you go yeah best and worst punishment you've ever had to do the best is probably i mean i've i've, I've, oh, 10 years. I've so many things I've done, but I mean, I love using my body as a weapon. So you've heard me talk about like breaking the tables as the manager with my body was

always very fun to me, but the genie was really good too. That was good. Yeah. Oh my God. The genie. I remember the genie. The worst was probably the baseball. Baseball for sure.

Yeah. Like you talked about earlier. That was, that was terrible. That was one of the most terrible moments, but also like the punishments, like we talked about earlier. That was terrible. That was one of the most terrible moments. But also, like, the punishments, like I said, weren't really bad for me as they were more like, oh, I got to do this kind of thing and just getting through it and trying to do it funny. But just the baseball moment was, like,

probably the worst moment. Yeah, I just watched an episode last night, and it was when Sal's punishment was the bingo, and he had to keep calling it. And I just did bingo for the first time last week. So this is fresh in the brain. I just did drag bingo, and that one was painful to this is fresh in the brain. I just did drag bingo. And that one was painful to watch.

It was. It was the closest we've come to a riot, I swear. Because the police we were doing weren't having a bingo event. We did it in a real bingo hall at a casino. And they weren't having an event, so we had to put up the prize money. So we were like, you have to put a good amount so people will go. So they did like a $5,000 prize. And all these old ladies came in here, right? And they were cutthroat. Talk about drama.

They were cutthroat. So like whenever, so Sal's messing with a real bingo game, he just keeps yelling bingo and had to stop down the whole thing. And they were in on it. So they kept being like taking their time to check it. And there was one, Sal was amongst older ladies. And by the 18th or 19th time he screamed bingo one woman was behind with a glass bottle and she goes if you say bingo one more time i'm breaking this over your head i swear we have and i was like i sat with like you gotta say bingo he's like oh my god and that's when he gets pulled out we have like you gotta get him out of here but you gotta say bingo one more time but i couldn't believe these old ladies went crazy oh yeah yeah i mean i'd be mean, I'd be pissed, too. I think at any age, someone's calling bingo incorrectly that many times.

Right. Especially there's some money on the line here. Yeah. Yeah. Like, was it Sal or Q? One of them had to keep, I remember, at Universal Studios. Worst ever. Keep pulling the thing down.

That's the worst thing we've done. Oh, my gosh. Stopping the tram, pulling the emergency thing. And that was insanity. It's supposed to be a 40-minute ride. It took over two hours. Oh, my gosh. For these people, yeah.

It was crazy. Every time we're on that tram, I think of that punishment. And I'm like, if anyone were to keep doing that. Yeah, I know. They told us universal. It took us a while to talk them into it, but we did a whole episode with them, but they said, uh, it's practice. If somebody pulls it, they get they're off. That's it. They're like, we would take you off. We're like, yeah, but nobody knows that. We don't know that. We're like, yeah, but like, that's our policy. I'm like, well, no one knows your, nobody knows your policy. We don't know that. Yeah, I wouldn't know that. So we're like, yeah, but that's our policy. I'm like, well, no one knows your, shh, nobody knows your policy. No one read the terms

and conditions when they bought the ticket. Sorry about that. Everyone just clicked the agree box. This is a Vanderpump reference, so you might not get this one, but people want to know, how does it feel being the number one guy in the group? Is that a reference? Yeah. I don't know the reference. Yeah, there was a whole thing

one season, one of the guys was like, I'm the number one guy in this group. It's me. And then now it's become a thing where he's not the number one guy. Number two and number three are not the number one guy. It's like number four is now the number one guy. Oh, really? But you just are the number one guy in the group.

Thank you for thinking so. That's sweet of you. How does it feel? It feels great. It'd be weird if you're like, how does it feel being number three in the group? I guess as long as I'm not last. That's fine. Okay.

There is one more thing I want to talk to you about, but before we do just one last quick little break, it's golf. It's not golf. It's top golf. It's one of my favorite pastimes. I've been talking to you a lot about lately because it's so much fun.

If you haven't done it, what are you waiting for? Because let me tell you, at Topgolf, everyone's good. Literally, there's no one who's not good at Topgolf. So if you don't golf, it doesn't matter because yes, golf can be kind of hard. But at Topgolf, let me tell you, everyone can play even if you've never swung a club before. And here's the best part. So Half Price Tuesday, it's a whole day each week dedicated to more play for less pay. So they do this thing on Tuesdays where all gameplay is Half Price, giving players more of a reason to come and play around. Topgolf, it's an anytime activity. You can

do it with your family on a weeknight, on a Sunday afternoon with your friends. Make it a boys day, make it a girls night. I'm telling you, it's going to be fun. You can do a coworker holiday party, like so, so many options. And I just want to mention we're all about play, but even we have some rules. Half price Tuesday applies to gameplay only, isn't offered at every venue and can't be doubled up with other offers or discounts. I mean, it is already half price after all. So full details can be found at topgolf.com slash good as gold. Visit topgolf.com slash good as gold to book a bay and come play around. Again, that's visit topgolf.com slash good as gold to book a bay and come play around. Again, that's visit topgolf.com slash good as gold to book a bay and come play around.

I know we wanted to talk about your dogs. Oh yeah, for sure. So how many dogs do you have now? What pastries are they named after? And you were telling me about a rescue charity that we wanted to discuss. Well, so I started last year. We got our nonprofit status. So Gatto Pups and Friends is a full charity now, which is great. And we just adopted out, I think our 56th dog last week, which is great in a year. So it's been fantastic. But we just started collecting old dogs. I'm like, Bessie has a huge heart and loves older, you know, animals that are falling apart. So we mainly do senior and unwanted dogs in New York. Okay.

We operate out on Long Island. And it's just Ghetto Pups and Friends. So the Ghetto Pups, we have about nine that are ours. Okay. And then Friends fluctuates from who's alive, who's adopted, who's not. I think right now we have maybe 20 in the sanctuary. Yeah. So we have about 29 dogs right now or 30 dogs right now.

And yeah, they're all named after Italian desserts and pasta dishes because that's on brand. Are you going to run out of names one day? We bumped into cheeses now. Then we started doing, you know, holiday themed ones. So we got a pumpkin pie. I love that. Cute. Yeah, we got a couple of different ones there.

You know, we had a mashed potato who got adopted. Oh, mashed potato. So, you know, we do that, but it's all food themed. That was the joke with me and Bessie. So we bought our first dog, Cannoli. I said, listen, I'll buy this for you, but I get to name the dog. And that's the deal. So we just kept that going. So whenever we got a new dog, I got to name it. So I just started naming them all after foods and stuff. So I brought this up to Joe a few days ago when we met because me and my boyfriend are looking to get a chihuahua. And we, so he grew up with chihuahuas and they had Medello, Tecate, Dos Equis, and Corona. And I was like, I love that. We should keep that going.

Like when we get more and more dogs. But I wanted to switch to hot sauces. So we were talking about chihuahua named Tapatio, Cholula, Sriracha. Yeah, Sriracha's great. And then what did you say? Chico And then you said Chico de Gallo. Chico de Gallo. Yeah, Chico de Gallo is a great name. I love that.

I feel like Chico or Chica, depending on its gender, would be a really cute name for a Chihuahua. We have one now, Nacho. Nacho. That's in our world right now. Nacho. Yeah, we had Nacho right now. Yeah. But yeah, I've always been talking on the bottom.

So adopt, don't shop. I foster pit bulls. I adopted a pit bull three the bottom. So adopt, don't shop. I foster pit bulls. I adopted a pit bull three years ago. I would love to adopt another. I think she's a really good foster sister as well. I think she'd be, I think she's like the perfect example of dogs to bring in the home. It would kind of make them a little bit more and more adoptable. So I love that you do that, especially with senior dogs.

I encourage everyone to foster senior dogs because when you do that, whether you foster or adopt, you're saving two lives because you save the one that's now in your home and the one that takes its place. Yeah. But you know what too, with older dogs, people don't realize it's a lot easier than puppy stuff. They just sleep, eat, you pet them and that's it. They mostly do that.

I have, and it's funny, they all bond and stuff. It's really cute. But I would have brought you some old dogs. You should have told me how to put something to carry on. Maybe I'll pick one up in New York. In January when you come, you come through, we'll bring a nice one. I want like a little chihuahua mix of some sort, because I think it's really funny. We pull up with our pitbull with like a flower crown and a pearl necklace, and then my chihuahua

with like a spike collar. Like I want my chihuahua to be the tough one, my pitbull to be the angel, which is probably how it would go. Yeah, we had the sweetheart, Cinnamon Roll. She was so sweet. We should have got it adopted out. She was great. I can't with these names.

They're so cute. She's sweet. I love that. Well, I just wanted to make sure that the should have got it dotted out. She was great. I can't with these names. They're so cute. She's sweet. I love that. Well, I just wanted to make sure that the pups got a shout out on it. Oh, yeah. Gatto Pups and Friends on Instagram. It's at Gatto Pups and Friends or GattoPupsandFriends.com is the website. We could donate, help, volunteer, or just spread the word.

Amazing. And I will be linking that in the podcast description as well as on our YouTube video. So what's next for Joe? We're touring. We're doing the solo thing, writing, directing. Do you have any passion projects that you're working on right now?

Yeah, the solo tour. JoeGattoOfficial.com is where you get your tickets. I'm going. I filmed my special, it looks like. I'm going to film my special in March,

which I'm excited about. That's so exciting. And then, yeah, just continue to write movies and work on some stuff. I got some stuff ironed in the work, but I can't really talk about. But things are going well. Hell yeah.

Is there anywhere you're traveling that you've never been that you're excited to go? Australia in February. Oh. I'm doing an Australia tour. I'll be in Australia in February. Are you kidding me? I got January. I got February.

Wow. Did we just become best friends? Best friends. That's it. That's all it took. We finally got to sit down. Yeah, I'm going to February. I'm doing my first tour there. I'm going to best friends? Best friends. That's it. That's all it took. We finally got to sit down. Yeah, I'm going to February. I'm doing my first tour there.

I'm going to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane. Yeah, a bunch of places. Same. Oh, wow. That's so funny. Yeah. Okay. So we're working on dates right now.

Oh, that's great. Well, look what my dates are. I'm syncing it up. Okay. Love that. Yeah. You've never been? Never been.

Oh, my gosh. Always wanted since I was 12. You're going to love it. My husband's from New Zealand, but raised in Australia.ia and i'm playing auckland okay i'm going i'm playing that's why i finished in new zealand amazing okay i'm gonna we're gonna have to look up these dates and sync it up yeah you should do it so um stay tuned guys okay but thank you so much for getting into some shenanigans with me thanksgiving week this was truly I'm thankful for you being here. So thank you.

This was so nice to finally sit down. I'm glad you finally asked me directly instead of just throwing out the word you. Thank you for random people. But this has been so fun. We made it happen. Yeah, it should be sweet. Absolutely worth the wait.

All right. Thanks so much. Bye guys. Bye. Thanks for listening to Shenanigans with Sheena Shea. Download new episodes every week on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.