For fans of long-running cable series “Impractical Jokers,” Sal Vulcano needs little introduction. The Staten Island born and raised comic has been creating gut-busting laughs via awkward moments on his prank-based show for 12 seasons. He’s currently touring his new standup set, entitled “Everything’s Fine,” which kicked off in November 2024. Vulcano will bring his comedy to Norfolk on Thursday, June 26, 2025, performing at Chrysler Hall at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $35.75-$55.75 plus applicable fees. Purchase tickets here.
Following is the Q&A of a conversation Vulcano had with VisitNorfolk ahead of his appearance.
VisitNorfolk: You started this tour nearly a year ago at this point? You keep adding new dates – did you expect it to go on this long?
Sal Vulcano: Oh, yeah. I tour for usually two years per special. So I started this around November 2024. I’ll be touring through 2026 because by the time I get to every market, I’m able to work out all the material and get it prepped in time and get it ready for actual shooting (of the special).
VN: How did you come up with the tour’s name, “Everything’s Fine,” which is a play on the popular meme of a dog sitting and smiling in a house that’s clearly on fire?
Vulcano: It was kind of like all my hang ups from like, my fear-based stories and bits for my childhood into adulthood. It’s just about now. It’s like the current day, and just how I just feel the most unsteady I have felt in my adult life, yeah, with where we stand right now. And I talked about for the very first time my family, which I was never public about, but now that I have a child, and I’m married, those kind of things are just exacerbated a bit. So it’s kind of through that lens, but it’s all fun and funny and escapism. There’s nothing like political or controversial.
VN: Did you always want to be a family guy?
Vulcano: I wanted to be a dad my whole life. I come from a big family and I couldn’t wait. And just for me, it just happened a little later than I had thought. But yeah, it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me by far. So just feel really blessed between the family and the comedy career and stuff to do what I want to do.
VN: Talk about your set a little bit. It seems like crowd work comes heavily into play with your shows.
Vulcano: I mean, anything goes, you know. In the last few years, because of the internet, it has become a good way for comics to put some content out there and not burn the actual material from the show. So it kind of is kind of a necessity these days with keeping up. And I love it anyway. I take it as it comes. I like to mix it up with the crowd, get to know them a little bit before I even get going. Warm them up a little bit with that.
VN: For people who only know you from “Impractical Jokers,” what are they in for at your show?
Vulcano: When I do stand up, I don’t really talk about the show at all. It’s two separate creative entities and this is straight standup. It’s bits, it’s stories, it’s crowd work and it’s a lot more of an insight into me, my life and my personality. This tour, for the very first time, I’m talking about my family, my wife, my daughter, which I’d never had before. I’ve been in the public eye for 15 plus years, and I only just now started to come out with that kind of stuff and talk about that on stage. It’s really fresh and new for me, because prior to that, I did not. It is definitely more intimate.
VN: But “Impractical Jokers” is a great reference point for those coming into your standup, though, right?
Vulcano: I would say so, for sure. My launching pad for touring was being known from the show, but since we’ve been touring for the last eight, nine years, and I’ve had a couple of podcasts, I’ve culled another niche audience strictly from the stand up and the podcasting. So now they all kind of come together. But yeah, the show definitely is a means to touring for me, especially initially, for sure.
VN: Are you ever starstruck?
Vulcano: For the most part, I don’t really get star starstruck. It’s very, very, very few and far between. But there are definitely people – like, one time I met Martin Short and I was a little bit taken aback. If I ever met David Letterman or Eddie Murphy or Nathan Fielder, who is a contemporary of mine and someone I think is just beyond genius … someone like that, that’s inspiring to me.
VN: Any pre-show rituals?
Vulcano: Right before the show, I’ll do 100 crunches and 100 push-ups to get my adrenaline flowing. (Long pause) I’m completely joking. Actually, I usually eat about 100 pizzas right before, as well.
VN: Sure, sure you do!
Vulcano: Really, I just take five or 10 minutes alone with my notes, just kind of go through them. Every single show I’m trying to do something extra, something different, change something, I have to take away something from every time I’m on stage. So I try to be strict with that, because there’s no point to it if I’m just going up there, going through the motions. So just, just kind of inflection … but I probably should be doing crunches and push-ups.
VN: How different is it to craft a solo standup set as opposed to your usual environment of working in an ensemble?
Vulcano: You know, it’s so great to collaborate and to write for the show as a team, because our show, unlike any other, is like a joke writing machine. We have different scenarios, and anything we dream up is what we can do. We don’t have to follow anything linear, any script, any characters, we could become anything you want. So as far as comedy goes and TV comedy goes, it’s a dream job. (With standup), it’s just me and my own sensibility, and I fall on my own sword, but I love that, too. It’s just two completely different things.
Both have their challenges and both have their payoffs. It’s nice, especially after doing collaborations for so long, because I met the guys 35 years ago, we’ve been doing comedy for 26 years together and I’ve been doing improv and sketch comedy. Those are all ensemble things, so it is really, really nice to sit down and say, “what is on my mind that’s funny?” And then to get out there and just have a direct, literal, immediate line to the audience is awesome.
