After breaking out as some of the biggest social media superstars, the Inspired Unemployed -- aka Jack, Falcon, Dom and Liam -- are now set to take on TV with the launch of The Inspired Unemployed (Impractical) Jokers.
With the whole series launching on August 9 on Paramount+, episodes will also air weekly at 8.30 on 10 and 10 Play.
Based on the hit US series Impractical Jokers, The Inspired Unemployed (Impractical) Jokers sees the four friends take hidden camera humiliation to the next level as they take on a variety of roles, all the while being told what to say to those around them.
With no one else in on the joke, the foursome competes to embarrass each other in the biggest way possible, with those failing at the task given a humiliating punishment.
Having known each other since they were in high school, the boys know exactly what they can get away with, and how to push each other's buttons, so it's definitely a recipe for success (or disaster, depending on where you're standing).
When Jack and Matt, aka Falcon, went to France they ended up being snowed in at an Airbnb. "We were so bored with no mates over there, and a shocking Airbnb, we started making videos," Jack explained. "This sounds so cliché but we were super inspired to start something but we were broke as hell so we were like... Inspired Unemployed. Let's just start making skits and go hard at it."
"We didn't think that was going to take off for us," Matt added.
Now boasting almost 4 million followers across social media, The Inspired Unemployed has definitely taken off. The boys have since recruited their housemates, Liam and Dom, to get involved in all the fun for the TV series.
"I've always just wanted to work alongside [my] friends and have fun, and this is literally what that is," Liam said.
"I wish I could go back to ourselves when we were in France," Matt said, "I remember we used to go to cafes and used to buy one coffee to share so we could use the wifi.
"Just to be able to tell those guys that you're doing a TV show, we just never, ever would have thought it would happen."
There's a lot of trust that comes with pranking, but when fate provided the perfect opportunity, the boys lept at a chance to make one of their nightmares come true.
"We made Dom meet his girlfriend's mum for the first time," Jack said.
"That was wild," Matt teased.
"She was over for 24 hours and it was on the second day of shooting and it just managed to work," Liam continued, "all of the elements stacked up, just made it so good."
"It was horrible," Dom added. "She came over from England and I just got stitched up... had to go meet her [and] had to say everything the boys were telling me to do which was terrifying."
"His biggest fear is being an arrogant dick and we made him exactly that," Jack said.
"I felt so sorry for him," Matt said sheepishly.
From receptionists to wellness gurus, golf instructors to strippers, the boys take on a variety of roles and put themselves in all sorts of situations that push them well out of their comfort zones -- and in some cases facing their greatest fears.
"It’s not going to be good TV unless you’re purely out of your comfort zone so every time we did something, we found out each other’s biggest fears and then performed that," Jack explained. "And it makes the funniest TV because they’re so fuckin’ scared. Every day we were properly out of our comfort zone."
"I feel like before this, probably up until one point in my life, the scariest thing I’d ever done was jumping out of a plane by myself for the first time," Liam said, adding, "something I did in this show was more scary than that. A lot more scary."
"We put ourselves in some pretty embarrassing situations," Matt said. "Half the time it was like torture. Like, why am I doing this?"
"The joke's on us," Jack added. "We get embarrassed a lot and we're just completely non-stop getting shunned which is f**king funny for everyone but yourself."
And while they were torturing each other, the boys said they're close than ever.
"We'd drive home all four of us every day just so happy, so stoked with the team. It felt like a big family at the end of it. When we wrapped up it was honestly emotional," Matt explained.
"We just cannot wait to do it again, we were all so sad when it wrapped. It was so fun," Jack added.
The Inspired Unemployed (Impractical) Jokers premieres at 8.30 pm on 10 and 10 Play, or stream the entire series on Paramount+ now!
