Making a career out of goofing around with your friends from high school sounds like a dream.

However, when that goofing around leads you into uncomfortable situations that often result in punishments such as digging through elephant dung, jumping off a cliff, and getting a Jaden Smith tattoo, the fun can be … complicated.

“Seemingly, it’s pretty damn great,” Sal Vulcano said of the hit show Impractical Jokers. “But, you know, with that show, I suffer a lot in that show. So, there’s also an element to it that people don’t see where I get anxiety because I don’t know what’s gonna happen to me and things like that. But listen, it’s still the best job I’ve ever had.”

Along with joking around with his improvisation pals Brian “Q” Quinn, James “Murr” Murray, and Joe Gatto, Vulcano also goes it alone as a stand-up comedian.

“This has absolutely nothing to do with Impractical Jokers, whatsoever,” Vulcano said of his Everything’s Fine tour that stops at Embassy Theatre on Friday, March 28. “This is straight stand-up comedy. 

“I purposely don’t even bring Impractical Jokers into it because this is about just my life and my other projects.”

Life in comedy

Vulcano’s comedy career began in high school in Staten Island where he was part of an improvisation group alongside the other Jokers.

“There was kind of a group where there was a couple of schools,” Vulcano told Whatzup. “So, we did dabble a little there. 

“But then when we left high school, we all started doing it on our own. We came back from college, and we were all still doing it. So, then we started to form this group called The Tenderloins, and we started doing shows. Our first show ever was March 4, 2000. So, we just celebrated 25 years together on stage recently.”

Their comedy led to the $100,000 prize on NBC’s It’s Your Show. They worked on a pilot for scripted sitcom, but that didn’t go far.

However, once TruTV put Impractical Jokers on the air in 2011, things took off.

“They’re still showing new episodes,” Vulcano said, noting the Season 11 finale was going to air March 20. “We’re on TBS now, which is a bigger network. So, we’re finding a new audience, and we just started filming Season 12 two days ago, actually.”

Stand-up career

When he’s not filming the hidden camera show, acting, or podcasting, Vulcano is on the road doing stand-up comedy. 

“I’ve been doing stand-up comedy for a very, very long time now,” Vulcano said. “People don’t really know that because they know me from the show. But about six months ago, I put out my first special called Terrified.”

Terrified hit YouTube last year, and the show offers a taste of what you can expect from his act, which he has been doing since graduating from St. John’s University with a finance degree.

“I did a little stand-up way back in the day at the exact time I started comedy with the guys,” he said. “Improv and sketch comedy took off, and we found a lot of success there. So, we toured and did shows, doing improv and sketch, and then we started writing the television and all that came to fruition.”

While the improv and sketch took off, Vulcano never stopped doing stand-up comedy, which gives him a fresh outlet.

“It’s more about my life growing up and how I became who I am, and a bunch fear-based stories from my from my life — from childhood to adulthood,” he said.

Getting personal

For the Everything’s Fine tour, Vulcano delves into his personal life … which does not happen much.

“I’m very private and personal,” he said. “I didn’t really talk about my family on stage in public before. But now I’m shifting to my current life and my family and being a dad. I’ve never really spoken about this stuff before. So, this is a kind of a whole new different hour, a different side of me that, like, fans have not seen before.

“So, I talk about that experience a lot, but it’s also just the state of the world, but not political and not controversial. My show is just escapism. It’s just relatable, and I’m just there for laughs. It’s a good mix of observational and stories and things about my family and life.”

And that “new different hour” may actually change from city to city since he’s constantly refining his set. 

“I write on stage constantly,” Vulcano said. “So, as I tour through all the cities and all the markets, by the end, things take shape and it gets tighter, and I cut stuff and add stuff. It’s a different show all the way through as it evolves.”