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Quinn donates $50K: FDNY, not 'Impractical Jokers,' is proudest moment
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Four seasons (going on five) of a wildly successful comedy show? No big deal.
Scampering across a tightrope five stories high on live national television? Sure, that was fine.
Becoming a firefighter for the FDNY? Now that was the real deal for Brian "Q" Quinn, one of four Staten Island comedians who make up the TruTV show "Impractical Jokers." His fellow jokers and Monsignor Farrell High School alumni include James Murray, Joe Gatto and Sal Vulcano.
The hidden camera prank show has drawn as many as 3.7 million viewers per episode and has an all-ages following: kids love it because it's their level of humor. Parents love it because, okay, they secretly still laugh at slapstick. Grandparents love it because the guys always, always respect their elders.
Quinn, 39, went on a leave of absence from the fire department after the first season of the show took off. But he returns to the station every month or so, usually on a Sunday night when his former mentor, firefighter Jim McHale makes his famous southern-style meatloaf.
"This is the thing I'm most proud of in my life," said Quinn from the garage of Ladder Company 86/Engine 166, where he served as a firefighter for nearly seven years.
It's a bold statement, given the success of the show and his comedy career. Still, his first career trumps that.
"It's the best job in the world and these are the best guys in the world," Quinn said. "My dad watches 'Impractical Jokers' but he'll never be as proud of me as he was when I graduated the fire academy."
And in all fairness, scampering across that tightrope did end up supporting the fire department's causes — the stunt was part of the Jokers' live 100th episode. The Joker who made it furthest across the tightrope got $50,000 to donate to the charity of his choice.
While his pals made it just a couple feet each before falling — see right — Q made it all the way across, proudly wearing his FDNY t-shirt.
"As horrible as it sounds, I knew if I didn't make it across, I would be made fun of to no end by these guys," Quinn said. "Maybe if I wasn't wearing that t-shirt, I wouldn't have felt that way."
He presented his $50,000 check to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation on Tuesday at his old firehouse. The organization has partnered with the FDNY to build houses and provide other services to military personnel and first responders.
"This was just the biggest way I could help," Quinn said of the donation.
Quinn gets misty when he talks about the fire department and how it still fills a big place in his heart. It's a rare moment of seriousness for a self-proclaimed jokester. Outside, firefighters debate whether he'll ever be back, or if the show has turned him into too much of a celebrity.
"I'd like to see him come back, but this is a once in a lifetime experience," said McHale.
McHale, who served as Quinn's mentor after he graduated from the fire academy, said the show always seemed like a good fit for Quinn, although some of the pranks on the hidden camera show looked an awful lot like the ones the Staten Island firefighters would pull on one another — like the old Supermarket Balloon Assault.
"I told him, 'What, were you running out of material?'" McHale joked as he watched his old friend shake hands with the foundation's officers.
Quinn still lives on Staten Island, in Great Kills where he's always lived. His parents have moved to Florida and he has other kin scattered around the country. But he's still got family here, he said.
"These guys are my family now."
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