James Murray

James Stephen "Murr" Murray (born May 1, 1976) is an improvisational comedian, actor, author, and producer from the New York City borough of Staten Island. He is a member of The Tenderloins, a comedy troupe consisting of Sal Vulcano, Joe Gatto, and Brian Quinn. Along with the other members of The Tenderloins, he stars in the television series Impractical Jokers, which aired on December 15, 2011 on TruTV.

Early life

Murray was born in Staten Island, New York on May 1, 1976. He is of Irish ancestry. Along with Gatto, Vulcano, and Quinn, he was a member of his high school's (Msgr. Farrell Staten Island) Improvisation Club, for they saw it as a way to express themselves and meet girls. Murray was also a part of his community's theatre.

Murray continued his education at Georgetown University, where he received a bachelor's degree in English.

Career

Early career

In 1998, Murray produced, wrote, and directed a film titled Damned!, starring Jeremy Guskin as Jesus in an alternate retelling of the Bible. Rather than paying for a car, Murray's parents paid for the production of this film at his request.

After being apart for years, Murray, Gatto, and Vulcano reunited after graduating from college and began practicing improvisation at Gatto's house, going on to tour as an improv & sketch comedy troupe in 1999, and calling themselves The Tenderloins. Despite not being an initial member of his friends' comedy troupe The Tenderloins, after one of the original members, Mike Boccio, left the group in 2006, Brian Quinn became the troupe's fourth member.

The Tenderloins began producing comedy sketches together, posting them on YouTube, MySpace, and Metacafe, and subsequently accumulating millions of views online. In 2007, the troupe won the USD$100,000 grand prize in NBC's, "It's Your Show" competition for the sketch, "Time Thugs."

Impractical Jokers and other television shows

Impractical Jokers premiered on December 15, 2011 on TruTV, which was watched by over 32 million viewers in its first season. The show has become the most popular series on TruTV and has boosted Murray into the public eye.

Impractical Jokers: The Movie was released on February 21, 2020.

In 2019, Murray, along with the other members of The Tenderloins, starred in The Misery Index, which is hosted by Jameela Jamil and is based on Andy Breckman's card game "Shit Happens."

Other ventures

Murray worked at NorthSouth Productions, where he was the Senior Vice President of Development, leaving in February of 2018. In 2018, he released a sci-fi/horror book called Awakened, which was co-written by Darren Wearmouth, and revolves around a monster that lives in the subways of New York City. A sequel, called The Brink, was released in 2019.

Personal life

Murr has a tattoo of a ferret skydiving as a result of a triple punishment. Murray is currently engaged to Melyssa Davies whom he met at his launch party for his book Awakened.