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Don't Hang Up, Tough Guy! is a collection of prank calls and improvised skits performed by the Jerky Boys around New York City. Locations included the MTV intern offices, a double-decker bus tour, pay phones and supermarket intercoms. The prank calls involved training a hidden video camera on the receiving phone line. The Jerky Boys would then prank the person answering the phone from offscreen and record the subjects' responses. It was released on VHS for MTV Productions on July 4, 1995.
The Jerky Boys team made prank calls with hidden camera support at MTV’s intern offices, on a double-decker tour bus in Manhattan, through local supermarket intercoms, and from payphones at various spots in New York. In particular, the takeover of the tour bus in Manhattan and the pranks carried out over the supermarket intercom attracted a lot of attention. [1]
Reviews on Letterboxd emphasize that the video offers an experience beyond the classic “audio” Jerky Boys albums. The video format brought a new dynamic to prank calls and secured a special place for fans of practical humor. Steven McDonald’s review for AllMusic describes the Jerky Boys as the MTV version of Candid Camera and highlights the telephone’s significance in the comedy scene. [1]
On platforms like Plex, the video is listed as 45 minutes long, featuring names such as director Seth Jarrett, writer Robin Sayers, and producer Eric Blazak. The cast includes Johnny Brennan, Kamal Ahmed, and Ellyn Dawn Humphreys. [2]
The Jerky Boys’ pranks range from classic audio tapes to MTV video projects and even a feature film. In archives like Letterboxd and IMDb, they are regarded by both fans and comedy authorities as “a must-see piece of nostalgia.” They played a key role in bringing the prank call genre into the mainstream and contributed to a modern reinterpretation of the candid camera format. [3]
The trend started by the Jerky Boys was used as a model for other comedy shows and prank call–focused humor projects. Platforms like AllMusic and Plex feature reviews and technical information about the production. [4]
