James Stephen "Murr" Murray (born May 1, 1976)[1] is an American improvisational comedian, author, and actor from New York. He is a member of The Tenderloins, a comedy troupe also consisting of Brian Quinn, Sal Vulcano, and formerly Joe Gatto. Along with the other members of The Tenderloins, he stars in the television series Impractical Jokers, which premiered in 2011, on TruTV.
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 Ford Taurus, Murray's parents paid for the production of this film at his request.[6]
After being apart for four 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.[7]
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 $100,000 grand prize in NBC's "It's Your Show" competition for the sketch "Time Thugs".[8]
Impractical Jokers premiered on December 15, 2011, on TruTV, which was watched by over 32 million viewers in its first season.[9] The show has become the most popular series on TruTV.
In October 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".
Murray worked at NorthSouth Productions, where he was the senior vice president of development, leaving in February 2018.[10] In 2018, he released a sci-fi/horror novel entitled Awakened, which was co-written by Darren Wearmouth, and revolves around the discovery of an intensely hostile race of intelligent, methane-breathing monsters living beneath the New York City Subway and the sinister Foundation for Human Advancement - an almost equally cruel and ruthless organization dedicated to the destruction of that race through world domination. A sequel, called The Brink, was released in June 2019.[11] In October 2020, Murray and Wearmouth co-wrote another horror novel, Don't Move, which follows a group of campers being hunted by a giant arachnid.[12][13] In July 2021, they published a thriller, TheStowaway, about a serial killer on board a cruise ship.[14][15] In March 2022, Murray wrote the middle-grade novel Area 51 Interns: Alien Summer with author Carsen Smith, the first novel in the Area 51 Interns series. The series is about a girl named Viv Harlow, whose parents work at Area 51, and how while she and her friends are here they must stop evil aliens from taking over the world.[16]
In 2021, Murray began a solo standup tour, Murr Live. The family-friendly show consists of stories relating to the TV show, videos, and hidden camera challenges.[17]
As a result of a triple punishment on Impractical Jokers, Murray has a tattoo of a ferret skydiving as a reference to an earlier punishment. On March 13, 2014, Murray jokingly, yet legally, married Sal Vulcano's sister, Jenna Vulcano, as a result of Vulcano's punishment in the season 3 finale, "Brother-in-Loss"; they annulled the marriage shortly after.[19]
In July 2019, Murray became engaged to Melyssa Davies, whom he met at his launch party for his book Awakened.[20][21] Murray married her on September 25, 2020.[22][23]
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