Background and career
Salvatore Edward Anthony Vulcano (born November 6, 1976) is an American improvisational and stand-up comedian, actor, and producer. He is a member of The Tenderloins, a comedy troupe consisting of himself, James Murray, Brian Quinn, and formerly Joe Gatto. Along with Murray and Quinn, he stars in the television series Impractical Jokers, which first premiered in December 2011, on TruTV.
Salvatore Edward Anthony Vulcano was born on November 6, 1976 on Staten Island, and is of Italian, Cuban, and Puerto Rican descent. He attended Monsignor Farrell High School; along with Gatto, Murray, and Quinn, he was a member of his high school's Improvisation Club. He received his undergraduate degree in finance from St. John's University in 1998.
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 and sketch comedy troupe in 1999, calling themselves The Tenderloins. The Tenderloins began producing comedy sketches together, posting them on YouTube, MySpace, and Metacafe, accumulating millions of views online. In 2007, the troupe won the $100,000 grand prize in the NBC "It's Your Show" competition for the sketch "Time Thugs".
Impractical Jokers premiered on December 15, 2011, on TruTV, which was watched by over 32 million viewers in its first season. The show became the most popular series on TruTV and boosted Vulcano into popularity. As of November 2017, Vulcano was the most punished Joker on the show. In season 3, episode 26 "The Permanent Punishment", Quinn, Murray and Vulcano lost and had to get a tattoo of Gatto's choice. Vulcano was given a Jaden Smith tattoo, which became a running gag for the show. In October 2019, Vulcano, 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." The series was renewed for a third season. In August 2019, Vulcano appeared as the celebrity guest on episode 2 of Straight Up Steve Austin. In February 2021, as a result of a punishment on the show, Vulcano was renamed to Prince Herb for the rest of the season 9 as well as in all his media appearances. The punishment episode aired on April 29, 2021. However, after Gatto left the show in December 2021, the Prince Herb alias was dropped by Vulcano, and in the first episode without Gatto, aired on April 2, 2022, the other Jokers officially retired the moniker. In June 2022, Vulcano appeared in season 1, episode 9, "Babysitting Lemurs", of Would I Lie to You?. He also appeared in season 4, episode 5 of the show What We Do in the Shadows. Vulcano made a cameo appearance in the 2022 film Clerks III. He served as an executive producer for the 2025 TV special Foul Play with Anthony Davis.
In Janaury 2026, Vulcano appeared as a guest on season two episode seven of Everything on the Menu with Braun Strowman.
What Say You?, an occasional podcast hosted by Vulcano and Quinn, was named Best New Show at the 2013 Stitcher Awards. The increased popularity of What Say You sparked a friendly competition among the friends, spurring Gatto and Murray to release their own Tenderloins podcast without the other two members. In 2015, What Say You? was nominated for the Comedy, Entertainment, and Best Produced Podcast Awards at the 10th Annual Podcast Awards. They have stated that the podcast is their own side project, not a replacement of The Tenderloins Podcast. The group explained that it was difficult to coordinate the schedules of all four members outside of work, making it challenging to produce their troupe's official podcast with any regularity.
