Joe Gatto has long been a funny man, but stand-up comedy is new for the ‘Impractical Joker’ coming to the First Interstate Center for the Arts this weekend

In many ways, Joe Gatto is a comedy veteran.

As a member of improv and sketch comedy troupe the Tenderloins, Gatto appeared on TV screens for more than a decade on the hidden camera show “Impractical Jokers.”

He and the other members of the Tenderloins – Brian “Q” Quinn, James “Murr” Murray” and Sal Vulcano – also appeared on the game show “The Misery Index” for three seasons between 2019 and 2021.

Leaping to the big screen, the group released “Impractical Jokers: The Movie” in 2020. With the Tenderloins, Gatto also performed sketch and improv comedy around the U.S. and internationally, selling out venues like Madison Square Garden and London’s O2 Arena.

In short, Gatto has been there, done that. As a stand-up comedian, though, he’s just getting started.

Gatto’s “Let’s Get Into It” tour, which brings him to the First Interstate Center for the Arts on Saturday, is only his second stand-up tour after a two-year run with “Joe Gatto’s Night of Comedy.”

This foray into standup came after Gatto stepped away from the Tenderloins and “Impractical Jokers.” With bills and children to think about, Gatto had to figure out his next move.

When his team, reflecting on his years of onstage experience, suggested he try stand-up, he decided to give it a shot. Gatto instantly loved the format and the challenge of entertaining the crowd single handedly.

“Being a creative type, whenever you get a new format, you get excited about it,” he said. “I really got excited about the formula of stand up, then really enjoyed it then actually put together a show I was proud of and wanted people to see. Then after (“Night of Comedy”) was over, I missed it. I was like, ‘I want to do this again, and I still have more to talk about.’ ”

Gatto’s first special, “Messing with People,” was filmed during “Night of Comedy” and was released on YouTube in September. In the special, he talks about, as the title suggests, ways to mess with people, including keeping your eyes open during a dental exam and passing out business cards you’ve collected as if they were your own.

“I’ve been the CEO of some major corporations,” Gatto said.

There are also tales of being confused for Steve Carrell and a story of his son’s eventful experience with “Star Wars” at Disneyland.

It was easy for Gatto to find his stand-up voice given that he wasn’t playing a character on “Impractical Jokers.” Because the Tenderloins put so much of their personality into the show, audiences who were fans of Gatto on television found the same Gatto on stage.

He did see those early shows as a chance to prove himself though, as he was new to the format. Audiences were often a mix of fans of “Impractical Jokers” and fans of stand-up comedy who weren’t familiar with Gatto’s other work.

“You’re up against the wall a little bit that way, but I wasn’t afraid of that,” he said. “I feel like I know how to make people laugh … You don’t think people know what to expect when I’m out there by myself and doing it, but I’m very proud of the package I put together. I think it’s a very good act, and people do not leave disappointed.”

In “Let’s Get Into It,” Gatto is getting more personal with fans old and new by sharing stories from when he was a “geeky kid that was into math and magic,” not the confident comedian they see on “Impractical Jokers,” exploring the question “Why am I this way?”

The answer stems in part from Gatto’s time growing up in Staten Island watching funny movies and TV shows like “Looney Tunes” and “The Muppets” with his family. His interest in comedy as a career didn’t come until high school when he watched “Home Improvement,” starring Tim Allen, with his father.

Gatto’s dad then showed him one of Allen’s comedy specials with a “Don’t tell your mom” caveat.

“I became appreciative of making people laugh, and I realized I was pretty good at it in high school,” he said. “Being around (the Tenderloins), I was developing my improv skills, and I really enjoyed, selfishly, how it made me feel when I had made people smile.”

Those core moments of development are the basis of many stories in “Let’s Get Into It,” Gatto said, as are moments of realization about the impact he has on his children.

“It’s a really fun journey to go on together …” he said. “I think it’s important to take a look at yourself and be honest. We all have shortcomings. We all have things that are great about us, and we shouldn’t be afraid to share it, because we’re all human.”

Off stage, Gatto has also stretched his skills to include children’s book author with the September release of “Where’s Bearry?,” a book, with illustrations by Luke Flowers, in which a boy named Remo searches for his beloved teddy bear.

“Where’s Bearry?” follows the self-published “The Dogfather: My Love of Dogs, Desserts and Growing Up Italian,” which features stories of his rescue dogs (Gatto runs a nonprofit sanctuary and rescue for senior dogs in New York called Gatto Pups and Friends) and stories from childhood about the Italian desserts for which the dogs are named.

This new creative avenue has brought the next generations of fans into Gatto’s world.

“The kids that were watching me live when they were 12, 13 years old with their family, now they’re in college,” he said. “It’s really cool to have that now. Also people that were watching me in their 20s when I first started, they’re in their 30s and starting their family, and now they have a kids book from me, which is pretty cool. It’s nice to be in households in different ways.”

Whether on stage, on screen or on the page, audiences have connected with Gatto and the stories he tells. His live shows, he said, have become events where people can laugh together with “the crazy guy they’ve seen on TV” and forget about whatever is troubling them.

Gatto said it’s not lost on him that fans have, for years, turned to his comedy when they needed a break from something they were going through, calling it a pressure and a challenge but ultimately a reward to be able to be that person for others.

“You have all these stories of these people that you’ve been there for, so that’s not lost me at all,” he said. “Now it’s become a badge of honor where it’s part of the reason why I do it. It started as a byproduct, but now it’s the reason.”