Whenever people hear the town Cresskill their first thought is the flood that happened to the high school 3 years back. Their automatic reaction is pity for the extra year we lost after covid. Although that happened years ago, it tends to stick with the town name. What many don’t know is that 4 years prior our town was infamous for something else.
On August 24, 2018, 4 men who go by the name of the “Impractical Jokers’ decided to come take a swim at the Cresskill pool. For those who have never heard of the show, these men play pranks on each other in public and those who refuse to do the prank must face the punishment. This time it was Sal who had to face the punishment of yelling at little kids at the public pool. While many didn’t know who they were, they had been frightened by the sudden harshness of the new lifeguard, but those who did know thought it to be hilarious. Sophomore Hannah Jamieson had stated that as a fan of the show, she wasn’t frightened by Sal’s yelling. She thought it was funny how the little kids had no clue what was going on. Even some parents didn’t know what was happening!
While looking back on the video, there were new people throughout the span of the pool, but one kept reappearing in almost every scene. Sophomore Colin Mattessich was the star of the show as a recurring “problem” for Sal. While Sal tried to boss him around by putting him in time out, Colin would sass him right back with no hesitation. To many this seemed like Colin was simply talking to someone, but when interviewed he expressed the excitement he felt that day seeing his favorite tv show in person: “It’s always been one of my all time favorite shows so seeing Sal in person was so cool,” Colin says, “I was so happy that I got to see them that day and was so excited to watch the episode when it came out.” Many others who were there at the pool that day share their fond happiness whenever they remember how they felt in the moment.
Although some may argue that Cresskill has a lot of great events to back up its name, the arrival of the Impractical Jokers may possibly be the most memorable. Everyone at the pool remembers the day perfectly when asked. It gave the little town of Cresskill its 15 minutes of fame, which will forever be remembered in history.
