"Impractical Joker" Joe Gatto brings his Night of Comedy to Powers Auditorium on Oct. 26. (Submitted photo / Jonathan Tharpe)

Old habits die hard.

Joe Gatto left “Impractical Jokers” and friends James Murray, Sal Vulcano and Brian Quinn about two years ago for a solo career and the ability to spend more time with his children after Gatto and his wife separated (they recently reconciled).

But during a phone interview to preview his upcoming show at Powers Auditorium on Oct. 26, Gatto still occasionally used plural instead of singular pronouns to talk about his act.

“I jumped from comedy clubs to theaters because the fans wanted to come see us — wanted to see me — and it’s been a cool experience to use this new medium of standup, and I’m having a blast doing it.”

Gatto has been making people laugh most of his life. He used humor as a shield against the bullies growing up. He did improv comedy with The Tenderloins, which evolved into “Impractical Jokers,” the most watched show in the history of TruTV cable channel, and the game show “The Misery Index.”

However, standing on stage by himself with a microphone and making people laugh is a relatively new experience for him.

“This is the first time I’ve been on stage by myself actually,” Gatto said. “I was always part of a group, either with the guys or improv groups and whatnot. When life threw me a curveball, I had to figure out how to pay my bills and do my thing. I talked with my team, and we talked about how performing live has always come very natural to me, and I should try my hand at standup. I pretty quickly developed an hour I was proud of and people liked.

“It’s weird. I’m used to being 25 percent of the funny; now I’m 100 percent of it. It all lands on you. I took to it pretty quickly, I didn’t have too many big stumbles … It was more just getting used to being up there alone, physically and mentally, vs. telling jokes and making people laugh. It was just getting used to the idea of all eyes on you for an hour with no breaks.”

Gatto has more than 40 tour dates on his schedule between now and February, but that’s nothing compared to the schedule he had with “Impractical Jokers.”

“I only have one job now,” Gatto said. “With the Jokers, even when I was home, I wasn’t really home. I was watching edits of the show, writing for it, preparing for the shoots and whatnot and getting home from shooting 10-hour days. Now I leave on a Thursday after dropping them off at school and I see them Monday when I pick them up. It’s a little bit better this way. I only work 12 to 14 days out of the month.”

He also can take his two children with him on tour occasionally, and they enjoy inspiring bits in his act.

That focus on finding a work-family balance only has increased since Gatto and his wife, Bessy, got back together this summer.

“She’s always been super supportive,” he said. “It’s always been more like us figuring out how to balance things a little better … Everything at home is a big part of my focus, not just making the world laugh but making sure my world is intact as well. That’s a bit of adjustment I’ve made, to be more present when I’m around and in my pursuit to balance everything a little bit better.”

The family Gatto takes care of also includes some members of the four-legged variety. He recently started the Long Island, N.Y.,-based charity Gatto Pups & Friends. He’s currently running a contest on Fanbasis (fanbasis.com/joegatto) where a fan can win a four-pack of VIP tickets for one of his show, a private dinner backstage (with Gatto joining for dessert), soundcheck access, post-show meet-and-greet, tour merchandise and a $1,000 travel stipend. The deadline to enter is 11:59 p.m. tonight, and a portion of a proceeds will benefit the animal charity.

“We’ve been rescuing animals personally for like 10 years now and we were figuring out how to make a bigger impact than just collecting all of these old dogs,” Gatto said. “So last year at the end of the year we created our nonprofit. We just opened our adoption center here in Glen Head. We just had our 45th adoption this weekend with Cinnamon Roll, so it’s been really great to take the next step and help more dogs.

“It’s been really rewarding, and we love doing it. There’s nothing like the love of a rescue dog. They’re always so excited and thankful. You can really feel it.”

If you go …

WHAT: Joe Gatto’s Night of Comedy

WHEN: 7 p.m. Oct. 26

WHERE: Powers Auditorium, 260 W. Federal St., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Tickets range from $33.75 to $93.75 and are available online at experienceyourarts.org, the DeYor Performing Arts Center box office and by calling 330-259-9651.