The Misery Index isn’t the first show where other people’s pain and embarrassment can be profitable, but it is the best. Jameela Jamil and the crew from the Tenderloins have it made with the most fun and occasionally cringe-worthy job around. Watching other people go through some of the most awful experiences of a lifetime has been the subject of plenty of shows. Still, there’s only one where comedians get paid to help regular people win money by ranking those experiences on a one to a hundred scale for the worst possible bad-day. If that sounds like your cup of tea, and you wouldn’t mind winning thirty thousand dollars, then you might want to try it out for yourself. Here’s how to get cast on The Misery Index.
Apply for the Position
If you live in NYC, or you’re going to be in the area, then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t see if you can make a few thousand dollars for a day of laughing at, and ranking other people’s awful experiences. After all, who wouldn’t want to spend their day laughing and cringing with Jameela Jamil and the Tenderloins, aka Joe, Sal, Q, and Murr? We’d go if we weren’t having such a good time watching the show instead.
To get on the show, you’ll need to fill out a form and submit it for consideration. If you’re chosen, then you’re halfway to that thirty thousand dollars. All you need to do to get it is to give all the right answers. Of course, you don’t have to take home the gold to walk away with some cash. Each question you answer correctly will get you money. Prizes range from five hundred dollars to fifteen thousand based on how far you make it. Should you answer every question correctly, then you’ll walk away with the full sum for a day’s work. Not too shabby if you ask us.
Caveats & Addendums
There are some requirements. For example, you need to be over eighteen to be considered for the show. Some of the scenes might be too much for underage eyes, even though they’re blurred out in the final edit. More importantly, The Tenderloins aren’t exactly famous for their kid-friendly comedy. You also have to be a US citizen to apply. It’s probably for legal reasons that have to do with taxes, but regardless, you have to be an American.
You have to be willing to share a real personal event that embarrassed you on national TV. Part of the questionnaire involves listing, in detail, three times something traumatic happened to you. If you’re not ready to be the butt of the joke, then it’s probably best you leave this to the professionals, or at least the people who want the money enough to blush for it.
Additionally, you have to be available. One of the questions asks if you have major travel plans during January and February of 2020. We’re pretty confident that it means you need to be available if they invite you to take part in the show, and that’s when it would be filming during that timeframe. We’re less sure, but it looks hopeful that the casting call means they’re already gearing up for the second season of our new favorite game show.
Though it’s humorous, most of the rest of the application seems pretty standard. They want to know how competitive you are and how you’d spend the money if you won. Likewise, you have to provide your social media profile information and some details about whether you’re an actor, or involved with any other game shows or reality TV shows.
Ranking Well
You don’t need to be an expert on pain, agony, and humiliation to get on the show, but it would help your chances of winning. Backstage.com put this casting call out a little while ago, so you’ll want to be quick if you expect to be considered for the show. Having a good headshot helps. They’re looking for ordinary people who have suffered their own (hopefully much less) traumatizing events to come and take a stab at figuring out how a panel of experts feel the events impacted people. It might sound easy, but it’s not. Not only do the challenges get more difficult to rank as the rounds go on, but it’s a competition, so you might suffer the embarrassment of not making it to the final round even if you do alright.
Keep in mind; this is not for the weak of stomach or heart. You’ll have to watch actual videos of events and people who are experiencing terrible things. If a little vomit or poo makes your stomach roll over and do tricks, this is the wrong game show for you. Each event has three standards by which you have to rank it to come up with a total score.
- Physical Pain- How much damage do the unpleasant events cause to the person’s body? To use a couple of good examples from the show, getting “B^*$! slapped by a bear,” but surviving is less traumatic than accidentally grinding up your arm in a sausage factory mishap. How much less traumatic? Experts decide, and you have to guess.
- Emotional Trauma- How badly does it feel at the moment? Is it worse to have your boyfriend push you off a cliff while you’re nearly crying because you don’t want to make the jump, or would it be more of trauma to be the Uber driver who picks up his wife while she’s out cheating with another man?
- Long Term Psychological Impact- Is the person portrayed in the video going to need therapy for a while to get beyond their horrifying event? It’s certainly not good to share a plastic surgery addiction with your mother, but is it worse than having an eel removed from your rectum because you put it there, and it got stuck?
Final Thoughts
We’re hoping that this casting call means season two is coming. The Misery Index is one of the most hilarious gameshows we’ve ever seen, and we watched every episode of Silent Library and Wipeout. Let us know in the comments if you decide to try out for the show. If you get the chance to laugh at other people’s pain and then rank it for thirty thousand dollars, we’ll be rooting for you.
