There is a lot of buzz around local Baltimore electrician Ben Frisone, the star of TBS’ new reality hoax comedy “The Joe Schmo Show” that premieres Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 9 p.m. ET.Think of the best prank you have ever pulled, and it will still not be nearly as impressive and elaborate as what TBS managed to pull on Frisone, though you likely didn’t have the resources of a major television network at your disposal, either.Frisone, a 31-year-old journeyman electrician who works with Baltimore County Department of Public Works, believes he is about to participate as a contestant on a reality show to win $100,000. He is not wrong. He is just the only contestant who believes that. Everyone else is a highly skilled improv comedian being paid to portray other contestants on the show. Everyone else is in on the plan — including five-time Emmy Award nominee Cat Deeley, acting as the show’s host — everyone except Frisone. This is a modern revival of the 2003 series of the same name, and it takes a comically absurd turn every several minutes. The actors/”contestants” must do everything in their power to make sure Frisone does not catch on to the fact that they are not who they say they are.The actors play all the cliché personalities one might find on this type of reality show: a Valley girl, real estate mogul, a Christian sibling musical duo, a YouTube influencer, and even Jerry Maguire’s own Jonathan Lipnicki, playing an overblown Hollywood version of himself. They all pretend to participate in this contest while doing their level best to keep Frisone from discovering the hoax.Tension is palpable as they must absorb and respond to Frisone’s reactions, which are truly the only moments of the show they cannot script. The “game” challenges are over-the-top hilarious while being just close enough to reality to be believable to Frisone. They must work together to overcome the challenges, which can be physical, mental, puzzle-like, and messy. Think “Squid Game” minus the violence and add a hefty dose of silliness.Another show, “Jury Duty,” captivated audiences in 2023, in which a man thought he was serving on a real jury trial. In that show, too, one unsuspecting individual was surrounded by a cast of actors playing outrageous characters amid hilarious circumstances.“The Joe Schmo Show” is a feel-good reality prank show with on-the-fly improvisation to attempt to outsmart Frisone, which is no small task — something of which the producers were aware, as he had to take an IQ test during the audition process, which to him felt genuine and a natural part of the process.“I submitted old photographs, all my social media profiles ever. I did an IQ test, met with the therapists,” Frisone told Baltimore Fishbowl in a video call. “I did a whole long and extensive screening process.” Frisone was approached about auditioning for the show in 2021, and that began what he said was an approximately six-month process for all the pre-show screening and verifications to be done. Once they told him he was selected for the show, they sent a crew to Baltimore to film him in his hometown.Ben Frisone (and friend?) in The Joe Schmo Show on TBS.“They sent a crew out to Baltimore to video me in my house,” Frisone said. “They asked me a couple questions there, and they went to my parents’ house and videoed a little bit there. They asked my mom and dad questions about me.”About a week later, he was out in Los Angeles for the filming, which took around two and a half weeks. Frisone said people express disbelief that he did not realize the entire show was a hoax, but he insists he never got that feeling.“The actors killed it,” Frisone said.He admits, though, there are times he got close to the truth, and the actors had to stay on their toes.“I don’t want to throw any spoilers out there; you have to watch to find out,” he said. “They did have to reel it back, scramble, maybe change planning around, re-script things. But I think that was kind of what added to how good it came out, right?”It lends more authenticity to the show’s premise, and those moments are the most fun segments for Frisone to watch. “I didn’t get to see any of that when I was there,” said Frisone. “When I get to see the background, everybody behind the scenes, scrambling at some of these things, that’s my most enjoyable part.”Contestants in The Joe Schmo Show listen to host Cat Deeley.Frisone didn’t learn the truth about the premise of the show until the final day.“So, the very last day of competition, they told me, ‘Hey, buddy, you know you’re the only real person here,’” he said. “It was a combination of Cat Deeley and a character called Mr. Danish.”“I believed it right off the bat,” he said, when asked if he understood immediately. “I mean, I always believed everything that was going on, you know what I mean? I was on a crazy reality experience. That’s always what I had thought it was gonna be, and it was what I signed up for, and didn’t question much about anything. But when they told me … it took a while to all sink in.”At the end of the trailer for the show, viewers see Frisone say he hopes they’re all friends after it’s over. Are they?“We stay in loose contact. I mean, they live on the other side of the country,” Frisone said. “We’re all in the DMs. Whenever they come into town, like I had one actress, Corey, she came into town for a film festival in Baltimore, so we met up and hung out. We’re all friends.” When asked if there was any aspect of the experience he would do differently or that he wished had gone a different way, he said he hadn’t been asked that before.“No, I feel, I feel really good about the whole experience…. I don’t think I would have changed anything,” Frisone said.Then, he added, “Well, maybe there was a couple challenges where I got real flustered with myself. Maybe I’d try to change that, looking back.”Frisone has only seen the first three episodes. He’ll be having a watch party with just family and some friends when it is broadcast. Still, he predicts he’ll be watching with his hands covering his face, peering through two fingers.As for his post-reality-show life, it’s back to life as a journeyman electrician.“I’m right back to pumping poop in Baltimore County,” Frisone told Fishbowl.