“Thanks very much. I just wanted to recommend a documentary to everyone, and then I’m gonna go.”
That’s the beginning of a six-minute comedy routine that standup comic Gary Gulman delivered on the Conan O’Brien show back in 2016.
That routine has since been called the “best joke in the world,” “beyond ballsy,” and “perfectly written.” That’s coming from other comedians.
The public liked Gulman’s routine too. The recording of it has racked up millions of views over the years across various platforms.
Gulman says this six-minute routine has became the biggest thing he’s ever done. At the end of his live standup comedy sets, he sometimes asks for requests. Inevitably, people ask for this joke.
Gulman’s joke is about a documentary on the men and one woman who were responsible for abbreviating all state names down to two letters.
I won’t try to retell the joke here. I will tell you that even if it’s one six-minute joke, it gets a laugh every 10-15 seconds. Even that opener, about just recommending a documentary and then going, gets the audience laughing.
Now here’s something extra I wanted to share with you:
In an interview, Gulman was asked about this “state abbreviations” routine. How long did it take him to write?
The answer is pretty shocking.
Gulman said he first wrote down the joke in 1994, about 6 months after he started doing standup. The Conan O’Brien spot was in 2016.
In other words, 20+ years passed before Gulman’s “state abbreviations” joke was ready for prime time, and not just because Gulman was polishing it.
“The entire world had to change,” says Gulman, “in order for me to convince people that there was a documentary about something as unusual as abbreviating the states.”
I’m not encouraging you to sit on your hands for 20 years because “the time for your idea” hasn’t come yet.
Gulman was very active from 1994 to 2015. He built out an entire career in the meantime… became a star among comedians… and managed to get on Conan and Letterman and wherever else.
All I’m really suggesting is the value of being both productive AND patient. Of putting lots of ideas out there… and of having the sense that some of those are promising but not quite good enough yet, and simply waiting while something else clicks, or conditions change just enough, or a new wrapper comes that you can wrap your solid but unpolished lump of coal in.
I realize my message today probably sounds wooly and not practical, so I won’t try to sell you anything on the back of it.
Like I said, I just wanted to recommend a comedy clip, and then I’m gonna go. Here it is: