The real reason John Mulaney is a brilliant writer (even without drugs)

I went to see comedian John Mulaney last week while I was on vacation.

If you don’t know his work, go look it up. Now.

No, really. You need to know this comedian. He’s my favorite.

Sharp, witty, and surprisingly clean, he draws mostly on his past life experiences as the source material for his jokes.

Anyway, John went through a wild past couple of years.

He got a divorce. And went to rehab … twice. And also had a baby.

For a while his life was chaotic. And in his show, he talked a lot about his experiences while he was in rehab.

I won’t spoil the show if you plan to go see it, but at one point, he talks about how he’s in rehab, but nobody there even knows him.

A famous comedian. In rehab. Not a single one recognizes him.

He even sees a story about himself IN the newspaper AT the rehab center … and nobody notices. So he tries to subtly show his rehab group the paper by leaving it out in obvious spots.

Obviously the way he tells the story is better. 😉

But that’s not my point today. Instead, my point is simple.

I’ve been watching John Mulaney since … about 2017.

Pre-rehab, he was an incredible writer. Even when he was coked out and on drugs.

Seeing him again — but this time, off of drugs — showed me just how good he truly is.

Because it was by far the best comedy show I’ve been to.

And aside from his pure, raw talent and charisma, John has one thing that only time can give you as a writer.

Years and years of experience.

John has been “active” since 2004, according to his Wikipedia page.

That’s about 72 times longer than most “copywriters” who have only been writing for 3 months.

I’ve only been active in digital marketing and copywriting for about 5 years.

But I can only imagine how much better I’ll be when I’m 10, 15, or 20 years down the road.

Something to think about today, if you’re feeling — like I sometimes do — that your career is not unfolding as quickly as I want it to.

Often the only difference between where you are now and where you want to be is time.

David Patrick