OK, I don’t like to gear my material to the audience, but I’d like to make an exception because I was told that there is a convention of plumbers in San Francisco this week—I understand about 30 of them came down to the show tonight—so before I came out I worked up a joke especially for the plumbers. Those of you who aren’t plumbers probably won’t get this and won’t think it’s funny, but I think those of you who are plumbers will really enjoy this. So if you’re not a plumber, please just bear with me for a while and just kinda, y’know, hold off on this. But I would like to do this for the plumbers. Here we go.

  This lawn supervisor was out on a sprinkler maintenance job and he started working on a Findlay sprinkler head with a Langstrom 7-inch gangly wrench. Just then, this little apprentice leaned over and said, ‘You can’t work on a Findlay sprinkler head with a Langstrom 7-inch wrench.’ Well, this infuriated the supervisor, so he went and got Volume 14 of the Kinsley manual, and he reads to him and says, ‘The Langstrom 7-inch wrench can be used with the Findlay sprocket.’ Just then, the little apprentice leaned over and said, ‘It says sprocket not socket!’

  [pause / sparse or no laughs]

  Were these plumbers supposed to be here this show…?

  -- Steve Martin, Let's Get Small, 1977