Hello? Hello?

A good part of what makes something funny is timing. Another big part of the equation is comprehension by the audience. The entire 'Russian unity' gag lived, and died quite miserably, on those two points. The timing was way off. And that's measuring in a scale of days, not just minutes. The comprehension is much harder to judge. If it was there, ignorance was feigned quite successfully. If it wasn't there, for once I may have been overly subtle (as hard as that is to believe). Either choice ends me up right where I am; with a stinking dead joke. Definitely leaves me trying to work a tough room and not having a lot of luck.