Comedy Central Show Tells Tipsy Tale Of Minnesota’s Famous Ball Of Twine

Comedy Central's "Drunk History," a show in which celebrities get drunk before recounting stories from history while other actors and actresses play out their explanation as they tell the story, has released a feature on Darwin, Minnesota's Ball of Twine.

The show tells the story of Francis Johnson's massive ball of twine and the rivals that popped up after he unveiled his life-defining achievement.  Patton Oswalt is the narrator and Colin Hanks plays the ball's creator Francis Johnson.

(There is some foul language in the show)

Once dubbed the WORLD'S Biggest Ball of Twine, the tourist attraction in Darwin, Minnesota is 12 feet in diameter and weighs 17,400 pounds. One man, Francis Johnson, rolled the ball for four hours3 a day over the course of 29 YEARS!  It was the world record-holder until 1994.

WEIRD AL JOINS THE FUN 

In 1989, Yankovic included a song titled 'The Biggest Ball of Twine In Minnesota" on the soundtrack to his movie, UHF.

In the song, a working dad asks his family where they would go if they could choose anywhere in the world. Their choice? The biggest ball of twine in Minnesota, of course. After all, the family had already been to Elvis-a-Rama, The Tupperware Museum, the Boll Weevil Monument -and- Cranberry World.

HISTORY OF DARWIN, MINNESOTA

WJON's Jay Caldwell recently published a great piece on the history of Darwin, Minnesota. It included this anecdote about the Ball of Twine:

Johnson says the town of Darwin and the ball of twine are wound together thanks to Francis A. Johnson.  Josh says Francis wound the ball for 4 hours a day, every day and the city of Darwin is lucky to be the steward of the ball of twine.  Josh says Francis started rolling the ball in 1950 and encountered some fame in 1960 when the ball of twine made an appearance on the TV show "I have a Secret".  Francis was the first to roll a ball of twine and he inspired a few others to do the same.  The Darwin twine ball is the largest wound by one man, Francis A. Johnson.'