How to write a standup hour, broken down:
Write 100 jokes and tell them onstage until you figure out which ones are best. That's a tight 5.1
Write another 200 jokes and do it all over again. Now you’ve got a showcase set (i.e. 10-15mins).
Write 3 showcase sets. That's a feature set.
Write 2 feature sets. That's a headliner set.
Write every day.
Perform over and over again.2
It’s not magic. Consistency wins.3
The good news: The longer you do it, the more you’ll know right away if a joke will work/is worth the effort. The bad news: That’ll take longer than you think – and audiences will always surprise you with what they do/don’t like.
Just remember: If it was easy, everyone would do it. Heck, Elon Musk is the richest man in the world and the thing he craves the most is having people think he’s funny. Let that sink in.
Obviously, this is a loose estimate. Your mileage may vary. Figure out your hit/bomb ratio and adjust accordingly.
How frequently you perform will most likely determine how long this process takes. The less you get up, the longer the road.
Related: Standup skills are like muscles. They’ll atrophy if you don’t use ‘em. If an athlete wants to win the gold medal in swimming, they get in the pool every day. Want to win “the gold” at standup? Get in the pool.