JCW ARCHIVE: Joking Ain't Easy

Summary

The John Clay Wolfe Show – JCW ARCHIVE: Joking Ain't Easy

Episode Date: July 17, 2026
Host: John Clay Wolfe and the Wolf Pack (DJ Pre K, JD Ryan, Jerry Wayne Longmire, Turley, and others)
Main Guest: Jerry Wayne Longmire

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Episode Overview

This episode of The John Clay Wolfe Show is an archival throwback centering around the theme of “Joking Ain’t Easy.” The Wolf Pack recounts a memorable night hosting comedian and storyteller Jerry Wayne Longmire before his upcoming show, sharing tales of stand-up mishaps, small-town drama, and the real-life hazards of getting laughs in unfamiliar places. The episode offers colorful stories from the road, digressions on the art of long-form comedy, and an unfiltered peek behind the scenes of car culture, small-town Texas, and stand-up life.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Throwback Format & Setting the Scene

• DJ Pre K introduces the archived episode as a celebration of Jerry Wayne Longmire, hyping his upcoming performance and recalling the drama that sometimes follows the Wolf Pack at small town venues.

  “Joking ain't easy, but somebody gotta do it.” [00:29, DJ Pre K]

2. Comedy at The Rattlesnake Ballroom: A Night to Remember

• The Wolf Pack hosted Jerry Wayne Longmire at the Rattlesnake Ballroom, a small-town venue in Texas.
• The night mixed local flavor, comedy sets, rowdy audiences, and a bit of unexpected drama.
• Jerry Longmire describes his next gig in Calgary, comparing Texas and Canada:

  “It’s just belt buckles and big trucks. It’s the same place except they got poutine...” [01:22, Jerry Longmire]

3. Parking Lot Drama: Small-Town Turf Wars

• John recounts a tense parking situation with a local biker, leading to suspected retribution when his tire ends up flat after the show.

  “When I pulled up to the damn place, there’s a Harley sitting there... I wiggled in and got in there... He wasn’t happy.” [02:22, John]

• Beer runs and tire mishaps become fodder for post-show laughs, though the group wonders if the flat was sabotage or just a Texas coincidence.

  “I don’t know if it was slashed... but it sure is flat.” [04:10, John]

4. Rowdy Audiences and “Nacho” Encounters

• JD Ryan clashes with a loud audience member; the exchange nearly escalates until the local simply tells him to “shut up and eat your nachos.”

  “You mean to help you?” (on confrontation in parking lot) [02:41, John]
  “I just shut up and eat my nachos. I watched the show, and he shut up is what happened.” [05:30, JD Ryan]

• The Wolf Pack agree that venues like the Rattlesnake can bring out a combative crowd—“something about the Rattlesnake that makes people want to fight.” [04:22, Turley]

5. Stand-Up Skills: Learning Long-Form Comedy

• The group asks Jerry how he mastered storytelling on stage, especially in an era focused on quick clips and TikToks.

  “How did you learn to go long form? ...to carry consistently for 45 or an hour and a half?” [07:13, John]

• Jerry credits his back-porch upbringing and family storytelling contests for his narrative chops, and describes the challenge of expanding from 1–5 minute open mics to routines that last 20 minutes or more.

  “It’s really hard when you’re going into stand up... They want laughs per minute. So it takes a while.” [07:35, Jerry] “That story is a good one for when... I’m not 100% sure I want to go this direction with some of this other material.” [08:47, Jerry]

6. Stand-Up Survival Tips

• The veterans swap advice for aspiring stand-ups:
  • Control your energy: “You get up there, and you’re way too hyper... start talking too fast... slow down, slow down.” [09:50, Turley]
  • Family in the audience: proceed with caution—material about your in-laws may backfire if they show up unexpectedly.

    “That was my wife getting back at me because she knew what the material was going to be.” [10:33, Turley]

  • Adjusting your pace: “Some of the, the number one advice... slow down, slow down, slow down.” [10:42, Jerry]

7. The Hazards of Travel: Fat Jokes and Low-Budget Airlines

• Jerry shares a story about being weighed before boarding a small African flight, drawing laughs about the hazards of flying while big-boned.

  “If I walk up your airplane and you weigh me before you tell me where to sit... you don’t got enough airplane for me.” [11:26, Jerry] “I didn’t move for five hours. I held a fart in for the last two hours. I could just see the headlines: Fat guy farts down plane in Africa.” [12:04, Jerry]

• The riff continues about Spirit Airlines and other discount carriers, comparing them to “third world” travel—with jokes about chickens in the aisles.

  “Spirit. Yeah, it’s gonna take four days to get to Canada, believe it or not. I could probably drive there quicker.” [12:47, Jerry]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jerry on Stand-Up Roots & Evolution:

  “I grew up with my dad and his brothers on the back porch, and it was just a contest who had the best story... who could get everybody laughing and keep.” [07:42, Jerry]

• On Small Town Crowd Control:

  “I’m the only one that’s allowed to be funny in my town.” [02:22, John (channeling the local)]

• On Comedy Pacing:

  “The number one advice they always give young stand up comics: slow down, slow down, slow down.” [10:42, Jerry]

• On Dealing with Hecklers and Locals:

  “Shut up and eat your nachos.” [05:29, Unnamed local, recounted by JD Ryan]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:22] – DJ Pre K intro, setting up the throwback and featuring Jerry Wayne Longmire
• [01:22] – Jerry talks about heading to Calgary, Texan-Canadian similarities
• [02:22–03:50] – John recounts the parking lot conflict and aftermath
• [04:25–05:39] – Rowdy audience moments; JD’s nacho standoff; reflections on crowd behavior
• [07:13–08:55] – Discussion on learning long-form comedy and storytelling background
• [09:43–10:42] – Turley and Jerry share advice for comedians, anecdotes about family in the crowd
• [11:26–13:02] – Jerry’s African flight story; fat jokes, flying woes, and airline commentary

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Summary & Takeaways

“Joking Ain’t Easy” delivers a window into life on the comedy circuit, from small-town Texas to international gigs. The episode candidly explores the social dynamics of live stand-up, the blending of blue-collar settings and comedy, and the ever-present risk of local drama—whether it’s hecklers, bikers, or flat tires. The conversation offers lighthearted guidance for up-and-coming comedians, celebrates the sustaining power of storytelling, and reaffirms the show’s irreverent, freewheeling spirit.

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If you like unscripted laughs, colorful rural adventures, and behind-the-scenes insights into the grind of stand-up, this episode is for you.

Transcript

[A]

The John Clay Wolf show has appeared on terrestrial radio for a really, really, really long time. So we dug into our pockets and on the other side of our we found something funny. And yes, it's contagious. Gather round as the wolf pack goes on this throwback adventure.

[B]

What it do?

[C]

It's your boy, DJ Pre K with

[B]

the John Clay Wolf Show. I'm up in the archives, baby, and

[C]

today I want to throw it back

[B]

to one of the funniest cats I know, Jerry Wayne Longmire, who's coming back around town to the Walnut Springs Roadhouse this coming Friday. Hopefully this next time. There's no small town drama, but luckily we rolling with thugs like J.D. ryan to keep us safe. Hey, joking ain't easy, but somebody got to do it. Check this out.

[D]

We're coming off of a morning of. We had a good time last night with Jerry Wayne Longmire. He came by the ranch. We planned this to go by. There's a little venue in this town called the Rattlesnake Ballroom. And I, when I saw that, I was like, man, we can have people come in to guest host on the show and like do a musical set or a comedy set the night before at the Rattlesnake. And this was our first time to do it and it turned out great. And Jerry came up. He's going to Canada for another show tonight. He's flying out.

[A]

Canada?

[D]

Canada? Where are you going in Canada?

[E]

Going to Calgary, man. For a week. Little Texas. It's just belt buckles and big trucks. It's the same place except they got poutine, which my wife hadn't said if I can have any yet.

[D]

JD Had a problem at the event last night. Did he get in a fight? What? Oh, yeah.

[F]

By the way, Jerry, you are wonderful.

[D]

You're.

[F]

You do a great job of long form stories.

[D]

Yeah.

[F]

And comedy. Seriously. And so he was in a bit talking about what happened to him when he was getting pulled over, which is a great story when you catch his comedy.

[G]

What did I do?

[F]

And so, Jay, there's a guy just talking loud. This is an interesting, by the way, interesting atmosphere. We're eating and there's a stand up comedy going on too, which.

[D]

Have y' all ever seen the Blues Brothers movies? Yeah. You remember Bob's Country Bunker? Yes, that's it.

[A]

Yeah, that's it.

[E]

Yes. That is a perfect representation.

[F]

So we're eating and there's a guy in the back.

[H]

Who are you, boy? You think you're funny? You realize you're in my town.

[D]

I'm the only one that's allowed to be funny in my town. When I pulled up to the damn place, there's a Harley sitting there, and he's pointed. All the cars are slotted in at an angle. And this Harley straight on. So he's taken up two spots, but there's a big spot next to him. So I wiggled in and got in there. And he walks up. He's outside on the deck.

[H]

What are you doing?

[D]

I'm like, I'm parking. You can't park there, dude. You're taking up two spots. This in two spots. I'm like, yeah, it's two spots. I need to park here. Do you know who I am? No, I didn't. I pulled the handicap card, man. I'm crippled, dude. I'm a handicap. Here's my badge, Okay? I don't want to fight, but I've got a pass. Right here's my. My cripple, my placard. So long story short, he wasn't happy. I finally said, what do you want to do? Well, I'm gonna have to turn my back to get out of here. I was like, you mean to help you. And anyway, we went in, and I came out last night after the show when I. And I'm like, man, I need some beer for the. Because we're going home. We're gonna sit on the deck, we'll have some beers, right? We're out. I get my car, and we're driving, and I feel it immediately. I'm on ass. Flat tires.

[A]

No.

[G]

What?

[F]

Oh, did he flat your ass?

[I]

No way.

[D]

So one tire is what is pancaked

[E]

down to the rim.

[D]

So I just pulled on to the. I mean, it was just one block. Took a left into the deal. I left it at the choke and puke. 7:11. Deal. Wow. And I was glad that you're behind me. And I jumped a ride with Jerry.

[E]

Yeah. Surprised the hell out being because we just pulled up. We just followed him out here to the ranch. He parked the truck, and I hadn't noticed the flat or nothing. Me and chicken were talking. He comes walking out with a case of beer and hops in the back seat. I was like, where are we going, brother?

[D]

We're going to party.

[E]

I thought, you want to go do a little off road in the Volvo? I was like, all right.

[A]

That happened. That happened here last night.

[D]

Yeah. I mean, I don't know if it was slashed because I went on a drive with the girls beforehand. Maybe I got into cactus or something, but it sure is flat. So my Car is parked down there. I've got to do that later after the show.

[I]

God.

[D]

Dog, dog.

[F]

There's something about, I guess, the rattlesnake that makes people want to fight.

[G]

That's why I'm not the only one they got.

[F]

Yeah. Because during the show, JD Bowed up to a guy because he was laughing. Yes, you did.

[G]

Okay. The guy's right behind me. I know, right? The guy's right behind me talking to two other drunk chicks, and they're just. And Jerry's doing a great show. And this guy's like, hey, years of time, back when I drove my car down by the lelong, the long View, as loud as he can be. You know, you do the turnaround thing where you look at him and go, come on, dude. And didn't. Didn't phase him a bit. So finally I turned around, went, can you just crank it down just a hair? I'm really trying to hear the show.

[F]

Oh, he didn't just say it like that. He's like, hey, dude, quiet. There's a show going on right now.

[D]

I was like, Damn, J.D. i'm trying to be nice. And how did he take it? Did he slash his tires? Well, that's probably why my tires got slashed. Oh, it's my fault.

[I]

That's what it is.

[F]

He was surprised. He didn't say anything. And then he started to kind of talk about.

[G]

He started talking nachos, and the girl

[F]

that was next to him kind of poked himself.

[G]

Why don't you eat your nachos? I'm like, oh, Lord, here we go. Here we go.

[D]

He told you to shut up and eat your nachos.

[G]

Shut up and eat your nachos.

[D]

So what'd you do?

[G]

I just shut up and eat my nachos. I watched the show, and he shut up is what happened.

[F]

He did.

[I]

He did.

[F]

But I was proud of JD Actually bowing up to a country boy.

[A]

I didn't even notice that I was. I was sitting right next to you during the whole show.

[G]

You couldn't hear that guy talking?

[D]

No, they were loud as hell. I almost said something.

[A]

See, there you go. I'm. I'm like. I mean, focused in. Like, I'm analyzing you, Jerry, while you're

[G]

doing your set, you were laser focused on.

[A]

I mean, I'm watching that. I want to learn how to do this right.

[E]

I can tell. Oh, man. Find somebody better to watch. My God, you were.

[G]

You were great. And I was trying to hear the show, and Junkie the barkeep couldn't keep quiet.

[D]

I'm making A date with Ali Shadiq. Remember him? Out of here.

[E]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[D]

He came and sat in on the show several years ago, but I said we need to do the same thing with him. But he's African American.

[A]

Yeah, he's every man, though, dude.

[E]

Oh, he'll get up there and sit down on that stage. He'll shut up.

[D]

Is this. Is this a sunset town?

[E]

It feels. I. I have not.

[F]

What is that?

[E]

It's been a minute since I got outside of Houston proper in Texas, and I forgot.

[G]

Sunset town. What does that mean?

[E]

Yeah, uniform.

[I]

That's right. Yeah, I know what a sundown town is.

[D]

Don't let the sun sit on your black ass.

[E]

They got a lot more of them in Louisiana. Of them here.

[G]

Are you serious?

[D]

I don't think that's real anymore.

[E]

Oh, I think Louisiana still real in places.

[I]

It is real.

[D]

Is it still real? Oh, come on.

[I]

Real. It is real. It's real for people like me.

[E]

I don't feel white enough to hang out.

[I]

They slash your tires and you look like you.

[D]

Okay, Sunday, you guys.

[I]

No, thank you.

[D]

No, it'll be fine. It'll be more than fine. We're just cutting up. How did you learn to go long form? So be being funny in clips and being funny in moments and the tick tockers and this and that is one skill. But to get up on a stage and carry consistently with momentum for 45 or an hour and a half. How long did it take you to develop that muscle?

[E]

Oh, man, you're still doing it, I'm sure. Yeah, yeah. It's a constant learning process. I started. I was always a storyteller. I was fascinated with storytellers. Jerry Clower and these kind of guys. I. I grew up listening that, and I grew up with my dad and his brothers on the back porch, and it was just a contest who had the best story, and it was just who could get everybody laughing and keep. So I grew up in that environment, so it's always been strong with me. It's really hard when you're going into stand up, though, because stand up, they won't last per minute. They won't. You start out doing 5 minute open mics, 2 minute open mics, 1 minute open mics. So it takes a while. You have to. You have to get funny enough in those situations that they give you longer time where you can stretch it out. But it's. It's just been in like the past years. Like that last story I tell. If I tell the full version of that story, it's like a 20 minute story. And I wrote it for a storytelling contest. Literally. I was doing a storytelling contest in College Station and I was on the way there and I was like, well, here's something, you know, And I put this together and won that contest that night. And I was like, I'll just put this. So right now I'm writing my new special and I've got, you know, about half of it there that the pieces are there but all the beats aren't hitting the way I want it to yet. Right. For me to be ready to record it. So that story is a good one for when I say, okay, I'm in a crowd here where I'm not 100% sure I want to go this direction with some of this other material.

[D]

Right.

[E]

And I can just whip that out and it's an easy.

[D]

Like here, excuse me while I whip this out.

[F]

Well, and the best part is the story so graphic and people are eating it does just the blend of it wasn't really something you do normally comedy show. So it was great.

[D]

Yeah, it reminded me. I used to. I did a few open mics and it's tough. I haven't done it a long time, but I used to stop at the improv on the way. I would dry, I would go. I started driving to Louisiana when I was buying cars to come back on the night of the open mic at Improv Addison and not Addison in Port in Arlington and get up there and do that. Fortunate to have this radio stuff under my belt. So you're used to the long form, but it is different when you get up on that stage. Turley, you've done it.

[F]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[E]

It's.

[F]

It's eye opening. You have to control your energy. That's the biggest thing. Because if you get up there, we're

[D]

talking about being a comedian on a stage in front of a lot of people with just you and a microphone in them.

[F]

Yeah. If you have family there, that kind of helps. Unless you're doing comedy about them, which I was doing. But it's the energy. I realized when I got up there I was like way too hyper and I started talking too fast and you're like, slow down, slow down.

[D]

You blow through your had this thing on, on the, on the Internet. I watched a video of Turley, me really committed at the time because he got up and did this bit. His mother in law and his wife were in the audience and he did a bit about her undercarriage after the baby was born.

[E]

Oh, no, bro. Oh, come on.

[H]

Ooh.

[E]

I Usually just ask. That family doesn't come to shows. Yeah. Because I'm going to talk about some of them.

[F]

Well, I didn't know, I didn't know my mother in law was going to be there. And that was my wife getting back at me because she knew what the material was going to be. I was like, oh, man.

[E]

Yeah. Some of the, the number one advice they always give young stand up conferences start slow down, slow down, slow down. You know, and then another one. When I first started, I was, I wasn't fast, I was real slow. So they were constantly like, do you got any more? Can you, can you, can you hoof it up a little bit, brother?

[D]

Hit the hooks harder.

[E]

Yeah, just speed it up. Just speed it up.

[D]

So, Jerry Wayne, you are heading to Calgary, Canada to do a week stand up.

[E]

When's your flight leave, man? I think nine o'.

[G]

Clock.

[D]

Okay.

[E]

Headed out. It's a little red eye.

[D]

You're pretty. You're pretty big old boy. I don't know how big old boy you are, but I bet they're excited. Do you have any problem with the people on the airplanes?

[E]

Oh, yeah. Oh, wow. Well, I just came back. Fat is funny. Yeah, I went there, Africa. And I've got rules now that I didn't even have before. And one of those rules is if I walk up your airplane and you weigh me before you tell me where to sit on the airplane, you don't got enough airplane for me. Because they, my friends, little bitty skinny people, they're like little fairy people and they just put them on the plane, no problem. And I'm walking up plane that I could pick up, put in the back of my pickup, you know what I mean? I'm already nervous we're going to fly five hours over the Sahara. And I'm like, okay. I walk up this plane and she's like, whoa, big guy, hold up just a minute. And she pulls this scale. I guarantee that scale weighed as much as I did. She pulled the scale out of the bottom of the airplane, set it down, weighed me and my backpack and everything. I was like, all right. And she gets me on the airplane and she tells me where to sit. So I think I'm in the right place. My friends are already kind of glaring at me funny because about this. And I'm like, well, we get ready to take off. She comes back there on an airplane, she moves me six inches to the left and I oh, you talk about terrified, man. I didn't move for five hours. I told my friends I held a fart in for the last two hours. You know, I could just see the headlines. Fat guy farts down plane in Africa. You know, it's not the Buddy Ollie story. That ain't sick. I'm flying to Canada on Spirit Airlines. I'm sure they'll weigh me before I get on, you know, Spirit. Yeah, it's gonna take four days to get to Canada, believe it or not. I could probably drive there quicker.

[D]

God, Spirit. Is that like. Is that the new JetBlue?

[G]

Yeah, kind of, but it's still the old spirit.

[F]

Yeah, it's like flying in a third world country is what it is.

[D]

What is Canada? Yeah.

[F]

No, I'm talking about on the plane, though. Yeah, there's chickens in the aisle. I mean, it's bad.

[I]

Zero.

[G]

Yeah.

[C]

All right, y' all know what to do. Hit us up on John Claywolf.com youm can check out old episodes on there. You know, stay up to date with what we got going on. Get cool gear. We got hats, shirts, all that hit us up on Facebook, you know, search John Clay Wolf show. We're on Instagram. John's on Twitter. You know, you can holler at all of us. Okay. You know how to spell it. Okay. We appreciate y' all listening. Keep on rocking with us.