Christmas in Prison: For Locals Only, Wyatt Cenac Tells World's Longest In-Joke Ever

'Bout two and a half years ago we first introduced you to Wyatt Cenac -- "introduced," because he was only a few weeks into his new gig as correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. As you no doubt recall, he grew up here and graduated from the Jesuit...

By Robert Wilonsky

December 22, 2010

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18855504",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17105533",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105532",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105535",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

'Bout two and a half years ago we first introduced you to Wyatt Cenac -- "introduced," because he was only a few weeks into his new gig as correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. As you no doubt recall, he grew up here and graduated from the Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, which is central to this particular tale -- the Dallas part, that is, not where he went to school.

Late last night, Pete texted me a suggestion that I listen to Cenac's opening stand-up segment from This American Life's Comedians of Christmas Comedy Special, which debuted on NPR this weekend. It was, Pete promised, a lengthy bit about Dallas and Austin. Only, he didn't say how lengthy: Not only are the two cities separated by 200 miles; so too are set-up and punch line. So at least you've been warned. But I imagine this time of the week at this time of the year you may have 13 minutes to spare. Seriously, though. For locals only. Maybe even native-born Dallasites only. I can only imagine how it played at a tiny club in Brooklyn.

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Dallas Observer has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.