Mind of Mencia

(Dee Dee Dee!)

Carlos Mencia (born October 22, 1967) is a comedian, writer, and actor, born seventeenth of eighteen children as Ned Arnel Mencia in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, to Magdelena Mencia and Roberto Holness. He was raised by his aunt Consuela and uncle Pablo Mencia in East Los Angeles, California, going by the name Ned Holness in honor of his father. By his own admission, staying out of trouble was difficult growing up, but with the help of his family he excelled in school and stayed out of gangs. He would go on to CSULA majoring in electrical engineering, but would leave early to pursue a career in comedy after a successful performance at open mike night at The Laugh Factory.

Taking the stage name Carlos Mencia, he was a quick success at such venerated LA stand-up venues as The Comedy Store and The L.A. Cabaret. This led to appearances on The Arsenio Hall Show and Buscando Estrellas, where he attained the title "International Comedy Grand Champion". Then, in 1994, Carlos was chosen to host HBO's latino comedy showcase Loco Slam.

Carlos followed up Loco Slam by hosting Funny is Funny! on Galavision in 1998. He would continue to do stand-up, including a very successful tour in 2001 with Freddy Soto and Pablo Francisco, "The Three Amigos". Carlos also did two half-hour specials on HBO, the second of which won him a CableACE Award for Best Stand-Up Comedy Special. After the release of his first comedy album by Warner Records, Take A Joke America, Carlos performed his break-out performance on Comedy Central Presents in 2002.

By the time his career began to take off in the early 2000s, Mencia was also working as an actor doing guest appearances in the television shows Moesha and The Shield, and starring in the film Outta Time and the animated show The Proud Family.

Mencia's comedy markets itself under the perception that his material is highly controversial. Like many comedians, he focuses on race, politics, religion, class and society, in a style some consider politically incorrect. He mixes blunt and unforgiving observations with angry reactions to current events while railing against the actions of people he considers to be "retarded". Some consider his jokes to be intentionally provocative, or racist, focusing on stereotypes for the sake of publicity. Mencia, however, says he does not focus on any one race, instead creating comedy about all races, ethnicities and religions equally. Mencia's material has yet to generate controversy on the grounds of being offensive.

In a 2005 interview by Howard Stern, comedian George Lopez claimed that he and Mencia were involved in a physical altercation at a comedy club. Lopez alleged that Mencia appropriated 13 minutes of Lopez' material, without permission, for Mencia's HBO comedy special. Lopez told Stern, "It's not really a feud, I mean, I think I won.". Shortly afterwards, comedian Joe Rogan wrote a post on his website publicly accusing Mencia of being a plagiarist, alleging that Mencia stole jokes from a number of comedians.

Mencia responded to the accusations while being interviewed on Tucson's The Frank Show, stating that Joe Rogan had fabricated these allegations out of jealousy. On his own website, Mencia denied accusations of plagiarism, arguing that the material in question was too generic to be attributed to any single comedian. Additionally, he confirms Lopez's statement that there is no feud between them.

Mencia recently released his first retail DVD, Carlos Mencia: Not for the Easily Offended, as well as his latest comedy album Down to the Nitty Gritty. Most notedly, he has started his own television series: he is the creator and star of his newest project, Mind of Mencia, on Comedy Central, which he also produces through his production company, NedLos. The show, which began airing July 2005, is a mix of stand-up, sketch comedy, and street comedy. The show was renewed for a second season and is now in production with new episodes set to premiere March 22, 2006.

Filmography

In Living Color (TV), playing a Valet in episode six of season two, October 28, 1990
Moesha (TV), playing "Carlos" in the episode "Life Imitating Art," February 9, 1999
The Proud Family (TV), starring as Felix (voice) (2001-)
The Shield (TV) playing "Gabo" in the episode "Two Days of Blood," May 28, 2002
Outta Time (2002), playing "Juancho"
29 Palms (2002), playing "The Comedian"

Not including his comedy specials for HBO and Comedy Central, Mencia has also appeared on Comic Relief, and hosted Loco Slam in 1994, Latino Laugh Festival in 1997, Funny is Funny! in 1998, and Uncensored Comedy: That's Not Funny in 2003.

He has released three comedy DVDs, Down to the Nitty Gritty, Not for the Easily Offended, and a compilation of his HBO specials.

Discography

Take a Joke America (2001)
America Rules (2002)
Unmerciful (2003)
Not for the Easily Offended (2003)
Down to the Nitty Gritty (2004)
Mind of Mencia (2005)

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