Carlos Mencia

Carlos Mencía
Mencia performing in December 2009
Birth name	Ned Arnel Mencía
Born	(1967-10-22)October 22, 1967 San Pedro Sula,Honduras
Years active	1990–present
Genres	Observational comedy,black comedy,insult comedy,physical comedy,satire
Subject(s)	Latin American culture,race relations,family,everyday life,pop culture,human behavior
Spouse	Amy Mencia ​ ​ (m.2003)​
Children	1

Ned Arnel"Carlos"Mencía(born October 22, 1967) is aHonduran-Americancomedian, writer, and actor. His style of comedy is often political and involves issues ofrace relations,Latin American culture,criminal justice,andsocial class.From 2005 to 2008, he hosted theComedy CentralshowMind of Mencia.Around the time of the show's cancellation, several comedians accused Mencía ofplagiarismandstealing jokes.

Early life

Ned Arnel Mencía was born inSan Pedro Sulaon October 22, 1967, to Honduran parents Magdelena Mencia and Roberto Holness.He has 16 older siblings and one younger sibling.At the time of his birth, his mother was engaged in adomestic disputewith his father, and she subsequently refused to give Mencía his biological father's surname.Out of respect for his father, he later began using the Holness surname anyway, and did so until the age of 18.He moved to the U.S. as a child and was raisedCatholicinEast Los Angelesby his aunt Consuelo and uncle Pablo Mencía. By his own admission, staying out of trouble was difficult while growing up, but his family helped him excel in school and stay out of gangs. He dealt drugs and robbed a house when he was 19 years old.He attendedGarfield High SchoolinLos Angeles County,and later majored inelectrical engineeringatCalifornia State University, Los Angeles;however, he dropped out to pursue a career in comedy after a successful performance at anopen micnight atThe Laugh Factory.In 1988, at the suggestion ofComedy StoreownerMitzi Shore,he began using the first name "Carlos" to appeal to Mexican audiences.

Career

Mencia prior to a live concert at a U.S. Army camp in the Persian Gulf

Mencia performed at venerated LA stand-up venues such asThe Comedy Storeand The L.A. Cabaret. His success in these venues led to appearances onThe Arsenio Hall ShowandBuscando Estrellas,where he attained the title "International Comedy Grand Champion." Then, in 1994, Mencia was chosen to hostHBO'slatinocomedy showcaseLoco Slam.

Mencia followed upLoco Slamby hostingFunny is Funny!onGalavisionin 1998. He would continue to dostand-up,including a successful tour in 2001 withFreddy SotoandPablo Francisco,"The Three Amigos." Mencia also did two half-hour specials on HBO, the second of which won him aCableACE AwardforBest Stand-Up Comedy Special.After the release of his first comedy album by Warner Records,Take A Joke America,Mencia performed his break-out performance onComedy Central Presentsin 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 showsMoeshaandThe Shield,and starring in the filmOutta Timeand the animated showThe Proud Family.

In 2002, he performed onComedy Central Presents.In March 2005, Comedy Central announced Mencia's own half-hour comedy show,Mind of Mencia.The show mixed Mencia's stand up comedy withsketch comedy,much likeDave Chappelle'sChappelle's Show.The show achieved moderate success in its first season and was brought back for a second season in the spring of 2006, becoming Comedy Central's second highest-rated program behindSouth Park.The show's third season premiered in early 2007.The series ended in 2008 after four seasons when Mencia decided against filming a fifth season, explaining "It would have felt repetitive and redundant. There's a lot of different doors that are opening for me...I truly have no idea what's next."

Mencia was sometimes a guest on theOpie and Anthonyradio show onXM Satellite RadioandCBS Radio.He took part in the firstOpie and Anthony's Traveling Virus Comedy Tourin2006.

Mencia starred in aSuper Bowl XLIcommercial forBud Light.In November 2009, Mencia began appearing in commercials for a weight-loss product called Belly Burner.

Mencia went on a 2011 stand-up comedy tour, including dates at the Improv inSchaumburg, Illinois,on June 24 and 25, and ending in Las Vegas at Treasure Island on September 16, 2011.

Mencia was a co-founder of the restaurant chainMaggie Rita's,and a co-owner of several locations.By January 2013, Mencia's restaurants had closed amid poor reviews, though one franchised location continued to license the name.

Controversies

Public reception

In 2006,Maximnamed Mencia one of the worst comedians of all time.Mike Byoff ofGawkersaid of Mencia, "Not only does he steal jokes from classic comedians but he's needlessly racist and had no sense of comedic timing whatsoever."

A 2010 article inThe Wall Street Journalnoted that Mencia,Dane Cook,andJay Lenowere three of the most popular stand-ups that were hated by fellow comedians.

Accusations of plagiarism

In 2005, comedianJoe Roganwrote a post on his website publicly accusing Mencia of being aplagiarist,alleging that Menciastole jokesfrom a number of comedians.On February 10, 2007, Mencia confronted Rogan on stage at theComedy StoreonSunset Boulevardafter Rogan referred to him as "Menstealia" while introducing another comedian. The two argued as Rogan accused Mencia of plagiarism - citing multiple examples - which Mencia denied. Rogan posted a video of the altercation, along with audio and video clips from other comedians includingGeorge Lopez,Bob Levy,Bobby Lee,andAri Shaffir.Rogan has also posted audio and video clips of Mencia's interviews and joke routines comparing Mencia's routines to those of other comedians on hisblog.

Comedian George Lopez also accused Mencia of plagiarizing his material. In an interview onThe Howard Stern Show,Lopez accused Mencia of plagiarizing 13 minutes of his material in Mencia'sHBOspecial. He also claimed he had a physical altercation with Mencia over the alleged plagiarism.The only joke that Lopez has publicly specified was stolen and used on Mencia's HBO special was aTaco Belljoke. Comedian Ted Sarnowski countered this claim, stating that the joke he performed on radio in 1988 was later taken and used without permission by Lopez, the radio station's resident comic. Sarnowski claims to have given Mencia permission to use the joke.

Mencia has also been accused of stealing a routine fromBill Cosby.In his special,No Strings Attached,Mencia performs a bit about a father who spends years training his son for a career as afootballplayer, only to see the son say "I love you, Mom!" at his moment of televised victory. Cosby performed a similar bit in his concert filmBill Cosby: Himselfand wrote briefly on the subject in his bookFatherhood.Mencia told theLos Angeles Timesthat he had never seen the film but regretted the similarities between his and Cosby's jokes.

Mencia addressed the issue of plagiarism in two hour-long interviews with comicMarc Maronon his podcast,WTF with Marc Maron,in May 2010.In 2011, Mencia stated in an interview that he had been in therapy due to accusations of plagiarism.

Hurricane Katrina remarks

In February 2009, Mencia was dropped from theKrewe of Orpheus' celebrity lineup forNew Orleans Mardi Gras,citing inappropriate comments he made in the aftermath ofHurricane Katrina.Mencia remarked during his stand-up: "I'm glad Hurricane Katrina happened. It taught us an important lesson: black people can't swim."

Personal life

Mencia married his wife, Amy, in 2003. They reside inLos Angelesand have one son named Lucas Pablo Mencia.

In popular culture

Mencia is parodied in "Fishsticks",an April 2009 episode of the animated TV SeriesSouth Park,that aired as part of itsthirteenth season.In the episode, Mencia takes credit for the "fishsticks" joke that fourth graderJimmy Valmeractually conceives of and popularizes. When hip hop artistKanye Westis publicly mocked over his inability to understand the joke's punchline, he kidnaps and beats Mencia, who admits that he took credit for the joke because he isn't funny, explaining, "I just take jokes and repackage them with a Mexican accent, man!" Kanye later kills Mencia after he attempts to explain the punchline to him, but fails.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Outta Time	Juancho
	29 Palms	The Comedian
2005	The Proud Family Movie	Felix Boulevardez (voice)	TV movie
2007	Farce of the Penguins	Juan Sanchez (voice)
	The Heartbreak Kid	Tito
2010	Our Family Wedding	Miguel Ramirez
2021	Pil's Adventures	Graubart (voice)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	In Living Color	Valet	Episode: "The Black Man's Guide to Understanding the Black Woman"
1992	An Evening at the Improv	Himself	Episode: "Rita Coolidge, Kevin James, Frank Miles, and more!"
1994	Loco Slam	Himself/Host	Episode: "Episode #1.1"
1994–95	HBO Comedy Half-Hour	Himself	Episode: "Carlos Mencia" & "Carlos Mencia"
1995–97	Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child	Poncho/Xolotl (voice)	Episode: "Sleeping Beauty" & "The Shoemaker and the Elves"
1999	Moesha	Himself	Episode: "Life Imitating Art"
2001	The Test	Himself/Panelist	Episode: "The Adventurous Test"
	The Bernie Mac Show	Chuy	Episode: "Pilot" & "Now You Got It"
2001–05	The Proud Family	Felix Boulevardez (voice)	Recurring Cast
2002	Comedy Central Presents	Himself	Episode: "Carlos Mencia"
	The Shield	Gabo	Episode: "Two Days of Blood"
2004	The Drop	Himself	Episode: "Episode #2.3"
2005	Weekends at the D.L.	Himself	Episode: "Episode #1.11" & "#1.12"
2005–08	Mind of Mencia	Himself/Host	Main Cast
2006	Drawn Together	King of Mexico (voice)	Episode: "Captain Hero and the Cool Kids"
2007	Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards	Himself/Host	Main Host
	MADtv	Himself	Episode: "Episode #13.5"
2009	Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America	Himself	Episode: "When I'm Bad I'm Better: The Groundbreakers"
2012	Celebrity Ghost Stories	Himself	Episode: "Victoria Rowell/Dot Jones/Carlos Mencia/Linda Blair"
2013–14	Gotham Comedy Club	Himself/Host	Episode: "Carlos Mencia" & "Carlos Mencia"
2018	Laugh Factory	Himself	Episode: "Carlos Mencia: La Generación de Milenio"
2021	Down to Business	Himself	Episode: "Various Artists"
2022	Dark Side of Comedy	Himself	Episode: "Greg Giraldo"
2022–	The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder	Felix Boulevardez (voice)	Recurring Cast

Discography

Albums

• Take a Joke America(2001)
• America Rules(2002)
• Unmerciful(2003)
• Spanglish(2006)

Albums and DVDs

• Not for the Easily Offended(2003)
• Down to the Nitty Gritty(2004)
• No Strings Attached(2006)
• The Best of Funny is Funny(2007)
• Performance Enhanced(2008)
• Mind of Mencia Season 1(2006)
• Mind of Mencia Season 2(2007)
• Mind of Mencia Season 3(2007)
• Mind of Mencia Season 4(2008)
• Carlos Mencia: New Territory(2011)

External links

Media related toCarlos Menciaat Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Carlos MenciaatIMDb
• Mind of MenciaArchivedMarch 5, 2012, at theWayback MachineatComedyCentral