Carlos up close

Mencia an 'equal opportunity offender'

By Deanna Darr, Journal staff | Saturday, October 11, 2008

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Carlos Mencia has no problem pointing fingers in the current mortgage crisis.

“If you think an adjustable ARM is something an amputee has, you shouldn’t be buying a house,” he said. “We’re making every excuse for these people. We live in a country that has no personal responsibility, and because people vote and people purchase, nobody has the gall to say it like it is.”

Nobody, perhaps, except Mencia, who has been billed as the “equal opportunity offender.” The star of Comedy Central’s “Mind of Mencia,” he will perform on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center theater.

Mencia is currently on an 80-city standup comedy tour. And between the economy and the election, he is finding plenty of fodder on the road.

“I don’t think it can get any better,” he said by phone from Laredo, Texas.

“This is one of the best elections ever. Sarah Palin is like comedy gold, but the weird part is how weird it is. If you make fun of Palin, you’re a sexist. If you make fun of McCain, you’re an ageist. If you make fun of Obama, you’re a racist.

“Nobody can make fun of those three, but I can. I think it’s just my willingness to do so. For me, it’s like this: When you come to my comedy show, you know it’s a comedy show,” he said.

He admits he gets angry e-mails for his no-holds-barred style of comedy.

“You know, I’m not the president; I’m just a goofy guy, telling jokes. It’s not my point of view. I’m just telling jokes,” he said. “In America, we can say what we feel. Other people have a right to say I’m brash or that I’m not funny, and that’s fine.”

Is there anything that is off limits?

“Something that’s intended to hurt is not funny,” he said. “Sometimes people say things and they’re not funny. I’m either telling a joke or leading up to telling a joke.”

Comedy can provide a little relief in tough times, he said.

“I was told for a while that maybe it wasn’t a good time for a tour, but people need to laugh and they need a perspective,” he said. “In the end, if we don’t laugh, it just gets tighter, like a noose, and you get angrier and angrier.”

Mencia was born in Honduras, the 17th of 18 children. As an infant, his parents sent him to the United States to live with his aunt and uncle in the Maravilla Projects in Los Angeles. He returned to Honduras to avoid the gang culture of East L.A., according to his biography. He’s not sure how his background prepared him for a career in comedy.

“I don’t know that it did as much as when you have an upbringing that’s a bit more of a struggle, you just have a better sense of humor,” he said. “You don’t take things as serious. You’re poor; all you have is laughter. That prepared me for making fun of almost everything. In a country that has freedom of speech, we’re so sensitive about everything.”

After he returned to Los Angeles and graduated from high school, he began doing standup at The Laugh Factory, and later became a regular at The Comedy Store. He was named International Comedy Grand Champion from “Buscando Estrellas” (the Latino version of “Star Search”), which led to appearances on “In Living Color,” The Arsenio Hall Show,” “Moesha” and “An Evening at the Improv.”  He also has appeared on “The Shield” and “The Bernie Mac Show.”

“Mind of Mencia” debuted on Comedy Central in early 2005, with the fourth season beginning Nov. 11. His movie credits include “The Heartbreak Kid” with Ben Stiller and Michelle Monaghan in 2007. His latest standup special, “Carlos Mencia - Performance Enhanced,” arrives in stores Oct. 28.

He also has visited the troops in Kuwait and Iraq and plans to return.

“Those are the best shows I’ve ever done in my life,” he said. “Seeing the looks on their faces, and they see that you’re there and you care about them, that somebody will take a risk with them.”

Mencia has been on the road since July and will visit more than 80 cities - 23 in October alone — by the time his tour wraps up in mid-December.

“I tend to do it that way. Once I get engulfed in it, it just feels so fluid,” he said of his hectic schedule.

He travels by bus, which gives him a home away from home.

“After the show, I walk to the bus, go to my bed, watch a little TV, fall asleep and life is beautiful. By the time I wake up, I’m in another town,” he said.

Despite the economy, Mencia says his shows are selling out and his career is showing no signs of slowing down.

“I’ve had a successful show on the air for four years; I’m in a great place,” he said. “Other networks want me to work with them, radio wants me to work with them, movies. ... The future is wide open.”

If you go

What: Carlos Mencia At Close Range Tour

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15

Where: Rushmore Plaza Civic Center theater

Tickets: $38.75, available at the civic center box office, The Silverado in Deadwood, 394-4111, 1-800-GOT-MINE or www.gotmine.com.

Contact Deanna Darr at 394-8416 or deanna.darr@rapidcityjournal.com