Carlos Mencía

Ned Arnel "Carlos" Mencía (born October 22, 1967) is a Honduran-American comedian, writer, and actor. His style of comedy is often political and involves issues of race relations, Latin American culture, criminal justice, and social class. He is best known as the host of the Comedy Central show ''Mind of Mencia'' (2005–2008). Around the time of the show's cancellation, several comedians accused Mencía of plagiarism and stealing jokes.

Early life

Ned Arnel Mencía was born in San Pedro Sula on October 22, 1967, the son of Mexican mother Magdelena Mencía and Honduran father Roberto Holness. He has 16 older siblings and one younger sibling. At the time of his birth, his mother was engaged in a domestic dispute with 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 raised Catholic in East Los Angeles by 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 attended Garfield High School in Los Angeles County,Rivera, Carla. "East L.A.'s loss is personal." ''Los Angeles Times''. May 22, 2007. p
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Retrieved on March 29, 2014. "Its alumni include an array of politicians, actors, comedians, musicians, artists and sports figures, including comic Carlos Mencia and boxer Oscar De La Hoya." and later majored in electrical engineering at California State University, Los Angeles; however, he dropped out to pursue a career in comedy after a successful performance at an open mic night at The Laugh Factory. In 1988, at the suggestion of Comedy Store owner Mitzi Shore, he began using the first name "Carlos" to appeal to Mexican audiences.

Career

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

Mencia followed up ''Loco Slam'' by hosting ''Funny is Funny!'' on Galavision in 1998. He would continue to do stand-up, including a successful tour in 2001 with Freddy Soto and Pablo Francisco, "The Three Amigos." Mencia 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,'' Mencia 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.''

In 2002, he performed on '' Comedy 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 with sketch comedy, much like Dave Chappelle's ''Chappelle'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 behind ''South Park''. It was brought back for a third season that summer before being cancelled in 2008. ''Mind of Mencia'' was produced by Nedlos, a portmanteau

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