If you’re in Las Vegas Sunday or Monday to see Carlos Mencia at the Stars of Comedy series and you know where to get a good bowl of menudo, feel free to pass the information along to him. Mencia makes the most of his two-day stays in a town with 24-hour dining, but a good source for the savory soup has as yet eluded him.
At least that was the case in August when Mencia posted a plea to his Instagram followers. Mencia’s bond with the fans who propelled him to fame and helped keep him there comes through clearly in his communications with them. A lot of entertainers address their audiences directly on social media, but in this case it kinda feels like you’re in the car with Mencia.
His fans respond with adulation and encouragement, which helped sustain Mencia when he found himself in feuds with other comedians. He has his own circle of peers, but for the most part Mencia’s been his own man throughout his career.
The 17th of 18 children, Mencia was raised in Los Angeles by relatives after migrating from his native Honduras. Mencia caught the comedy bug after debuting at an open-mic night at The Laugh Factory. As a Honduran migrant, he developed the performative sense of humor most comedians develop early from having an outsider’s perspective, but as a bilingual extrovert who grew up in a melting pot culture, he could appeal to wide audiences.
And he did. Mencia was like the guy at the party who commanded attention with personality and stories, except he did it onstage. He graduated to late-night talk shows by the mid-’90s, as well as hosting comedy specials for HBO and Galavision. By the 2000s, he had his own HBO specials and successful tours, and became a popular performer on Comedy Central.
The network’s mid-2000s sketch comedy series Mind of Mencia brought him into living rooms regularly. With Dave Chappelle’s retirement from Chappelle’s Show, the spotlight was on Mencia, and for a stretch of time he was the biggest comedian to arrive on the scene since Dane Cook.
Mencia decided to discontinue his hit series while it was still on top and pursued other opportunities, but his bond with his fans remained firm. They want what Mencia delivers: brash, unfiltered, no-holds-barred comedy. If Mencia stopped for a moment to consider if his humor was offensive or too similar to another comedian’s, he would lose his audience. He would cease to be Carlos Mencia.
So he’s fine if he’s caught in the sights of another comedian’s ire, except when he’s not. He’s Carlos Mencia, after all. Criticism hurts. It affects his family. The good thing about being Carlos Mencia, though, is he can go work off the stress in Vegas every Sunday and Monday night in front of an audience that reminds him of why he does what he does, and who he does it for.
Harrah’s Las Vegas. starsofcomedy.com
Click here for your free subscription to the weekly digital edition of Las Vegas Magazine, your guide to everything to do, hear, see and experience in Southern Nevada. In addition to the latest edition emailed to every week, you’ll find plenty of great, money-saving offers from some of the most exciting attractions, restaurants, properties and more! And Las Vegas Magazine is full of informative content such as restaurants to visit, cocktails to sip and attractions to enjoy.
