About Carlos Mencia
Ned Arnel Holness (born October 22, 1967), known professionally as Carlos Mencia, 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. From 2005 to 2008, he hosted the Comedy Central show Mind of Mencia. Around the time of the show's cancellation, several comedians accused Mencia of plagiarism and stealing jokes.
Holness was born in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, to Honduran parents Magdelena Mencia and Roberto Holness. He moved to the U.S. as a child and was raised Catholic in East Los Angeles by his aunt Consuelo and uncle Pablo Mencia. He attended Garfield High School and later majored in electrical engineering at California State University, Los Angeles, before dropping 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 the Comedy Store owner Mitzi Shore, he began using the first name "Carlos" to appeal to Mexican audiences.
Mencia performed at venerated LA stand-up venues such as The Comedy Store, leading to appearances on The Arsenio Hall Show and Buscando Estrellas. In 1994, Mencia was chosen to host HBO's latino comedy showcase Loco Slam. In March 2005, Comedy Central announced his own half-hour comedy show, Mind of Mencia, which mixed his stand-up comedy with sketch comedy and became Comedy Central's second highest-rated program behind South Park in its second season.
Videos (550)
Videos 529 to 550 of 550.
53:55BTL Episode 38 Carlos & Gabe: Money, Power, and the Ballot: How Today’s Politics Affects Us All
362 views
1:11:43BTL Episode 36 Carlos & Gabe: Laughs, Laws, and the Latino Vote
354 views
3:10The evolution of joke telling.
338 views
57:23BTL Episode 20 B Carlos Mencia, Gabe Lopez & Special Guest Cisco Duran Part 2
334 views
55:50BETWEEN THE LAUGHS Episode 11 Carlos Mencia & Gabe Lopez
332 views
1:06:29BTL Episode 25 The Price of Success: Roots, Horror, and Comedy Betrayals with Carlos & Gabe
322 views
1:13:26BETWEEN THE LAUGHS EPISODE 13 Carlos Mencia & Gabe Lopez The Other Side of Fame
320 views
1:20:47BETWEEN THE LAUGHS Ep. 15 Carlos Mencia, Gabe Lopez & Special Guess Calen Genobaga
318 views
1:02:00BTL Episode 24 When Fear Makes the Rules: Carlos Breaks Down Politics, Identity & Comedyst
302 views
58:46Comedy's Changing Landscape (Part 1): Censorship, Content Pressure & Carlos' Quincenera Take
298 views
1:26:20BTL Episode 26 Carlos Mencia & Gabe Lopez The Soundtrack of Home: Family, Radio, and Memory
291 views
1:02:38BTL Episode 32 Carlos & Gabe talk about Race, Real Talk, and Global Sport
286 views
1:27:27Between The Laughs Ep 9 Dogs off the menu, Goats killed for the family BBQ, pozole vs menudo.
285 views
1:03:42BTL Episode 39 Carlos & Gabe: Can a Suit Change a Life? (Plus: Gabe for Senate?)
283 views
1:35Episode 49 of Between The Laughs is out now on my YouTube!
280 views
1:10:37Between The Laughs Ep 6 Handy Manny, Recuerdos y Logros
260 views
59:31BTL Episode 30 Carlos & Gabe The Anthem & The Activist: Bad Bunny to the Olympic Front Lines
221 views
56:35BTL Episode 31: Carlos & Gabe: Genetics, "designer" babies, and the death of the apology.
191 views
1:37Statistically, it's true.
43 views
Conversations from the Greenroom
0 views
Carlos Mencia's Zoom Meeting
0 views
Test
0 viewsGuest appearances (7)
Videos on other comedians' channels featuring Carlos Mencia.
Guest appearances 1 to 7 of 7.
5:49"Pauly Shore on Joe Rogan & Carlos Mencia Beef" | WHAT'S UP FOOL? EP 277
Felipe Esparza
236.9K views
1:17:15The Church Of What's Happening Now - Carlos Mencia
Joey Diaz
211.8K views
12:02Bobby Lee Talks Carlos Mencia on Tiger Belly (Fahim Anwar Dance Hour )
Fahim Anwar
22.4K views
13:25The Church Of What's Happening Now Pre Show: - Carlos Mencia
Joey Diaz
13.6K views
5:41"Redban on Filming the Joe Rogan & Carlos Mencia Incident" | WHAT'S UP FOOL? EP 310
Felipe Esparza
4.4K views
6:52What Did Carlos Mencia Teach Stand Up Comic Kevin Dombrowski?
Chrissie Mayr
846 views
1:25:24CMP 196 - Kevin Dombrowski - Lessons from Carlos Mencia, Selling Yourself, Do Credits Matter Anymore
Chrissie Mayr
682 viewsChannels on this page: Felipe Esparza, Joey Diaz, Fahim Anwar, Chrissie Mayr
Frequently asked questions
What is Carlos Mencia known for?
Ned Arnel Holness, known professionally as Carlos Mencia, is a Honduran-American comedian, writer, and actor. From 2005 to 2008, he hosted the Comedy Central show Mind of Mencia. His style of comedy is often political and involves issues of race relations, Latin American culture, criminal justice, and social class.
Where was Carlos Mencia born?
He was born in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on October 22, 1967, to Honduran parents Magdelena Mencia and Roberto Holness. He moved to the U.S. as a child and was raised Catholic in East Los Angeles by his aunt Consuelo and uncle Pablo Mencia.
How did Carlos Mencia get his stage name?
In 1988, at the suggestion of the Comedy Store owner Mitzi Shore, he began using the first name "Carlos" to appeal to Mexican audiences.
What was Mind of Mencia?
Mind of Mencia was his half-hour Comedy Central show announced in March 2005. The show mixed Mencia's stand up comedy with sketch comedy and became Comedy Central's second highest-rated program behind South Park in its second season. The series ended in 2008 after four seasons.
What plagiarism accusations did Carlos Mencia face?
Around the time of the show's cancellation, several comedians accused Mencia of plagiarism and stealing jokes. In 2005, comedian Joe Rogan publicly accused Mencia of being a plagiarist, and comedian George Lopez also accused Mencia of plagiarizing his material.