INTRO Alex Barrera
PHOTOS Ian White

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Beaner, nigger, wetback, chink. Though many people find these words extremely offensive there is one guy that chooses to use them despite the controversy surrounding them. Since the day Carlos Mencia first set foot on stage, he’s been able to keep people on the edge of their seats by pushing the envelope with the subject matter of his jokes. Recently, he’s had to defend not only his subject matter, but the originality of his jokes. Yet through all of the controversy and accusations, his sold out shows throughout the U.S. prove that people can’t get enough of Mencia. This fall, his fans will get even more of him when he stars in the romantic comedy, The Heartbreak Kid.

Your career has really taken off. Do you feel that being Latino has made it harder for you to be successful?
I could hypothesize with you bro but the truth is I have no f—ing idea ‘cause I’m not black and I’m not white. I have no idea how it is to be them because I only know what it’s like to be me. I can tell you that it wasn’t easy, that it’s hard, that I busted my ass. But I can also tell you that there are millions of white people that would trade places with me in a heartbeat. That’s a fact.

Some people have pointed out that your birth name is Ned and not Carlos.
You know what I say, f–k those people! They’re the same people who get pissed off when a guy named Carlos changes his name to Ned. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t get mad at Jessica Alba and call her a sellout for not claiming she’s Mexican, then turn around and get all “ooh” when a guy like me who is from Honduras goes and changes his name to Carlos because it seems more identifiable with the kind of comedy he does. I’m the only person I know stupid enough to make himself more ethnic! I already had the perfect white name. And they’re trying to give me shit for it?

A lot of your material shocks people in regards to the race issue. Do you think you have taken any of your jokes too far?
Dude, after I do a joke I always think I take it too far—every single time I open my mouth. When I’m on stage I’m just doing what I’m doing. But when I actually hear myself I’m like, I can’t believe the stuff that comes out of my mouth. But when I’m in the moment, I’m doing it because it’s funny, it’s real, it’s honest and it’s introspective. I can’t tell you that I’m going to change.

What about this whole controversy with Joe Rogan?
Let me put it this way—had Joe not accused me of whatever he was accusing me of, do you think we would even know who he is?

All I can say to you is that I don’t take other people’s jokes. I have busted my ass doing this for a long time. Everything I’ve ever done I’ve gotten by making people laugh and doing my job really well, not by putting people down. But then again, why do we make piñatas so beautiful? So we can beat the shit out of them and get the candy when it comes out. That’s the way of the world. When you become successful, people take shots at you, that’s just part of the game, I can’t get pissed off at him. I wish him well. If you want to believe that, it’s your prerogative, you can watch whatever you want but as far as I’m concerned, it’s not something I dream about or think about.

How did the whole thing start, anyway?
I don’t even know what instigated it.

Didn’t George Lopez call you out about stealing jokes…
George is a little different. When I was a younger comic, I was a bit cocky and I was a bit disrespectful. I can acknowledge that now. We had our differences when I was younger. I wish I had been a humbler man. I wish I’d had less attitude, but when you’re young sometimes that’s all you have. That’s where that animosity came from. It’s not there anymore as far as I can tell. Those comments people quoted were from a long time ago and he hasn’t said anything recently that I know of.

And that whole situation where he tried to punch you—is that true?
No, no. This was 15 years ago and it was something where he and I got pissed at each other and we almost came to blows. Better heads prevailed but it was nothing like that.

Any final words of advice to our readers?
Here’s the best advice I can give to anyone out there: If you want to be successful at anything—I don’t care what the TV shows say, I don’t care what that guy trying to sell you something says—it ain’t easy. It takes a lot of hard work, it takes a lot of drive. No one gets there easy. Don’t think for a second that a Brinks truck rolls up to a white person and drops a shitload of cash in front of them. It’s gonna be hard whether your name is Raul, Eric…whatever it is. Understand that it’s gonna be hard—understand it and move on.

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