RSSStand up for Carlos Mencia, George Lopez
ON Magazine
Carlos Mencia
E-mail
Print
Comments
More 'ON Magazine'
- Wringing fun out of wine
- A lighter 'Carol' this holiday season
- Hustle down to Sesame Street at the SunDome
- Remembering Dick Elliott: A favorite memory of an amazing artist
- Guilty Pleasures-- As holidays roll in, so do old acquaintances, good and bad
- Local poet will autograph his chapbook Sunday at Inklings
- Moxee singer finds himself back where he was before
Most Read
- This feature is under development and will be available soon.
A self-described "equal opportunity offender," Carlos Mencia is one of the country's most successful stand-up comedians, despite his penchant for racial and gender jokes.
Controversial and proud of it, Mencia, 41, is also a Los Angeles-based actor whose current stand-up tour, "At Close Range," is coming to Yakima this Sunday at the Capitol Theatre. He is mostly known for his Comedy Central program, "Mind of Mencia."
Like other well-known Latino West Coast comedians, Mencia cut his teeth at landmarks like The Comedy Store and L.A. Cabaret. During the early '90s, he also appeared on "The Arsenio Hall Show."
But it was not until 2005 that his career hit its stride as he began doing stand-up on Comedy Central.
Half Mexican and half Honduran, the comic's stand-up repertoire includes a lot of material drawn from growing up in East Los Angeles, where Mencia admits he had a difficult youth but managed to stay away from gangs with the help of his aunt, Consuelo, and uncle, Pablo Mencia.
He majored in engineering at California State University, Los Angeles, but left school early to pursue his love for comedy after a successful open-mike night at the Comedy Store, a Los Angeles fixture.
Though highly successful with jokes that spare no ethnic, gender or religious group, Mencia has been dogged in recent years by comedians who claim that he plagiarizes ideas from others.
One of those who say Mencia rips off his stuff is George Lopez. Legend has it that he was so mad at Mencia for allegedly using some of his work that he punched him during a backstage altercation at a comedy club.
Lopez is scheduled to make a stop in Yakima one week after Mencia, at the SunDome as part of his "America's Mexican" tour. The show will take place Oct. 18.
Plagiarism claims aside, there's no denying Mencia's talent. Nor that of Lopez, who so far has had an even more successful career.
But it wasn't always so. Close friends of Lopez love to tell the story of how he labored for decades under the shadows of more well-known Latino comedians like Paul Rodriguez.
But Lopez lore says that he never gave up, honing his craft to razor sharpness with gigs at L.A. comedy clubs. His monk-like dedication to his skill paid off in 2004 when his stand-ups at Pasadena's Ice House turned into "Team Leader," a CD that was nominated for a Grammy for Best Comedy Album.
James Blancarte, a Los Angeles-based attorney who represents many Latino artists, including Lopez, says that in addition to being talented, Lopez always has been the consummate professional.
"He can go five nights in a row without missing a beat," says Blancarte, who has for decades been a big fan of comedy.
To a greater extent than Mencia, Lopez, 47, draws most of his material from his Mexican-American background and seems more tamed -- albeit with the use of coarse language. His days growing up in the San Fernando Valley are a great part of his "Why you crying?" show, broadcast on HBO and later the basis for his autobiography as a self-admitted loser who finally struck it big.
Growing up mostly without a mother and father, Lopez says that his disciplinarian, old-school Mexican grandmother (now in her 80s) was a big part of his influence. He readily admits that her constant beatings are the basis for his "Why you crying?" routine.
His success as a comedian led Sandra Bullock to tap Lopez to star in "The George Lopez Show," one of the few sitcoms on network television that has cast Latinos in leading roles. After a successful five seasons on ABC, it now airs on Nick at Nite.
In addition to his comedy, Lopez is well known for his charity work and for being a spokesman for the National Kidney Foundation.
Both Mencia and Lopez are regarded as being among the funniest men in the business. And whether you'd prefer to see Carlos at close range or enjoy George as "America's Mexican," it promises to be two good nights for comedy in Yakima.
* Joseph Treviño is editor of El Sol de Yakima, the Herald-Republic's Spanish-language newspaper.
IF YOU GO
Carlos Mencia
WHEN: 6 p.m. Sunday.
WHERE: Capitol Theatre, 19 S. Third St.
HOW MUCH: Tickets cost $42 through TicketsWest,
800-325-7328, or the Capitol Theatre box office, 853-2787.
George Lopez
WHEN: 8 p.m. Oct. 18.
WHERE: Yakima Valley SunDome, 1301 S. Fair Ave.
HOW MUCH: Tickets cost $37.50 and $47.50 through TicketsWest, 800-325-7328, or the State Fair Park ticket office, 248-7160.
- Advertisement