by John Bear
Daily Lobo
He may have a hit show on Comedy Central, but if you call an upscale hotel in New York City and ask for Carlos Mencia, odds are you will be transferred to housekeeping.
That's what happened when I called.
But he didn't seem at all concerned with it. He is too happy about his new show.
"Everything's great," he said. "Great ratings, great reviews, people are just loving the show."
Mencia employs racially motivated humor in most of his material but said most people he has spoken with aren't offended, and the cross section of fans is diverse.
"Old white people are liking the show, their kids, Latinos," he said.
He said he doesn't tailor the show to any particular group. Being funny and honest are his only priorities.
"The show is honest," he said. "I am not trying to be funny to whites, blacks. I don't talk up to people, or down. I just talk funny and people seem to be really into that."
Mencia is not without his detractors, however. He is under the impression that certain people will laugh when an African-American person performs racially charged comedy but can't handle a Latino doing it.
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"Some people, it's hard for them to see a Latino say what I say because it's pretty subversive, so it is hard for them to deal with it," he said. "They think a black person should be doing it but not me."
He said the level of anger among what he describes as a relatively small group of naysayers is fairly intense, so it strikes a balance with his fans.
"There are a lot of happy people, but the pissed off people are really pissed off," he said. "So it makes up for it."
He doesn't take his critics seriously. He laughs them off, making a joke out of it.
"People say, 'You fucking wetback, you shouldn't be saying that,'" he said. "I say, 'Ha ha, I've got a show. I can say that.' Sorry, I am not on Telemundo."
Mencia has often said he is not politically correct. He finds it condescending, even going so far as to call it reverse racism.
"PC is pretending to treat everyone like your friend, even if they're not," he said.
He said he is not easily offended, because dealing with racial comedy where lots of people are going to be offended requires a thick skin.
He did offer up the few things that do offend him.
"Stupidity offends me," he said. "Ignorance offends me. Racism offends me."
He said people speaking without having any idea about what they are saying also gets on his nerves.
"If you are going to talk about something," he said, "know what you're talking about."
While he prides himself on being honest, he feels a lack of honesty is what is most wrong with the United States, at least on the cultural level.
"We are a society of people that's not honest," he said. "We enjoy being lied to, and honesty is not something important to us and it should be."
