Do you like stand-up comedy? Do you like political jokes? Can you stand jokes about culture, race or social class? You are in love with those that make fun of the everyday social issues and ethical convention? Then you should have heard at least once the name of Carlos Mencia, the American comedian that used to be the host of his own show at the Comedy Central, “Mind of Mencia”.

Born on October 22^nd 1967 as Ned Arnel Mencia, Carlos Mencia being his stage name, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, he was given the last name of his mother (Magdelena Mencía) due to a dispute she had with his father (Roberto Holness). Nevertheless Ned used his father’s last name till the age of 18 out of respect towards him.

Mencia grew up in East Los Angeles, California, with his aunt and uncle, and also there he received his education, finally graduating as an electrical engineer from California State University. He quit on engineering when he discovered a possible career in comedy after a successful performance at “The Laugh Factory” and the possibility became reality in a few years.

At the beginning he made a success at some LA stand-up venues, which led to repeated appearances in such TV-shows as “The Arsenio Hall Show” and “Buscando Estrellas”. After gaining the title of “International Comedy Grand Champion” there, he was elected to host “Loco Slam”, a latino comedy shot on HBO. In between being the host to various TV comedy shows he continued with his passion for stand-up, and in 2001, he, together with Pablo Francisco and another great stand-up comedian, Freddy Soto, put up an outstanding tour, named “The Three Amigos”. Also in 2001 he released his first out of three comedy albums, “Take A Joke America”, followed by his performance at the “Comedy Central Presents” in 2002, which led to an increasing success following next years.

One of the greatest Mencia’s works till now remains his own show, “Mind of Mencia”, which was released starting March 2005 and ended after running for four seasons in 2008. While running the second season on “Comedy Central” in 2006, it became the second highest rated comedy program, topped only by “South Park”. The show was stopped because of a decrease of popularity after the 3^rd season, but all four seasons were released on DVD’s during or after the show.

Nowadays Ned is still appearing in shows and commercials, as well as doing stand-up while living with his wife and kid (Lucas Pablo Mencia) in the Los Angeles area of California.