TURNING POINT

Laughing In the Face of Change

By trading a secure career for his passion, this comic found himself.

By Carlos Mencia | NEWSWEEK
Published Nov 22, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Dec 1, 2008

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  • Posted By: a_little_bit @ 02/18/2009 4:01:16 PM

    If only everyone would just do what they love. The world would be a simple place. Not a place filled with money grubbing bastards.

  • Posted By: ljr32766 @ 12/14/2008 10:34:42 PM

    For "El Diablo". I just watched a handful of Bill Hicks clips. There is absolutely no similarity to Mencia. Hicks is very similar to Bill Maher and Dennis Miller. So, by your definition, Hicks is a hack for copying Maher and Miller. You probably also believe the commentary by George Lopez that Mencia steals 13 minutes of his routine. I've seen George live 14 times over 13 years and his material is nowhere in Mencia's act. Some jokes are copied because they are discussions of the time. Let me give you a sports analogy. Dr.J was the first to be credited with flying to the hoop. But, who is called "Air"? It's Michael Jordan. Is Jordan a hack? No. He just copied something and made it better. (i.e. cars, stereos, computers, etc.).

  • Posted By: Freakdog @ 11/27/2008 9:27:27 AM

    You know....the really sad part is that none of you realize how much every comedian has borrowed from other comedians, over the years. Even the classic greats have admitted that they got ideas for their bits from something that they heard from other comedians.

    Sometimes, it's an idea...sometimes, it's the basis of a bit.

    Unfortunately, it's a fact that nobody's lives are 100% unique and different from anyone else's. Most people share a common point of reference (or they wouldn't find the material funny, in the first place), including comedians.

    • Posted By: El Diablo @ 11/29/2008 2:34:51 PM

      freakdog you are an idiot. "influenced by" and lifting/stealing "complete bits" are two different things. do you even read? do you even know how to read? lol. what a tool you are...

  • Posted By: Bluemoon05 @ 11/27/2008 3:13:52 PM

    Question, why does it always come down to "if a white guy did this everyone would be all over it". Guess what no one and I mean no one can use the race card anymore...Obama is the PE and with that out goes any race card you try.
    Just because many of us can relate to him does not make him a hack. It's like this, I re-tell a story my way and in doing so I may hit upon something similar to you...so that would make me a hack? Read Freakdogs post.

  • Posted By: BustedFlush @ 11/26/2008 7:40:05 PM

    Hey Bluemoon05 - I don't really care that "Carlos" (not his real name) isn't that funny. I don't particularly like Margaret Cho either - but Cho at least has her own material. If you think Mencia is funny, check out some clips of Bill Hicks on YouTube. The material may seem awfully familiar. If it makes me seem bitter to point out that Carlos is a joke thief - well, I can live with that.

    Am I bitter?

    • Posted By: Bluemoon05 @ 11/27/2008 3:06:26 PM

      Do you honestly believe Margret Cho is original??? Being of mixed ethnicity all I can say is this, her comedic routine is about her life and guess what, I can do a stand up about my own life and all of you would call me a hack and rip off artist in regards to Cho.
      Just because Carlos says things that most of us are either to afraid too say in public or just think it, you don't have to call him a racist. Wanna know why many people find him funny...we can relate to him.Nuff Said!

  • Posted By: Freakdog @ 11/27/2008 9:27:24 AM

    You know....the really sad part is that none of you realize how much every comedian has borrowed from other comedians, over the years. Even the classic greats have admitted that they got ideas for their bits from something that they heard from other comedians.

    Sometimes, it's an idea...sometimes, it's the basis of a bit.

    Unfortunately, it's a fact that nobody's lives are 100% unique and different from anyone else's. Most people share a common point of reference (or they wouldn't find the material funny, in the first place), including comedians.

  • Posted By: Freakdog @ 11/27/2008 9:27:20 AM

    You know....the really sad part is that none of you realize how much every comedian has borrowed from other comedians, over the years. Even the classic greats have admitted that they got ideas for their bits from something that they heard from other comedians.

    Sometimes, it's an idea...sometimes, it's the basis of a bit.

    Unfortunately, it's a fact that nobody's lives are 100% unique and different from anyone else's. Most people share a common point of reference (or they wouldn't find the material funny, in the first place), including comedians.

  • Posted By: comedy2119 @ 11/26/2008 10:37:11 PM

    I gotta say as a struggling comedian who goes to great lengths to make sure my material isn't lifted from others this article is difficult to handle. I wasn't surprised at all when he said prior to his first set at the Laugh Factory that he bought a joke book and did two jokes from it. His bit about winning the Super Bowl and then thanking mom is directly taken from Bill Cosby. If this were music, or painting or any other art form we'd have plagiarism and copyright laws protecting the original artists from theft but unfortunately the comedy world doesn't have that system of checks and balances. I don't hate Mencia but he will never be one of the greatest forr this very reason.

  • Posted By: drizzle @ 11/26/2008 8:44:30 PM

    Regarding the article: Mencia states that people should choose the career that makes them happy, and that a new job is always on the horizon, but maybe he neglected to check the department of labor's statistics, or fails to realize that the cost of cancer treatment can be tens of thousands of dollars A DAY. And in regards to his stealing jokes: many people don't realize that comedians hone their routine and their bits for weeks and months on end, on the road, often to poor initial reception. For them to perfect their material and then have someone steal it is the reason thiefs such as Mencia are largely reviled by his colleagues.

  • Posted By: BustedFlush @ 11/26/2008 7:33:14 PM

    This guy gets to write in Newsweek? Haha, he said 'Beaner'! Boym, that IS funny! Anything he says that IS actually funny, he stole Bill Hicks. I hate this hack even more than Andy Dick.

  • Posted By: Bluemoon05 @ 11/26/2008 7:12:33 PM

    I have read all the negative comments and all I have to say is this...he makes me laugh and we enjoy his shows...to all the negative people out there...BITTER MUCH?, because that is exactly how you are all coming across.
    So what if he is a hack, what most of you don't realize is that a comedian tells his story his way. In which case every comedian must be a hack.
    Look what he is doing is telling people in this article that sometimes you gotta go with your passion to find your happiness. Grow up, the bunch of you sound like sour grapes to me and anyone else that reads the comments. Go Carlos, see you in SJC...our family loves you, you know how to make us laugh. They rest of you, here's your card! That's right I just hacked someone else...so what!

  • Posted By: PhilosoPoet @ 11/26/2008 4:36:37 PM

    OMG, out of the gate, a slew of nasty ad hominems pertaining to Carlos, and not one comment about his article. De-de-de. I wonder what they are really pissed off about. I don't think you would find an op-ed in Newsweek, thank goodness, about where comedians get their jokes. However, this article is about finding happiness in tough times.

    Good advice, Carlos. My niece was asking about this during our vacation and I put off a response in order to give it the proper thought of a loving Uncle. The fruits of our commitment to our passions and personal causes are ultimately the kind of happiness that builds throughout one's life, resulting in a happy life. Kudos to Carlos for this much needed assertion during a very hard time for a great number of unhappy persons.

    • Posted By: El Diablo @ 11/26/2008 5:57:46 PM

      calling him a "thief" is not really an ad hominem fallacy, as you claim. It's demonstrably true, and it's very relevant to what he does for a living. He steals jokes and passes them off as his own (would we take career advice from convicted felon Ted Stevens with the same blase aplomb?). They are indeed personal attacks but they are buttressed by the facts; hardly a reason to cry foul...

  • Posted By: El Diablo @ 11/26/2008 5:50:15 PM

    Mencia is a thief and a hack. I'm a bit dubious about this "engineering" career he was going for considering his retrograde and low-brow brand of humor. I bet he has a 99 IQ.

    Viva Bill Hicks...

  • Posted By: El Diablo @ 11/26/2008 5:47:55 PM

    Carlos Mencia is a joke thief and his low-brow humor makes me a bit dubious about his abortive "engineering" career. What a hack.

    Viva Bill Hicks!

  • Posted By: SoupySales @ 11/26/2008 3:32:31 PM

    icant wait til this hack of a comedian comes anywhere near my town, im going to make four shirts that spell hack and sit in the front row with three friends and rip on this douchenozzle in person and heckle the living dogshit out of him. ill be sure to put the whole thing on youtube and encourage others to do the same. if possible win tix off the radio so you dont have to give money to this chump

  • Posted By: ryansquibb @ 11/26/2008 3:23:54 PM

    Carlos Mencia isn't even his real name it's Ned Holtice (Holstice?). It would be harder to slam Mexicans with that name though. He is a thief many times over and the fact that Newsweek gives him any credibility, speaks to theirs as much as his. I think we should all take a page out of Ned's book and quit our regular jobs and crookedly weasel our way into our dream job.

  • Posted By: SoupySales @ 11/26/2008 3:09:31 PM

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dj94vRoP5Y
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQWUwDbmOm0
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCixAktGPlg
    digg.com/television/Mencia_steals_from_Russell_Peters
    digg.com/celebrity/Mencia_Caught_Stealing_AGAIN_this_time_from_Kinison
    http://www.rutgersobserver.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=36534d2c-8ced-4378-bc8c-0feba8ac1c73

  • Posted By: SoupySales @ 11/26/2008 2:58:39 PM

    mencia is a hack and several media outlets and other comedians have come out to call him just that. the only joke he hasn't ripped off of some other comic is himself. I could be a comedian tomorrow if I wanted to pick a joke from every comedian in the past ten years, tie it all together, and call it an act. i dont care if hes white black blue or purple, he is a straight up thief and anyone in the standup community will tell you the same.

  • Posted By: KennedyReyes @ 11/26/2008 2:47:55 PM

    hey doc howl, you believe everything you see on the internet ? Come see the bigfoot body I have . How come rogan aint got a contract ? who is that guy anyway? Carlos rules ....

  • Posted By: Doc HowI @ 11/22/2008 1:14:47 PM

    Carlos Mencia is a rip-off hack if you read anything on the internet about him you'll see Joe Rogan trying to expose the guy but the media won't support Rogan b/c Rogan is white and Mecia is hispanic. Mencia's only funny stuff is stolen from smart comedians, and the balance of his work is racist crap.

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