STATELINE, Nev. — When Carlos Mencia steps onto a stage, he steps into the one place in his life where the rules never quite applied.
“I discovered comedy as the one place where my mother couldn’t tell me, ‘Not here, not now,'” Mencia said. “It was where I realized I could talk about all the absurdities and stupidities of life.”
Mencia’s first show was in 1988 at Las Vegas’ Laugh Factory. When he delivered his first joke and heard the audience erupt, he knew instantly he had found his path.
“It was like the heavens opened up,” he said. “I literally quit school and quit my job the next day.”
From that moment on, he devoted himself to examining the world through humor. He became a regular at The Comedy Store, performing nightly, and after breaking out on the Los Angeles comedy circuit, he was named the International Comedy Grand Champion on Buscando Estrellas, the Latin version of Star Search. That success led to appearances on In Living Color, The Arsenio Hall Show, and An Evening at the Improv.
Mencia’s stage presence blends sharp observation with cultural irony — something he said comes naturally. He is best known for his raw and unfiltered style of comedy, which he has showcased to great success on comedy stages, and in television shows and movies.
But some of his comedy also comes from navigating his own life.
Born in Honduras but raised by a Mexican mother, Mencia grew up steeped in Mexican culture and often felt suspended between belonging and being an outsider.
“I was always the Honduran in the Mexican world,” he said. “I’m an American who was born in Honduras. You’re accepted — but always kind of.”
That duality shaped him as a person and as a comedian, giving him a lens for the contradictions and absurdities he sees in the world.
As he prepares to take the stage in Stateline on Nov. 29, Mencia said he isn’t chasing a message or a theme — just connection.
“I want people to laugh with me or at me,” he said, smiling. “When you come to see Carlos Mencia, you’re going to laugh at yourself and laugh at others. You’re going to realize that you — your life, your experiences, your mind — are incredibly interconnected with everybody else.”
Tickets for Carlos Mencia’s 8 p.m. show on Saturday, Nov. 29, at Bally’s Lake Tahoe in Stateline are available on Ticketmaster.
