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Ned Holness vs. Carlos Mencia
Evander
Disappointed FatherRegistered User regular
Disappointed FatherRegistered User regular
So, if this is out of line, I apologize, but I felt like bringing up Carlos Mencia, and seeing what other folks think.
Personally, after the second time I saw his old HBO special, I really haven't been a fan of him. His material, while not always bad, often rellied too heavily on stereotypes, and in a way in which he seemed to be saying "come on, guys, we all know that this is really true.", not just making fun of the stereotype itself. The fact that he tried to justified his making fun of the mentally retarded by claiming to have mentally retarded friends (more specifically, he at least claimed that mentally retarded people had told him that they liked his jokes, so it was therefore okay.) also rubbed me the wrong way. When he got his show, I got even more annoyed with him, since he seemed to now be relying on yelling, rather than actually telling jokes. I remember a particular episode where he decided that what was really wrong with the country was people who still have corded phones in their houses, as though this was some kind of horrible epidemic, or even affected anyone at all in a negative manner.
And then I found out about the joke thievery.
I've never been a fan of Joe Rogan, but I do have to thank him for opening my eyes. I don't care that Mencia uses a stage name, nor am I talking about disputed "stolen" bits, like the George Lopez one. Because of what Rogan said, I did a little research, and found bits that Mencia had stolen from the likes of Bill Cosby, and Sam Kinison. I like to think of myself as somewhat of a discerning consumer of comedy, and the idea of a guy like Mencia muddying the waters really bothers me. Before hand, I was mostly apathetic to him, but ironically what offends me has nothing to do with the content of his material, but the way in which he got it.
So, what do other folks think?
Personally, after the second time I saw his old HBO special, I really haven't been a fan of him. His material, while not always bad, often rellied too heavily on stereotypes, and in a way in which he seemed to be saying "come on, guys, we all know that this is really true.", not just making fun of the stereotype itself. The fact that he tried to justified his making fun of the mentally retarded by claiming to have mentally retarded friends (more specifically, he at least claimed that mentally retarded people had told him that they liked his jokes, so it was therefore okay.) also rubbed me the wrong way. When he got his show, I got even more annoyed with him, since he seemed to now be relying on yelling, rather than actually telling jokes. I remember a particular episode where he decided that what was really wrong with the country was people who still have corded phones in their houses, as though this was some kind of horrible epidemic, or even affected anyone at all in a negative manner.
And then I found out about the joke thievery.
I've never been a fan of Joe Rogan, but I do have to thank him for opening my eyes. I don't care that Mencia uses a stage name, nor am I talking about disputed "stolen" bits, like the George Lopez one. Because of what Rogan said, I did a little research, and found bits that Mencia had stolen from the likes of Bill Cosby, and Sam Kinison. I like to think of myself as somewhat of a discerning consumer of comedy, and the idea of a guy like Mencia muddying the waters really bothers me. Before hand, I was mostly apathetic to him, but ironically what offends me has nothing to do with the content of his material, but the way in which he got it.
So, what do other folks think?
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Mencia just comes off as a loud-mouth jackass with zero class. I don't get why Comedy Central keeps giving him such good timeslots and promotion.
Yes!
The only thing on comedy central less funny than Mencia is Dogma. That's not Dogma's fault, though; it's not funny when you have the dialog memorized. Why does CC insist on showing it three times a day?
Anyway, I'll admit I liked Mencia when he first got on Comedy Central, during which time I was in severe Chappelle withdrawal. I even went to see him live when he came to my town. It was funny, but not as funny as I'd hoped. I stopped watching his show after the first season. Fast forward a couple years, I see his show occasionally and it doesn't do anything for me. Then I see the thread about him stealing jokes and watch the youtube videos. Now, every time I hear or see him, I just think of his thievery and that he's really beating a dead horse with his comedy. I don't hate him or anything, I just wonder how many better comics are missing out because of him.
Anyway, Mencia. Stealing material sucks, building a career off it sucks even more, and anti-PC humor has been done much better by others already. And the argument that his jokes about midgets are okay because he's friends with some midgets is retarded as hell.
There's a ton of comics that borrow/steal comedic ideas and material. Who cares that he's using a stage name alot of people do. He's like any other comic hit or miss most of the time. There's very few comics i find funny all the time, i can count them on one hand.
Joe rogan's argument that he changed his name to sound more hispanic is lame, who cares. The guy did what he needed, to get gigs. Although i will take Rogan's word on what is not funny, that he's an expert on. His accomplishments in the field of not funny are amazing.
Either way, Mencia is one of many "one-trick pony" comedians. Dennis Leary (though he's a good actor) and Lewis Black just yell all the time, Dat Phan just does Asian jokes, etc. It's a lame concept, but at least most of those other guys don't have regular sketch comedy shows to showcase how shitty they are.
And stealing jokes is just shitty.
Thing that bugs me is Mencia claiming only Latinos could tell some of his jokes when he borrowed them from white and black comedians.
Actually, I've done my fair share of bitching about Dennis Leary.
And the thing with Mencia is that he's been called out on it, and refuses to admit it. It's one thing to do it, it's another not to own up when you've been caught.
And then he has the balls to pretend that anyone who gets offended is too sensitive. It's not his jokes that offend me, it's the fact that he thinks he's funny.
Also use that money to restart MST3K.
You need to watch more Lewis Black, son.
It's not the yelling that makes his delivery great, it's the fact that he is a shambling collection of tics. He's pretty much the biggest spaz ever. Plus the matieral itself is pretty fuckin' funny, generally.
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Damn. he is getting PWNED.
But I've hated this guy forever. Such a bigoted asshat. Not like Sam Kinison or Chapelle, who are funny. He is just a racist ass.
dennis leary stole shit, but he also has about 2409829409283409239408 times more talent in terms of writing and acting than carlos mencia ever will
edit: or the freaking king of queens. if someone gave me a show where you kicked a midget in the balls and he turned into 8 squirrels that bounded off in different directions, i'd watch it forever
Why does CC show Ned Holness when they could be showing reruns of Chappelle's show? Which would probably get better ratings.
There's a difference between Jon Stewart changing his name to not be discriminated against, and Holness changing his name to be able to drop jokes easier. That's like the dentist who converts to judaism so he can make jew jokes.
Also, I think the bulk of Mind of Mencia viewers are white.
Wrong on both counts, but alright.
Yeah, I saw Joe Rogan once, and while his delivery is definitely not for everyone, some of his bits made me laugh. That's more than Mencia can say.
LOLOLO UR WRONG
I see the same thing with both Dennis Leary and Carlos Mencia. Everyone says "They stole a ton of stuff!" but no one ever points to specific examples, and when they do, the examples are weak.
yes, I've seen the "who's going to build the wall" example. It's an obvious, easy joke. Sometimes different people come up with the same joke, just as with the similarities between the Dennis Leary and Bill Hicks "shooting john instead of yoko". Hell I was doing that joke before I'd ever heard of Bill Hicks.
More notably, the "football in the backyard" bit. Mencia ripped it off from Bill Cosby - of course, the joke sort of tanked, because a lot of Cosby's bits relied on pacing. Mencia has none.
See here if you'd like to compare for yourself: http://youtube.com/watch?v=lCixAktGPlg.
YES
YES
A THOUSAND TIMES YES
because carlos mencia is an idiot. the dirty secret in the comedy business is that everybody steals from everybody else. nobody cares as long as you're funny. carlos mencia isn't funny, so he gets called out on it.
look at it this way; if he isn't funny now, with bits taken from other people, how unfunny would he be if he had to come up with his own stuff
Apparently not, because he did.
It's the same starter, the same buildup, the same punchline. What more do you want, exactly?
You can't steal stuff in improv.
It's fine not to like Carlos Mencia, he's an idiot and he isn't very funny. What's irritating is people trying to find some objective reason to dislike him. Oh, one of his jokes is similar to a Cosby jokes? Well then he must have stolen it!
Adding a bitter, unfunny meathead like Joe Rogan just stirs things up a bit more.
What.
Do you do this on purpose?
Of course you can.
Really, that's the thing that most annoys me about Mencia. Joke! Punchline! RANDOM SCREAM FOR NO REASON OTHER THEN TO LET YOU KNOW THE JOKE IS OVER!