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Marking His Territory
Carlos Mencia returns with a focused and original special of new
material
By Michael Shashoua / Jester Editor-in-Chief
Carlos Mencia has always attracted a lot of criticism from fellow
comedians, with accusations of stealing jokes and bumping other
comics of lesser standing out of bookings at the last minute. He
addressed these to some extent on Marc Maron’s podcast two years
ago, and after all that time, now re-emerges on the media landscape
with a new special, “New Territory,” airing on Comedy Central on
Sunday, December 4 and on DVD on December 6.
These issues are being amply covered elsewhere in the material, so
let’s just focus on the quality of his material itself. To some
extent, Mencia does still like to use a few themes to frame
everything – like how people misunderstand the news and
misunderstand his non-politically correct takes on things. But on
this special he does that a little less than
when seen performing four years ago and
on his old show, “Mind of Mencia.”
Instead, with his fitter, slimmer appearance, Mencia stalks the
stage and appears more animated and driven, perhaps on fire to prove
himself all over again. And he does. Mencia focuses his material on
scenarios and commentary more often than chatter leading up to it or
talking about how audiences have reacted. When he does, it is
inspired and funny, and indeed original.
Talking about the Arizona immigration law, Mencia frames it in terms
of his brother, a US citizen, who still talks with a thick Mexican
accent and a friend from the UK who’s in the US illegally. Which one
is more likely to be hassled by police, Mencia asks. Complete with
portrayals of the different voices and what they would say. On the
same topic, Mencia puts this in broader relief imagining an illegal
alien working at the McDonald’s drive-thru as an example of
so-called “taking our jobs” not being a valid argument.
On a similar topic, Mencia also riffs on Americans feeling entitled
when they travel abroad, like expecting air conditioning in every
country. He puts himself in the role, describing going to see the
“real” Jamaica. And his mimicking of a Jamaican hotel clerk taunting
him sells the story successfully. There’s more on those cultural
differences that follows, complete with more foreign voices, that
heightens and carries along the riffs.
So really, having delivered a masterful 80-minute long special (at
least that’s the length of the DVD edition), Mencia deserves
respect. He takes all the skepticism that might be directed at him,
imagined or otherwise, and material about American politics and
society from his direct point of view, and makes it all
entertaining.
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Feedback? Email shashouamedia@gmail.com or michael.shashoua@jesterjournal.com
© 2005-2018 Michael Shashoua