April 21-24

Web site: www.carlosmencia.com

Short video clip

One yardstick for measuring a comedian’s impact is his or her penchant for pointing out the hypocrisies in our society, while still consistently getting big laughs. Carlos Mencia not only fits that description, but also absolutely rocks a room with sustained, explosive laughter. In fact, his impact and following have grown so large in recent years that he’s more customarily been performing concerts in theaters--like the “Three Amigos” shows, where he topped a bill featuring Pablo Francisco and Freddy Soto--so it’s a rare treat to be able to catch him at Cap City. Carlos developed that huge following the old-fashioned way: he earned it. He’s been touring the country steadily for the better part of 15 years, and has a list of credits so long, it’s almost simpler to name the shows he hasn’t been on. But let’s stick with the ones he’s appeared on, including “The Tonight Show,” HBO's “Comedy Half-Hour” (for which he earned a Cable ACE award nomination for "Best Stand-Up Comedy Special"), a critically-acclaimed performance on HBO’s “Comic Relief VI,” hosting that network’s “Loco Slam” series, as well as back-to-back nights of NBC’s “Later.” If you wanted to reach back to an earlier time, you could also cite “In Living Color,” “The Arsenio Hall Show” and “Comedy Compadres.” He’s been no less prolific on the CD front, releasing such works as “Take A Joke America” and “America Rules.”