DVD Review: Carlos Mencia: Performance Enhanced
I've caught more than a few episodes of Carlos Menica's half-hour show on Comedy Central, and also saw his first stand-up special, and while he certainly does have his moments making you bust out laughing, I still do not consider him one of my favorite comedians. Carlos spares nobody in his routines, he will crack wise about seemingly anything, though it seems his prefers the controversial material. It doesn't matter your skin color, wether you're short or tall, fat or thin, gay or straight, nothing is off limits. And I say good! That is the way it should be! So being controversial is not the reason I'm not a hardcore Mencia fan.
So then why? This is just my opinion here, but I just feel like a lot of his jokes are stale. He rips on all different people, but it's usually about the typical stereotypes those groups have; it doesn't feel like anything new. Just because you say it louder and with more emphasis, that doesn't make it fresh or funnier. I guess that's why I just don't tend to laugh much watching his performances. Some, but not enough.
Now he has a new stand-up special called "Performance Enhanced", which contains all new material, yet maintains his same erratic, loud, energy-filled performance. Once again he covers controversial topics, such as use of the N-word (hasn't that been done to death already?), but the bit I found most interesting was when he told about how he went to Iraq to perform for the troops. The way he told about his experience made it seem absolutely real, not like it was just a bit that was made up, or even a bit that was "enhanced" to make it funnier than it actually was.
There was nothing here that would turn me into a Mencia fan, but it was enjoyable enough to watch through once, and definitely one I wanted to check out on DVD as I'm certain they would cut out a lot of footage when airing in on Comedy Central. The DVD also has a couple special features, though none really feel that special. There is a segment from his show, Mind of Mencia, which is kinda dull. I've seen the show, so I know there are way better segments that could have been chosen. It made me wonder why they went with that Dean Carlos one. Anyway, then there is also his appearance on MTV Cribs... a show that I have never cared for.
So my bottom line for this DVD is... just average. I wouldn't buy it, and I wouldn't go out and rent it, but I wouldn't feel bad wasting one of my Netflix rentals.
Carlos Mencia: Performance Enhanced, released by Paramount, is available starting October 28, 2008.