In our first interview with Carlos Mencia we went back in time and revisited Mencia’s first decade in the business. This time around, Mencia is about to record 5 shows at the San Jose Improv (tix here), for his latest album(s).

Transparency: the recorder glitched at the beginning. So let’s dive into Carlos Mencia talking about his new 3 hours of material and breaking it down for the new album.

Mencia: When I do current jokes I try and tie it into an emotional idea. But once those moments go away, I can’t really use that material again. Last year I …

Chris Titus: Champion of the People.

Christopher Titus has to be one of the longest running, hardest working comedians in the business. From his major success at 35 on his own television show, Titus, to his ground breaking comedy albums, the guy’s work ethic is staggering. Last time SUSC talked with Titus, he was angry at life, angry at love and angry in a downhearted, but hilarious, way. Now that the entire planet is coming apart at the seams, Titus has found his stride and new confidence. Like Hunter S. Thompson said, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn …

The big man will be at the Food Lounge on Saturday April 15th

Tickets here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2922415

A brief bio of Barry Crimmins looks like this: Former Air America Radio writer and correspondent, internationally renowned political satirist and author of the acclaimed Seven Stories Press book Never Shake Hands With A War Criminal helped bring the Boston Comedy scene into the modern age when he founded two of Boston’s most fabled clubs: The Ding Ho and Stitches. Such acts as Steven Wright, Paula Poundstone, Bobcat Goldthwait, Kevin Meaney, Jimmy Tingle and many, many others cut their comedic teeth in the rooms …

It’s fascinating when you see your comedy friends and acquaintances taking huge strides forward. It’s as if there is a veil between this regular ordinary world and the world of fame and they have managed to pierce it. SUSC was nervous about interviewing Natasha Leggero and Moshe Kasher, Moshe has always been a pretty brilliant and intense Mofo and Natasha is a fast rising star whose stage persona is barbed and sharp. Natasha is crushing it on her co-written, produced and directed Comedy Central show Another Period and Moshe just launched a “coming to Showtime”  series slated to …

Matt Lieb is a thirty-one year old comedy powerhouse: writer, actor and street musician/Bone Thugs-N-Harmony cover band. He was named “one of my all-time favorite Bay Area performers” by the award-winning SF blog Courting Comedy and described as “extremely talented, charmingly dark and genuinely pleasant.” He won 2nd place at the 2004 KZSC Comedy Competition, but the guy who won 1st place no longer does comedy so Matt basically won 1st place. He also won 1st place at the 2013 Rooster-T-Feathers Comedy Competition, which was very validating for him. Matt Lieb has opened for many legendary …

Kathleen Madigan is a firestorm of jokes, advice and more jokes. She is the way of the comic samurai. Beholden to none besides her hard-earned fans, Madigan came up with people like Ron White and Lewis Black. All iconoclasts, all hilarious.

She will be appearing at The Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz on May 5th, get your tickets here: http://www.riotheatre.com/events-2/2016/5/5/kathleen-madigan

SUSC: You seemed to have a different kind of start then most comics. You got into the club system early on. You started hitting mics after college?

Kathleen: I didn’t do any comedy in college. I bartended in college …

When interviewing Carlos Mencia, the elephant in the room can be heard breathing heavy in the corner. You know it’s there, he knows it’s there. But, fuck that elephant. Let’s ride that elephant, let’s see what fucking tricks that elephant knows. At a certain point, a man, a comedian has to be seen beyond his accusers and given a chance for redemption.

I would much rather hang out with Carlos Mencia than anyone I’ve met that has harsh words for the guy, because I love comedy. Look at just this one blurb from his lengthy bio:

“Mind of Mencia” …

Greg Proops is a stand up comic from San Francisco. He lives in Hollywood. It’s not that bad. Really. The Proopdog is best known for his unpredictable appearances on Whose Line is it Anyway? He can be seen on the New Season on the CW. Greg has a brand-new stand up special called Live at Musso and Franks available at gregproops.com recorded at the legendary Hollywood eatery. Professor Proops has a hit Podcast called The Smartest Man in the World. He has recorded it live in London, Australia, New Zealand, Montreal, Edinburgh, Dublin, San Francisco, Oslo, …

Ian went to school to be an explosives engineer, but a lucky chance at an open mic made him the volatile one. He may be in your area sooner than you think, because this manchild does over 100,000 air miles a year. He has had 2 half-hour specials, “Comedy Central Presents” and HBO’s “A Comics Climb” and has been featured in 2 seasons of “Gabriel Iglesias Presents Stand-Up Revolution” on Comedy Central. His latest one-hour special, “Ian Bagg: Getting to F**king Know You” aired on Showtime. In 2015, Ian was a fan favorite and placed in the …

Steve Treviño is fast becoming one of the country’s hottest comics and the new voice for the 21st century Mexican American.  Finding his way from a Hispanic upbringing in a small South Texas town to living his dream in Hollywood, has infused Treviño’s comedy with a “TEX-MEX” sensibility, yet as a performer he has a uniquely American voice that transcends anything about ethnicity, making him universally relatable. Outside of being a national headliner, Treviño has made memorable appearances on The Late Late Show, Comics Unleashed and BET Comic View, among others. He also wrote on Mind of Mencia and produced and wrote on …