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” …

Join us on April 23rd and 24th in Chico, California for another round of Comedy Festival excitement and laughter.

The festivities kick-off at 6pm on Saturday April 23rd with a FREE show in the Downtown Park Plaza. 35 comedians from all over California will attempt to make you laugh for 3 hours straight. Also featuring, skits, sketches and raffles this is a unique chance to share laughter with your community.

Then during the night of Saturday April 23rd comedians will be wandering around performing at different venues. Catch them starting at 9pm at B Street, Duffys Tavern and starting …

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 …

The Bay Area is blessed with a menagerie of comics, but outstanding alone in the field of “insult” comics, is Kaseem Bentley. With Roast Battles on the rise and the general malaise of snarkiness, every comic thinks they are the undisputed king of insult comedy, but there can only be one king, and that person is Bentley. With negotiations brewing on live podcasts, a web game show and a movie, Kaseem is on the move.

SUSC: You involve yourself in a lot of comics projects.

Kaseem: You know why I will do things for people, appear on local podcasts …

Joe DeRosa can currently be seen on History Channel’s I Love the 1880′s, and has appeared on HBO’s Bored To Death, FX’s Louie, IFC’s Z-Rock, E’s Chelsea Lately, and DirecTV’s The Artie Lange Show. He is a regular on Sirius XM’s The Opie and Anthony Show and Fox News’ Redeye with Greg Gutfeld. He headlines comedy clubs and colleges across the country and has been featured at South By Southwest, The Montreal Comedy Festival, The Moontower Comedy Festival, The New York Comedy Festival, Bonnaroo, and The Great American Comedy Festival. Catch Joe at Sketchfest January 8th and 9th. Tickets …

When SUSC first saw Mike E. Winfield years ago at 50 Mason, it was apparent that the young comic had that certain something that makes a star: material, presence and a hilarious unique perspective that you wanted to hear more of. From his winning first place in the 2004 Rooster T. Feathers New Talent Comedy Competition to his appearance on Late Night with David Letterman to winning a recurring role on The Office, Winfield’s star is rising. Check him out December 3rd-6th at Rooster T. Feathers in Sunnyvale. Tix here: http://tinyurl.com/jtdxk6e

SUSC: Looking forward to your shows.

Mike: I love …

Geoff Tate is most likely watching “Cheers” right now. A Cincinnati-based comedian, he has appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and is regular opener for Doug Benson and Doug Stanhope. He made his television debut on Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham, and is a regular on Doug Loves Movies, as well as Getting Doug with High. He has performed at music and comedy festivals like Bonnaroo, South by Southwest, Limestone and he has two albums available at the Doug Stanhope store and he’s the host …

Barry Rothbart’s latest comedy album dropped several months ago and has a brand new Comedy Central special that airs September 5th. One of the original writers for Adam Devine’s House Party and a cast member on Punk’d, Rothbart appeared in The Wolf of Wall Street and has a new feature coming out at Sundance that is Demetri Martin’s directorial debut called Dean which stars comic Rory Scovel and actor Kevin Kline. The dude’s got chops and is appearing at The Crepe Place on August 27th. Check out the event page and attend: http://tinyurl.com/qcbvzhu

SUSC: What was your earliest comedy experience?

Barry: I’m from …