CONTACT: Julie Martinez

512-593-2590

CARLOS MENCIA DELIVERS LIGHTNING

QUICK COMEDY AT JONES AUDITORIUM

KINGSVILLE (Sept. 21, 1998) -- Comedian Carlos Mencia performed to a sold-out crowd when he appeared at Texas A&M University-Kingsville in the spring. Now in a larger venue, Jones Auditorium, Mencia returns with hopes of again having a standing-room only crowd.

Mencia will perform his Latin comedy routine at 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19, at Jones Auditorium. General admission tickets are $5. Students are admitted free with identification. Student, faculty, staff and the general public may purchase tickets in advance in the student activities office on the third floor of the Student Union Building.

Since he was in Kingsville in March, Mencia has hosted "Loco Slam," HBO's raw, uninhibited Latin comedian showcase every Friday in June, performed his own 30-minute comedy special on HBO in July and worked on a television series pilot.

His energetic set at "Comic Relief VI" earned him a nod from critics, who said what Mencia's diverse audience at The Comedy Store have known for years, that by poking fun at the things that divide us, the honesty of his humor reaches across the lines of race and gender.

"I think we all feel the same things most of the time, we just don't know how to put it into words," Mencia said. "When I'm on stage, I say it. The truth makes people laugh and it satisfies their appetites."

Mencia's family came to the United States from Honduras in Central America when he

was 10 months old. He grew up in East Los Angeles, a quiet, introspective, straight A student. He has 16 brothers and sisters.

He was studying electrical engineering at Cal State Los Angeles and holding down a full-time job at an insurance agency when he found his first appreciative audience at an amateur night at The Laugh Factory.

Just one month later, Mencia showcased at The Comedy Store and became a regular, performing stand-up comedy almost every night for six years.

In 1989, he appeared on "Buscando Estrellas," the Spanish version of "Star Search" and won the International Comedy Grand Champion title.

Since then he has appeared at The Comedy Store, The Improv, The Laugh Factory, The L.A. Cabaret and on television on "In Living Color," "The Paul Rodriguez Show," "The Arsenio Hall Show" and "An Evening at the Improv."

"I'm not in it for the glitz. I grew up in the projects and I know how important it is for kids to have hope," Mencia said. "I want them to look at me and say, 'Man, I could do that'."

For more information on the Carlos Mencia show, call 512-593-2760.

-TAMUK-