Latino comedian Carlos Mencia grew up in East Los Angeles. An amateur performance at the Laugh Factory led him to give up his job in an insurance company and leave college, where he had been studying electrical engineering, to become a standup comic. After performing around the Los Angeles area, he was named International Comedy Grand Champion on the Star Search-like program Buscando Estrellas in 1989 and began to turn up on network and cable television, earning a CableACE award nomination for his second appearance on HBO's Comedy Half-Hour special in 1995. In 1999, he recorded his debut album, Take a Joke America, released in May 2000 on Warner Bros. Records. ~ William Ruhlmann