seven venues

By day, Carlos Mencia is a mild-mannered husband and father. But at night, the star of Comedy Central's "Mind of Mencia" leaps the bounds of political correctness and takes on issues of politics, race and culture with a fervor that has earned him fans — and foes.

"I'm fearless onstage. There's nothing I won't talk about," says the comic, who will launch his national stand-up tour at Red Rocks on July 26. "But in real life, I'm not that guy. I don't try to be that guy. I don't think I can make people laugh offstage."

The Clark Kent of comedy would rather find a quiet corner where he can observe and absorb rather than be the life of the party. Although he tells jokes for a living, and gripes that Americans sometimes take comedy too seriously, he does have something important to say, a mission to accomplish, a legacy to leave.

"I'm on this earth for somewhere between 80 and a hundred years, hopefully," he says. "Either people will tell stories about me when I leave, or they won't. I'm leaving that legacy."

Mencia was born Ned Arnel Mencia, the 17th of 18 children, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, in October 1967. He grew up mostly in a housing project in east Los Angeles, with an aunt and uncle, and he credits that gritty reality for his take-no-prisoners approach to comedy.

"I grew up in the ghetto, with people who got stabbed and shot and didn't know if they'd be there tomorrow," he says. "I don't have time to b.s. you. I just grew up in a different place. Everything was so brutal and honest."

That upbringing prepared Mencia well for what he sees as the modern role of a comic, as the court jester of the day.

"Comedians are who the court jester was in another time. When a battle was lost or there was sad news to be given to the king, the jester was the one who did it because he could make it funny. In the context of that, that's who I am. I'm (delivering) the message that can only be said by comedians and really, really be heard."

As an example, in true Mencia fashion, he says, "Way before anyone would call Bush an idiot, we were calling Bush an idiot."

And why are comedians playing this role?

"Who are the philosophers of this day?" he asks. "Chris Rock, Dave Chapelle, Carlos Mencia. We are the ones. We talk about (the times) with brutal honesty. And honesty is painful sometimes. . . . But I find a way to make people understand it. It's not personal."

Mencia's CDs include "Take a Joke America" and "Not for the Easily Offended." He may be best known for the catchphrase "dee-dee-dee," which has gotten him into trouble with the PC police, who accuse him of making fun of disabled people. But he actually uses the phrase to refer to stupid people.

"I would never pretend to talk to somebody like this in real life," he says. "But once it gets to my comedy, this is a joke. And if you say, 'How dare you say that,' I'll say, 'Tell me I'm wrong.' They can't."

Nothing personal

Mencia has also had to learn not to take it personally. Even when he's accused of stealing jokes by the likes of George Lopez and Bill Cosby.

He usually doesn't talk about the accusations. "Why should I? Then I'm just another guy defending myself.

"In truth, I really have way too much to worry about," he says. "Giving pause to people who don't like you, it doesn't make sense. There's no reason for it. Nobody's ever proven anything. But I will never put down another comedian."

In fact, Mencia gets credit for boosting the career of another comedian.

Comic Steve Trevino, who played the Denver Improv earlier this year as part of his own national tour, calls Mencia his mentor and credits him with getting his career off the ground in half the time it took Mencia to do so.

"He told me, 'I'm gonna make you the comedian I wish I was,' " Trevino says. " 'I'll help you become my competition.' "

Mencia took the young Trevino on tour with him as an opening act, something Trevino is now doing for another young comic, Nick Valentine of Dallas, who also performed at the Stapleton club in late March.

Trevino says Mencia is "a quiet dude who would have been rich no matter what he did. With him, there's no drinking or smoking. It's all about the work ethic."

Mencia says he doesn't think about his success per se, although he does get "stuck" in certain moments — at Starbucks, for example.

"I never thought in my entire life that I would be buying an $8 cup of coffee," he says. "Eight dollars on coffee. Come on. It's just cafe, buey."

But in the end, he says, "I've made a difference in individuals' lives. And that's what matters. If I'm too edgy for you? Maybe you don't need a Carlos Mencia. But for the fans, the people that work really, really hard and they're going to go to one concert this summer, Carlos Mencia at Red Rocks, I owe them something. I'm going to pay up when they get there."

And why is he kicking off his "At Close Range" tour at the natural amphitheater in the Colorado foothills?

Mencia's answer is twofold.

One, he says, Colorado has been one of his favorite places to perform ever — period. "Denver, Aurora, Colorado Springs, Boulder. I just connected with that state," he says.

A performance at the Comedy Works in Denver three months after the Columbine massacre confirmed Mencia's affinity for Colorado audiences. Mencia says he worked the tragedy into his act. "I talked about all the things that occurred there in joke form," he says. "And you (Coloradans) got it. You said, 'Good point.' And you laughed. It was time."

As for Red Rocks, he never thought he'd be performing there. "When I got the opportunity, I said, 'Are you serious? I can do this?' I mean, lots of comedians have performed at Madison Square Garden. But Red Rocks? It is America. It's natural. And look at the people who have performed there. It's almost like saying, 'Let's go to the most beautiful place in the country and tell jokes.' "

And after that? "After that," he says, "I can die. There won't be anything else."