If you don’t mind, neither does he: Carlos Mencia plays Red Rocks on Saturday.

Carlos Mencia needs little introduction, as popular as his “Mind of Mencia” show has been on Comedy Central the past three seasons. That fame has found Mencia simultaneously praised for his raw, unapologetic humor and panned for allegedly stealing jokes or pandering to lowbrow mentalities. But in the end, he’s one of a rare breed of comedians that could even headline a venue like Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

He’s also the first to do so in more than a decade. We talked to Mencia in advance of his show on Saturday with Lewis & Floorwax and the Groove Hawgs) about the storied venue, his upcoming projects and the controversy over the alleged stolen jokes.

I’ve only seen a handful of comedians play Red Rocks, and none of them ever headlined. Did you seek this show out, specifically?

Yeah, that place is amazing, man. I did a little research on it and it just blew me away how beautiful it is. When I learned of the people that have played it I thought, “That would be awesome if I could do it.” But that was it — I never really put much more thought into it. Then my agent called me up and said, “We’re thinking of doing a show there with you,” and then all of a sudden it really dawned on me that I had to do it.

It seems like a challenge, as a lot people don’t respect comedy on the same level as music or theater.

The thing about comedians is that we’re the red-headed step children of the art world. Nobody gives us the respect that we deserve. Everybody thinks they can be funny. Most people know they can’t sing like Mariah Carey, but we’re the only ones that get heckled. We’re the only ones where our fans actually f*** with us. Nobody goes and sees “Romeo and Julietâ€? and yells, “Listen… he’s underneath the balcony!â€? With us they’ll do that.

Of course, comedians like Richard Pryor, Steve Martin and others used to play giant music venues all the time. And Dane Cook has done Madison Square Garden.

When it’s done right in a venue like that (Red Rocks), it is like a rock concert.

You just have to be careful for hecklers…

(There’s) a problem with the way people view stand-up. The best stand-ups find a way to make it seem and feel conversational, so I think at a certain point people get tricked when comedians are good most of the time. When you’re an established performer, people yell out s*** because you make it feel like it’s a conversation. People don’t realize this s*** is rhetorical and they respond to it. But when people talk to us, we talk back.

How so?

If you start singing a song to somebody, they start singing along. And a music group will never stop in the middle of their song and be like, “Did you just get the words wrong?� to the audience. We’ll do that at any time. Maybe some of it is brought on by us by picking on specific people, but I don’t mind any of that. Whatever happens, happens.

Your new special (“Performance Enhanced”) seems like a bit of a departure from your normal material. Is there any particular reason for that?

I was in Iraq performing over there and the majority of the material flowed from either my trip or things that happened during that time period (late last year). It’s just a different side of me. I don’t know how to explain it other than… before when I saw myself, I was like “That guy’s crazy,” and now when I see myself it’s like, “That’s really funny and smart and interesting.” It’s the difference between the young bull and old bull. I’m sure you’ve heard that joke.

Indeed I have; the one about walking vs. running down the hill to, er, mate with some cows in the field.

Yeah.. the special just has that feeling of: I know what I’m doing, I’m saying it and I’m not trying to overextend it. It feels very solid, and it’s one of the specials that I actually worked on the most.

What can fans expect from Season 4 of “Mind of Mencia”?

All I can say about Season 4 is that it’ll be as funny or funnier than anything I’ve done, but it’s definitely going to look nothing like past seasons.

Has the controversy of other comedians (Joe Rogan, George Lopez) accusing you of stealing jokes largely calmed down?

What’s funny is that it was never my feud, and it never is. When you become popular there’s always going to be varying opinions about it. Honestly, once you start thinking about stuff like that and editing yourself and questioning your thoughts and ideas — it would be like Monet had said, “You know, somebody already did a painting with flowers. I’m not going to do any more of that.” It’s my art and I do what I think is funny. I write what I think is funny. Let the chips fall where they may.

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