I figured that since I focused on Joseph earlier, it's only fair that I talk about Brad from Mind of Mencia. Not only is he featured on the show, but he also opens for Carlos Mencia on the road along with me. He started working with Mencia before I did actually.

I started working with Mencia when he came to the Addison IMPROV over three years ago. Brad hosted the show, Steve Trevino featured. When I met Brad, he was a communications major at USC (and he's totally a USC nut to this day). He was going to school and working with Mencia in his free time.

Soon after, he started getting busier with Mencia and decided to "take a leave" from college to focus on stand-up. He's traveled the country with Mencia and has become a very popular personality namely because I think he's one of the handful of dwarf comics out there and is very likable. He is now doing a couple of gigs in the summer solo, before he tours with Mencia this fall. He posted his dates on his blog and I figured I would pass it along because many of you know him from the show and might want to see him live.

For those of you that are unaware, there are so many people involved in making a TV show that go unnoticed. The only people you MIGHT know about are of course the stars of the show, the writers....MAYBE the producers....MAYBE.

There are soooo many other people that work on a show to make it successful. People that you would never think about because their job really isn't noticed when you see the show. You focus on what someone like Mencia is saying, but you don't think about the people holding the camera, directing, dressing, etc etc.

I wanted to show you behind the Mind of Mencia and decided to go to my friend Randy. He's been a friend of Mencia's for many years and is a great photographer. He takes behind-the-scenes pictures of the show and because of this fact, I went to him to get two pictures where I could show what happens behind-the-scenes and the final product.

I picked the rice sketch that was featured on last night's episode. It's two pictures that show just a SMALL SLIVER of the kind of work that it takes to make a show possible. Then I figured I would add a couple of other pictures because I just figured you'd like to see them. Enjoy!

Carlos Mencia, his brother Joseph, Brad Williams and I (Cristela) traveled to Las Vegas to do stand-up at the Palms Casino this past weekend. There was also part of the Mencia crew made up of his brother Bert, his cousin Danny, close friend Danny Boy, Randy Shropshire (who you'll never see without a camera-great photographer), tour manager Joey Sosa, and comedian Juan Villareal from Texas there as well. Not everyone could make it though; there's still more to name.

We had two shows on Saturday that Carlos was taping for a NEW CD that will be out soon. The shows were awesome. It's so weird to see the crowds at the shows. They go crazy with Brad, Joseph and Carlos; me, not so much. I'm not featured on the show so the crowds see me and say, "God I hope she's funny."

Usually, what happens is that the openers do their sets and then sit back for Carlos to do as long as he wants to do. If we're at a casino, chances are that the moment I'm done with my set, I hit the blackjack tables. I love playing blackjack so much that sometimes, it gets me into trouble.

During the second show at the Palms, the show ran long and Mencia called Brad, Joseph and Juan back onstage to hang out with him and tell jokes. From what I heard, he called my name over and over again but I didn't make it in time because I was too busy playing blackjack. WHOOPS!

I had so many people come up to me at the blackjack table and tell me, "Mencia was looking for you." Um, WHOOPS AGAIN! I made my way to the theater but obviously by that time, I was too late. The show had been over for a while and to make matters worse, I was down a couple hundred bucks. Boo!

After the show, Mencia went to his awesome suite (which had 2 bowling lanes in it) to pack because he was leaving back home after the show. A bunch of us went to Ghostbar, one of the clubs at the Palms. I lasted only 5 minutes there because I'm afraid of heights (it's one the 50th floor or something) and when I looked out from the club, I started freaking out and crying.

Oh well, I'm glad I left the bar though because you know what they say: What happens in Vegas, is probably contagious. Remember, new Mencia CD coming soon...and don't forget to watch his show Mind of Mencia on Wednesdays here on Comedy Central!

Welcome to another addition of Below the Belt w/ Brad Williams.

THE DUNK (from Coach Carlos)

I’ve been getting a lot of emails on my myspace page about THE DUNK at the end of Coach Carlos. "Hey, great job Brad! That CGI looked awesome."  CGI?! CGI my ginormous badonkadonk! That dunk was real. And yes it was as difficult as it looked. 
Here’s how it went down. My call was 6am but we didn't shoot the dunk until 1am the following morning. That's when Carlos handed me a basketball and said "Alright Brad, are you ready to perform...the dunk?" I was like, "Yeah. How are we going to do this...on some mini five foot hoop?"  That's when the crew wheeled out this giant trampoline and set in under the regulation ten foot high basket. Are you freaking kidding me?! Before I knew it I was flying all over the place. One time everybody got freaked out when I missed the rim and slammed hard right into backboard. But it was worth it. We made a kickass piece...and it was fun making those other dwarfs jealous as hell.

                                                            -Brad-

It's that time of year again. Time to select the nominations for the 2nd Annual Dee-Dee-Dee Awards! Here are this years categories:

   

  CELEBRI-DEE DEE DEE OF THE YEAR

  DEE-DEE-DEE RATED MOVIE

  NATIONAL DEE-DEE-DEE NEWS STORY OF THE YEAR

  POLITICAL DEE-DEE-DEE OF THE YEAR

  SMALL TOWN/LOCAL DEE DEE DEE OF THE YEAR

The award season has begun. So now I open it up it to you. I will be posting stories "For Your Consideration" but feel free to post people or stories you think should win a Dee-Dee-Dee Award!  Especially the "Local Dee-Dee-Dee of the year." If something happened in your hometown that made the news, please let me know!

The nominations will be announced April 29th on this blog after Sunday's show.                                    

                                                                                                        - D. Luck -

This is the first edition of Below the Belt with Brad Williams. The only Mind of Mencia Blog that can go where no one else is allowed too.

This Sunday, the new season of the Mind of Mencia is kicking off, and I can't believe it's the third season. Whenever a new season begins I can't help but think about all the great things we've done on the show...especially the stuff I've appeared in. So I thought, on this first edition of Below the Belt, I'd countdown my top five favorite appearances on the Mind of Mencia.

#5 - "WHAT DOES THIS SIGN MEAN" (season one - episode one)
       It was my first appearance on the show. You never forget your first time.

#4 - MARIACHI CARLOS (season one - episode eleven)
      Three words...pull away pants!!

#3 - CARLOS SAYS: WHUP YOUR KIDS (season two - episode four)
       A lot of unfulfilled fantasies came true in that piece. People got to spank a little person. And I got       to hit somebody with a Ping Pong paddle.

#2 - EULOGY (season one - episode three)
       I got to play Mini Gallagher and smash things with a hammer three times my size. Enough said!

#1 - IT'S HARD OUT HERE FOR A HO (season two - episode three)
      I got to dress in drag and play a Whorf (whore + dwarf just in case you didn't know).
     When the episode aired my friends called me and said, "Hey Brad. That chick was hot. You should try  and hit that!" Of course I had to tell them - "It was me, idiots!" I never looked at those friends the same way ever again.

                                                                                                        Until next time...
                                                                                                                                   -Brad-