LUCAS PABLO MENCIA
DECEMBER 14, 2006
8 LBS. 6 OZ.

As the 17th of 18—yes, 18—siblings, comedian Carlos Mencia likes to joke about being the baby of his jumbo-sized family. But having a baby of his own left him speechless. "You watch your Discovery Channel and see the birth of an animal, and you think you know what the process is all about," says Mencia, 39. But when it's a child, "There are no words. You have to cry when you see that little kid. Because it's yours."

The host of Comedy Central's stand-up and sketch comedy show Mind of Mencia (the network's best-rated show behind South Park starts its new season April 1) nearly missed the birth of his first child altogether. When his wife, Amy, went into labor, he was in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, filming the Farrelly Brothers comedy The Heartbreak Kid with Ben Stiller. "She told me, 'I don't care how hard you work. You have to be here,'" he recalls. After a last-minute flight to Los Angeles and a helicopter ride to the Encino hospital, Dad arrived just in time for the birth of Lucas Pablo.

Born in Honduras, Mencia was raised in Los Angeles by his aunt and uncle, who lived next door to his parents and adopted him when they couldn't have children of their own. "My parents gave me to them as a really big present," jokes the comic (Lucas's middle name is a nod to Mencia's adoptive father, Juan Pablo).

Naturally, Mencia's unusually large family provides plenty of comic material for his show, currently shooting its third season. And on the set, every day is take-your-child-to-work day. Mencia had a nursery built into his office so the family can go to work together (Amy, 34, works as her husband's stylist). Any theme to the nursery? Jokes Mencia: "Rich Baby Who Has Way Too Much Stuff."