Who builds the border fence?
Carlos Mencia , compared with Ari Shaffir
If the U.S. builds a fence on the Mexican border, the punchline is about who would actually be hired to build it.
Mencia did a version of the who-builds-the-wall joke. The linked video is the 2007 Comedy Store confrontation where Shaffir's claim was aired. (paraphrase)
Stand-up act▶ watch ↗
Shaffir says the border-fence joke was his and that he had been Mencia's opening act. (paraphrase)
Stand-up act (Shaffir had opened for Mencia)find on YouTube ↗
Same question, same target for the payoff, but it's an obvious joke that at least two other comics, including Madigan, also told.
- Premise 36/40
- Structure 16/30
- Punchline 14/30
- Premise36/40Identical question: if the U.S. builds a border fence, who would actually be hired to build it?
- Structure16/30Both pose the fence, then ask who builds it; neither full telling is on record.
- Punchline14/30Same payoff target, but no wording on record, and other comics reached the same punchline.
Setup
The U.S. plans a fence on the Mexican border.
Setup
The U.S. plans a fence on the Mexican border.
Turn
Asks who would actually build the wall.
Turn
Asks who would actually build the fence.
Punchline
Payoff on who gets hired; exact wording not on record.
Punchline
Payoff on who gets hired; exact wording not on record.
Scores and beats are our editorial reading of the public record, not a ruling.
Context
When and where
Shaffir's joke asks who would actually build a U.S.–Mexico border fence. Rogan raised the accusation onstage at the Comedy Store on Feb 10, 2007, and Shaffir joined him. NPR notes that at least two other comedians had made similar jokes, and Cleveland Scene (Oct 2007) quoted Kathleen Madigan doing a version ('who's gonna build the wall?').
What followed
The claim set off Joe Rogan's onstage confrontation with Mencia at the Comedy Store in February 2007, and Rogan was later banned from the club for years. NPR noted that two other comics had done similar fence jokes, which weakens any single claim of ownership.
Receipts
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Carlos Mencia by Sara Csurilla, U.S. Air Force, Public domain; Ari Shaffir by Lisa Gansky from New York, NY, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0