For a brief moment, before Depp v. Heard and the Oscars slap stole his thunder, Carrot Top was riding a wave. Earlier this year, he appeared on episodes of popular podcasts The Joe Rogan Experience and The Adam Corolla Show, receiving praise for his performances and engaging in discussion of how he became a pop-culture whipping boy. Rogan, a booster of authentically funny people, says he “never understood it.”
Carrot Top concurs, as do members of his faithful following that pack the Atrium Showroom at the Luxor for his manic-speed comedy sets. Known primarily as the pre-eminent practitioner of prop humor in the English-speaking world, the mop-haired humorist hurls jokes and sight gags at the audience with more frequency than there is time to process. It’s like a Marx Brothers movie with Groucho, Harpo and Chico rolled into one performer with a penchant for dressing like a futuristic disco freak.
“The live show, there’s so much going on,” says Carrot Top during a quieter moment. “It’s nonstop, that’s for sure. It’s fast-paced, rock ’n’ roll, clever. … not a lot of rim shots.”
In addition to the six trunks full of inventions he draws from onstage, Carrot Top makes prodigious use of a video screen and sound editing. Some bits take split-second timing and happen so fast that he’s already cracked several more jokes while audience members connect his words to an image onscreen.
That’s how he got started in being funny, by saying things to keep people off balance before they made fun of him. Now it’s hard to get one’s bearing after a half dozen “Classic Carrot Top” props are followed by anecdotes and observations that are far cries from being politically correct. He creates a safe space for a comedian to be unfiltered, and his audience (sometimes adorned with conspicuous cascades of synthetic red curls) understands.
He’s not afraid to journey in the audience and may move in for a kiss, but he has his own plexiglass protective gear that make the occasions safer, if still cringeworthy. His targets include presidents and rock stars, disgraced entertainers, and Dog the Bounty Hunter. The first row of attendees is his special prey—Carrot Top is an ace at interacting with the audience—and if those fans wearing wigs are present, they are likely to receive mini bottles of Crown Royal in order to join him in an end-of-show toast.
He’s been at Luxor for 16 years now and shows no sign of slowing down. He might complain briefly of being out of breath, but after the rock ’n’ roll climax of his show it’s clear he was just joking. He’s constantly Topping himself during the finale, by which time he’s completely won over the audience.
Every show is different because every audience is difference, but Carrot Top always triumphs. “It’s like a fight,” says the undefeated champion of contemporary physical comedy. “Hopefully, I come out winning every night.”
Luxor, 702.262.4400
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