As far as country comedy acts go, it doesn’t get much bigger than Rodney Carrington’s unique blend of mirth and music. There’s a very specific reason he’s been asked to perform during National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas year in and year out: It would be inconceivable to not have him involved. As Carrington told Las Vegas Magazine in an interview prior to one of his many multi-day stints at MGM Grand: “It’s like seeing family. It’s just coming and seeing the gang, you know? Making them laugh.”
And boy, does Carrington succeed at that. And his “family” never misses an opportunity to howl at both his observations on normal life and his singular songs that complement his blue-collar style, including “Dancin’ With a Man,” “More of a Man” and “Show Them to Me.” (One title, which we can’t reprint here, is a letter to his, um … you get the idea).
Carrington’s upward career trajectory was apparent early on with the release of his first album, Hangin’ with Rodney, in 1998. He would go on to release a total of seven albums, two greatest-hits compilations and a holiday album, all of which did well—including No. 2 on the U.S. Comedy Albums chart for King of the Mountains and No. 3 on the Billboard Top Comedy Albums chart for Greatest Hits. His success there led to side projects like an ABC self-titled sitcom from 2004-’06 and the 2008 movie Beer for My Horses, which he both co-wrote with and co-starred in with Toby Keith. And in 2009, his noncomedy album, Make It Christmas, yielded a hit, “Camouflage and Christmas Lights.”
While he has tapered back on albums, his touring schedule is as busy as ever. And that’s because a connection with a live audience remains his priority. As he told Las Vegas Magazine, “I want to be connected in a real way, not a fictitious way. I find people that are overly concerned with things like social media are missing out on what’s important. They’re so connected to things that don’t matter in life that they’re disconnected from things that do, and I think that’s a big problem for society in general right now.”
And as for the message he’s looking to relay, Carrington has always been up-front about his comedy: It comes from his personal experience. Despite writing songs like “Vote for Trump,” Carrington insists he never wants to get political.
“Look, I have no agenda,” he said. “I make people laugh. The level of success I’ve achieved didn’t come from not being good or not connecting with somebody. The success that I’ve had came from being able to connect with people, the people that come and see me ... my willingness to tell the truth about my own personal life. My only agenda is making people laugh. I don’t have any agenda. I always tell people if you come to my show and you learn anything, it’s an accident.”
9 p.m. Dec. 7-9 and 14-16, starting at $89.99 plus tax and fee. ticketmaster.com
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