Carrot Top
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Carrot Top | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Scott Thompson |
| Born | February 25, 1965 Cocoa Beach, Florida |
| Website | http://www.carrottop.com/ |
| American Comedy Awards | |
| Funniest Male Stand-Up Comic 1994 |
|
Scott Thompson (born February 25, 1965), known by his stage name Carrot Top, is an American comedian known for his mop of curly red hair, prop comedy, and often self-parodying humor. Carrot Top today is a headlining Las Vegas entertainer and has made hundreds of college and television appearances.
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[edit] Early life
Thompson was born and raised in Cocoa Beach, Florida where his father, Lawrence Thompson, was a scientist at NASA during the Gemini and Apollo era.[1] In 1983, he graduated from Cocoa High School, [2] and while still a freshman at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton,[1] Thompson appeared in his first stand-up comedy routine. Two months later, he performed on campus on an open-mic night. Recalling his start, Carrot Top says in his official biography, “I wasn’t going to do it but my roommate said I should. He said, ‘You’re funny.’ I was scared and did some old jokes but people liked it.' The next semester he went again, this time after writing his own jokes, focusing on the school – which prompted his first prop."
Carrot Top continued, “The street in the center of town was Butts Road. I stole the sign and told the audience, ‘This must be where the assholes live.’ I also had a neighborhood watch sign – ‘It takes 20 seconds to break into a house but it took me an hour to unbolt this sign.” Later, at an amateur night, the manager told him the sign bit was hilarious but jokes about the school weren’t going to work for the regular audience. “So I went home and thought up more visual jokes, coming up with props like high heels with training wheels for young girls.”
[edit] Career
He headlines at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas[1], and in between does 100 or so comedy gigs around the United States[citation needed]. His comedy routine incorporates dozens of props stored in six big trunks on stage.
Carrot Top has appeared in numerous television programs, including a 2007 TV spot in Larry the Cable Guy's Christmas Spectacular, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, Criss Angel Mindfreak in 2006, Tugger: The Jeep 4x4 Who Wanted to Fly in 2005, and Scrubs in 2002. He has also appeared on The George Lopez Show, Howard Stern, Jimmy Kimmel, Craig Ferguson, and Live with Regis & Kelly. His movie roles include 1998's Chairman of The Board, and served as a spokesman and appeared in commercials for 1-800-CALL-ATT. Some may argue that his presence on national television in the ATT commercial marked the turning point in his career. From 1995 to 1999, he was the continuity announcer for Cartoon Network. In 2002, he recorded a commentary track for the Roger Avary film The Rules of Attraction.
Carrot Top produced and starred in an early morning show on Cartoon Network called Carrot Top's AM Mayhem from 1994-1996[3][4]
Carrot Top has also been frequently parodied. Such examples include Mr. Show (in which David Cross appears as "Blueberry Head"), King of the Hill ("Celery Head"), Family Guy , MADtv ("Broccoli Top"), and several Achewood comic strips.[5]
In IMDB, he is quoted as saying: "I know that I go by 'Carrot Top' and I have big hair and I do props and I'm kind of silly. Of course, for these guys who write jokes for these shows [like 'The Daily Show'], I'm an easy target. I keep that in the back of my head. I don't think it's the props, because I sure haven't invented prop comedy. I think it's the fact that I do something different and that I actually have some success with it. That bothers a lot of people, especially comics. Comics don't like to see other comics do well. It's our nature: Human beings like success but they hate successful people. But some of the jabs are kind of funny like on King Of The Hill when the kid wanted to be Celery Head. I found it kind of flattering. But Craig Kilborn was just rotten."
"Younger in life I was always kind of quiet and shy and I think I kind of grew into myself as I got older, I became more of a class clown as I got to junior high. My way of fitting in was through jokes and making people laugh. I wasn't the jock (I know, it's hard to tell) or the good-lookin' stud. I was just a very skinny red-headed freckled guy. My way of making people like me was to make 'em laugh."[6]
In interviews, Carrot Top has claimed to be born in 1967 or 1969.[citation needed]
[edit] Awards and honors
- American Comedy Award: "Best Male Sit-Down Turn Around Bop Your Head Onto The Ground Comedian", 1994
[edit] References
- ^ a b Carrot Top - Biography. Retrieved 3 November 2006.
- ^ Cocoa High School - Thompson, Scott (1983) Profile
- ^ "Carrot Top" at Comedy Central
- ^ Carrot Top Biography at filmreference.com
- ^ Vegetable Brain The Comedian (php) (english).
- ^ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005488/bio Biography for Scott 'Carrot Top' Thompson].
