Where Is Comedian Carrot Top Now?
Scott "Carrot Top" Thompson got his start in comedy during the early '90s. According to his official bio, the distinctive prop comic debuted on "Star Search" more than 25 years ago; since then, he's gone on to become one of the most popular entertainers in the world.
According to Esquire, Carrot Top found his passion for entertaining when he began telling jokes cheer up his recently divorced mother, and since then, developed a knack for telling harmless jokes with the simple purpose of making people laugh. Following an extensive global tour for his routine, Carrot Top became a resident of Las Vegas and quickly settled into life as a fixture of the city's bustling entertainment industry. As he recounted in a 1995 Los Angeles Times interview, since childhood, Carrot Top has viewed comedy as a spectacle. "When I was younger," he told the paper, "I always thought, 'If I were ever a comedian I'd make it like a rock concert.'"
So, what happened to Carrot Top — or the "wackiest comedian since I Love Lucy," as he's called himself — following his big break as a popular prop comedian? Let's find out where Carrot Top is now, and what he's up to.
A struggle to achieve film stardom
After establishing himself as a prop comedy star, Carrot Top made a play for film stardom in 1988 with his first movie, "Chairman of the Board." Although film history is littered with cautionary tales of wacky entertainers who've tried to take their acts to the big screen, the comedian and the studio felt good about his "hopes to parlay his popularity into a fruitful film career," according to a 1995 Los Angeles Times profile.
Instead, the movie turned out to be one of the biggest disasters of the decade, earned only $181,233 (per Box Office Mojo). Critics were unkind; Michael J. Nelson of Mystery Science Theater 3000, writing for Cracked, included the movie on his list of "The 5 Worst Comedies of All Time," and many fans agree. Although Glenn Lovell of Variety called the movie "a marginally agreeable time-killer," all these years later, "Chairman" sits at a disappointing 2.3 stars out of 10 on IMDb.
Not even Carrot Top was very confident about his movie debut. "I haven't even seen it. I don't know what they've done to it," he admitted to A.V. Club in 1997. "It's silly. I mean, it's my first film, and it's kind of got a little bit of goofiness to it, but it's fun."
Learning to live with his haters
During the early days of his career, Carrot Top gathered a huge number of fans because of his entertaining routine. but he also earned his fair share of naysayers, many of whom were fellow comedians. According to his 1995 Los Angeles Times profile, he was mocked by "Saturday Night Live" alum Dennis Miller, and Dom Irrera said, "I don't consider him a stand-up. I consider him a clown."
It's been years since then, and although Carrot Top admitted in an interview with Esquire that there was a time when such mean comments would hurt him, he insists that today he isn't affected by such insults anymore. "I can be out in a restaurant and I can see people talking s***, nasty, and it really used to bother me. Now I kind of soak it in. I've learned that a lot of times I think they're saying horrible things and they're not," he admitted.
Carrot Top remains thankful to his fellow comedians who have enjoyed his act and appreciated him over the years. "When people make fun of me, I used to always say, you know what, George Carlin f***ing liked me. And Jay Leno likes me. And Bill Maher likes me. I always had that in the back of my head."
He got fit in the early 2000s
Around the turn of the century, Carrot Top started taking bodybuilding seriously, pursuing the hobby with such a degree of passion that he soon started sporting a seriously buff bod. His newly massive physique led many to believe that he'd started using steroids.
In a 2014 interview with Penn & Teller's Penn Jillette, Carrot Top insisted that he'd never taken steroids. "I just worked out like a crazy man," he explained. "I also did all the supplements, all the creatines, glutamines, all that stuff."
One year later, he discussed his exercise regimen with Esquire, adding that he'd been working out for 35 years and explaining that he'd decided to take a step back from the type of weightlifting that had initially raised steroid suspicions. "Maybe five years ago, I decided I'd worked out enough. I quit cold turkey. Didn't go to the gym for maybe a year," he said. "Then I started running. That's where I am now. I just kind of wanted a normal build."
Carrot Top's fans include some famous faces
Like virtually any comedian you could name, Carrot Top isn't popular with every single one of his peers. On the other hand, he has more than a few fans in the profession — for example, in 2017, he shared a photo on Instagram where he posed with Amy Schumer, who had attended one of his shows in Vegas.
According to E!, Schumer captioned her picture with the comedian, "We laughed so hard the whole show! Our faces hurt. @carrottoplive is amazing! Opening act was hilarious too!!" The website also reported that celebrities such as Shania Twain, the members of multiplatinum country-pop group Rascal Flatts, and legendary comedian Jerry Lewis had also watched his live performances.
Moreover, in a sit-down with VSiN, the comedian revealed that at least one legendary, Oscar-winning actor also numbers among his fans. "I was in Aspen years ago. I was walking along after working out at gym. It was about 9 in the morning. It was misty. And there's a guy walking across the street toward me and I think, 'Gawd, that's Jack Nicholson.' Then I realized it is Jack Nicholson," Carrot Top recalled. Deciding not to say hello because he was too star-struck, he was shocked when Nicholson approached and called out, "Top! I've always wanted to meet you!" According to Carrot Top, during the rest of their interaction, Nicholson "was as down to earth and as nice as he could be."
Facing claims of plastic surgery
Carrot Top's distinctive appearance has changed over time, which has led many to believe that he's sought out plastic surgery. The comedian, however, has always denied those persistent rumors.
In a 2013 interview on "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" (via HuffPost), Carrot Top recalled that the rumors started swirling when he appeared on a Comedy Central roast. "And one of the comics says, 'Jesus, Carrot Top, when are you gonna stop with all the plastic surgery? You look like the guy from 'Mask' or something." In response, he quipped, "I'm sorry that I look good. I don't think I look any different than I did when I started [in comedy]."
In the same interview, Carrot Top also pointed out how comedians in good physical shape can often face unfair criticism. "I get a lot of grief because I've always been in shape," he argued. "I think for comedy in general, they don't expect comics to be in shape." He also discussed the rumors with Florida Today in 2015, saying, "I just worked out a lot, and I never had any plastic surgery. I mean, if I was going to have plastic surgery, I would look better than this!"
Carrot Top calls himself the Nickelback of comedy
Carrot Top's energetic brand of prop comedy has had a polarizing impact. Despite amassing an impressive number of fans and enjoying a lengthy Vegas residence, it can often feel like his audience is outnumbered by his detractors. In an interview with Tampa Bay Times in 2015, he admitted, "If I was doing something that was close to [other comics] or was going to make them uncomfortable, or I'm doing their act or doing their jokes, then I could see them wanting to criticize." However, he feels that "if you're doing something in a completely different realm, I would think most people would welcome it with open arms, like, 'Wow, this is something different and innovative and creative, a different way of doing comedy.'"
Following the immense success that he's found as a resident comic in Las Vegas since 2005, Carrot Top compares himself to Nickelback, the group of Canadian rockers who've also faced a lot of criticism despite being very popular. "You go to a Nickelback concert, and it's packed, and they're killing it, and you get done, and you're like, 'How could people make fun of Nickelback? It's an awesome show,'" he pointed out. "A lot of it has to do with animosity and whatnot, which is always understandable in this business."
He was eaten alive in a Sharknado film
Although his career as a mainstream actor may have fizzled out after "Chairman of the Board," Carrot Top still makes guest appearances in film and on television. Among these cameos: A brief role in the 2016 disaster movie "Sharknado 4: The Fourth Awakens," in which the comedian plays an Uber driver who drops off the movie's protagonist Finn (Ian Ziering) at his Vegas hotel. But that's not the end for his character — he appears a little later in the movie, only to be eaten alive by one of the franchise's many monstrous sharks. As it turns out, this gruesome fate is something he insisted on having added to the script.
"I showed up on the set, and I played an Uber driver. They said, 'That's a wrap on Carrot Top' — and I'm like, 'Wait a minute! Am I not getting eaten?' And [director Anthony Ferrante] is like, 'Do you want to get eaten?' And I'm like, 'The whole reason anyone would want to be on 'Sharknado' is to get eaten!'" Carrot Top told Click Orlando. "So he's like, 'All right. Set up Carrot Top's shark attack!' A guy comes out with a ladder, and he climbs the ladder with a camera. He goes, 'Action!' and I just tumble around on the hood of a car. And he goes, 'All right. There you go. You got eaten.'"
Carrot Top is an icon in Las Vegas
Since the beginning of his residency at the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas in 2005, the "King of Props" has done more than 200 shows a year. It's an impressive run — but it almost didn't happen. In his interview with Click Orlando in 2020, Carrot Top admitted, "When I first got the offer to do it, I turned it down. I was like, 'I don't want to be in Vegas. That's where old guys go to die.' Then I took the gig, and I've slowly turned into ... I can't imagine not doing this here. I can't imagine not being in Vegas."
His current deal extends his residency at the Luxor to 2025, and as he admitted to Las Vegas Magazine, "I definitely didn't imagine I'd have this kind of staying power. Vegas crowds are a different kind of audience from what I was used to on the road, where people would come specifically to see me." He adds that initially, he was the sideshow, but then he "slowly became more comfortable with how to work a Vegas audience, which is people from all over the country and all over the world, really. It's taken years to get it down."
Carrot Top's unexpected connection with Celine Dion
A longtime resident of Last Vegas, Carrot Top naturally owns a rather expensive home in the city. Interestingly, that home shares a connection with a performer who is also a resident of Las Vegas — specifically, multiplatinum singer Céline Dion. A 2015 profile in Esquire states that Carrot Top's house shares a builder with Dion's "palatial desert estate," adding that the builder even ended up repurposing a variety of materials that were left over from Dion's home when Carrot Top's was built.
According to Celebrity Detective, Carrot Top bought his home in 2006, spending a hefty $1.9 million on property that include 4,300 square feet of living space with three bedrooms, two and a half baths, and a large swimming pool. Given that the two celebrities spend so much time in Vegas, perhaps they've even stopped by one another's homes to compare notes.
Comedy's been good to Carrot Top
As is the case with most if not all celebrities, various websites offer different estimates about Carrot Top's net worth. while Celebrity Net Worth puts his assets at an estimate of $70 million, List25 claims that he's worth a little more at $75 million. Although the exact figure is unclear, it's safe to assume he's amassed quite a healthy fortune during his many years in the limelight.
The primary reason behind such an impressive net worth is that Carrot Top has performed regularly in Las Vegas for so many years. According to a piece by the New York Times, comedians can earn up to $15,000 for a 30-minute special, which might take more than a year to write and perfect. Carrot Top's deal with the Luxor has him performing six nights a week, which is a lot more lucrative. The extension on his Luxor deal makes him among comedy's most consistent entertainers — and although his exact salary hasn't been released to the public, his net worth will likely be a lot higher after another five years of making crowds laugh at the Luxor.
The pandemic changed his routine
Social gatherings and live performances came to a screeching halt across America in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic started spreading across the country. Carrot Top quickly found that his Las Vegas performance was not immune from the pandemic-induced lockdown — only a few months since he had signed the contract for a five-year extension with the Luxor.
In an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, he admitted that "It's been the toughest thing to deal with in my career," adding, "I've been through a lot of adversity, but I've been able to work. I need to get back onstage." Carrot Top finally resumed his residency in February 2021, after almost a year of being benched. However, there were a few big changes that he needed to get used to in order to maintain the reopening restrictions imposed by the Nevada governing authority.
Carrot Top had to move his act to the larger Luxor Theater with a capacity of 1,500, instead of his usual 350-seat venue at the Atrium Showroom. However, social distancing restrictions required him to play to a small audience of 100 people. Regarding the changes, Carrot Top said, "We're giving it a shot ... We've got to start somewhere. I miss doing the only thing I know how to do."
How Carrot Top spent his time at home during the pandemic
Shortly after people locked themselves inside their homes in March 2020 to cope with the pandemic, Carrot Top gave his fans a video tour of his Florida home and talked about how he'd been spending his time inside during the quarantine. "Why not do something constructive, man? Grow a beard, that's what I'm doing," he quipped. "I don't have any friends, so that's been the easiest part."
Carrot Top also got some reading done during this period and claimed he "know[s] more about Elton John than he does" after reading the singer-songwriter's autobiography three times. He also watched "Tiger King" and added, "You watch that, you're like, 'I'm a good person.'"
Apart from the usual means of keeping himself entertained, Carrot Top revealed that he'd created his own signature quarantine cocktail, which consists of gin, a little Sprite soda, blueberries, lemon, and strawberries. (He also mentioned a pack of hot dogs, but we can agree that's just part of the trademark Carrot Top humor.) He explained that to make his drink, you put all the ingredients in a blender — and then relax with a beer, just like he does in the video.