Just a few months ago on November 22, Carrot Top, the main man for Las Vegas Strip stand-up comedy also known as Scott Thompson, celebrated 20 years of headlining at Luxor. That means the pyramid has had this headliner longer than it hasn’t. That means he’s used—and this is an unofficial number—300 bajillion different props in his one-of-a-kind act.
It begs the question: Does Las Vegas even exist without Carrot Top? Probably should have asked him that one.
There are so few performers, shows or anything that lasts this long in Las Vegas, let alone two decades on the same stage. How do you feel looking back and acknowledging you’re in this rare category of longevity?
When you’re doing it, you don’t think about it, you just do it. So to me, it’s just another year, but then when someone asks how long it’s been, it is kind of incredible. It just adds up. But I do go to work every day and think about how cool it is to do this, really absorb it. And it gives me fodder to make fun of myself. I’m not a young guy up there any more. I’ve made lots of jokes about being older, calling myself Cotton Top with the gray hair coming in. I show clips of me on the original Star Search and all these shows back in the day, and it’s like, wow, you are old.
Carrot Top
Is longevity about sticking with what has worked for you, or do you have to be more open to change?
Absolutely you have to change, especially with content. It’s important to always create new stuff. I’ve gone through the growth stage where my show evolved into a real production, because when I first got to Vegas it was just me and my trunks [of props]. Now the show is way more interactive, it has a rock and roll kind of flavor to it and has a lot of visuals.
There aren’t many year-round comedy headliners on the Strip anymore, but stand-up is probably more universally popular than ever before. Has your show been affected by changing trends in comedy?
I don’t know … there’s definitely been that pickup in comedy. I just did a Kill Tony Netflix special, which is a huge, crazy phenomenon. It’s great because it showcases new comics and there hasn’t been something like that in a while. I came in and did my old guy set and those young kids probably never heard of me. But it’s great to see different people getting exposure in those kinds of shows, especially for someone like me who’s been on every show.
How do you see Vegas showbiz evolving in the next few years?
I think it will be as it has been forever, still growing. Now you can gamble in pretty much any state but it’s still not the same as the Vegas vibe. People always want to come here and get excited to come here, and there are bigger shows now—the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney. There are big names coming and it wasn’t like that before.
Onstage, you’re still this larger-than-life character, but I’ve seen you around the neighborhood lots of times, and it always seems like you can be yourself and just hang out. Is that something you enjoy about life in Las Vegas?
Yeah, people in Vegas have always been open-arms with me. I always tell locals when I meet them, I really appreciate you having to look at my stupid billboards for 20 years. They’ve embraced me from day one and I’m lucky. People seem happy I’m a resident. And I love Las Vegas. It took a while for me to really grow here, and I’d never really performed in Vegas when I was coming up through the ranks. I got one gig at Bally’s [in 1995] and that’s where it started, and I never looked back. It’s been a crazy run.
I do appreciate the longevity and not a day goes by I don’t realize I’ve been blessed that people still want to come see the show. That’s why I try to update it, keep it fun and fresh. This is a unique and wonderful place to be, and I get to see all the growth and do a lot of jokes about it. The old one is, you go to check in at a hotel that has so many rooms, and they tell you your room is not ready. Are they cleaning it? No, they’re building it. It’ll be ready in 20 minutes. And the new one is about the Hard Rock building, that huge guitar tower on the Strip, a real stupid joke that never gets a laugh: So the new Hard Rock is building the world’s largest guitar … then they have to build a case to carry it.
CARROT TOP Monday-Saturday, 8 p.m., $58+. Atrium Theater at Luxor, luxor.com.
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