Carrot Top's Epic Comedy Ride: 40 Years Of Laughs & 19 Years Rocking Luxor In Las Vegas

For four decades, Carrot Top has been a powerhouse in comedy, captivating audiences with his signature prop-based humor, quick wit, and high-energy performances. From his early days making waves in stand-up to becoming a pop culture icon, he has cemented his place as one of the most unique comedians in the industry.

Nearing his 20th year performing at Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Carrot Top, whose real name is Scott Thompson, has built one of the longest-running and most successful comedy residencies on the Strip. His show is an ever-evolving experience filled with outrageous props, pop culture jabs, and laugh-out-loud moments that keep fans coming back for more.

With a career spanning 40 years and a Las Vegas legacy nearly two decades strong, Carrot Top continues to prove that his brand of comedy is timeless, making him a true entertainment icon for old and young alike.

Forty years is a long time to be in any career, and Carrot Top, 60, is grateful for the entire journey. With such a long career, one might assume it's tough to come up with new material to keep the show fresh, but somehow Thompson is able to keep the show evolving in amazing ways.

And while many fans know Carrot Top for being the prop guy, he said his show is more stand-up.

"I've had people come to the show, even as of recently, and say, 'I didn't know you did so much stand-up.' And I'm like, well, yeah, it's kind of one of those things you don't see. There's certain things on the news they don't report, they don't show. No one shows Carrot Top doing a stand-up set," he told The Blast exclusively. "They just show props. So if you come to the show, you'll see 70-percent of the show is stand-up."

The show has changed and evolved in the past 40 years, and with the advances in technology, things have definitely changed since the early days. Back in the day, the video wall behind Carrot Top as he performs just showed his logo. But now, he uses the wall for visual aid and reference. Whereas in the past he might hold up a prop, the video wall steps in to help with the joke.

"I'll just point to the screen behind me and it comes up so they get the joke without me having to go through the whole process of making it and building it," he continued. "There's stand-up, visual video wall, props, tons and tons of music, lighting, strobe lights, fog, snow, I mean, I've known from day one I didn't want to be a stand-up comic. I want to be something different. I want to be a rock-and-roll show, yet I want it to be funny, but I want people to think they're at a rock show."

One of the biggest challenges having such a long and successful comedy career is keeping the show fresh without losing any of the elements fans know and love.

"We're getting to do our 40th year in comedy, and it's just one of those things where you don't know the golden answer," he said. "I always write, change the show, even if it's nightly just one or two jokes, or even a new song or if it's an updated version, something."

And while some things might change nightly, that doesn't mean the whole show changes, just a few jokes.

"Last night, I did a whole bit that was about 10 minutes long that I've been working on and it was great," he said. "But it was like, that's a new bit that will eventually find its way into the show permanently."

There's nothing like a Las Vegas show, and Carrot Top's show is no different. While his Vegas show isn't too different than his shows in other cities, it has some Vegas-related moments.

"Road shows are completely altered to be specific to that town," he told The Blast. "The show is about my experiences in life and telling stories, so it would translate in any city. There's really not much Vegas in the show. It starts out, 'Hey, Vegas' and then it goes into my world."

But one thing stands out from a Vegas show - the fact that you get "everybody from all over the world" in the audience. Carrot Top said some plan their Vegas trip around seeing his show and others make a last minute decision to check his show out. But however the audience gets there, he's filling the room nightly.

Carrot Top's show at Luxor has been going strong for 19 years.

"It's just breathtaking to me, I even find it odd when I think about the first time I went on stage and tried to do a joke and 40 years later, I'm still doing it in Vegas and it's amazing," he told The Blast. "I think that's why I think this part of the journey is probably the most fun because you kind of embrace it, stand back and think, oh my God, take it in for a second."

Being in Vegas means his off days can be filled with exciting Vegas-themed fun, but Carrot Top said he's more of a "homebody."

"I'm kind of a homebody, but I do get out. I don't think there's anyone in Las Vegas that doesn't like going to Red Rock and walk around the beautiful mountains out there. What an escape that is," he said. "These mountains in Vegas are spectacular, and they're not far. You're walking into another world, so I like doing that."

Getting into comedy wasn't something Thompson thought would happen as flawlessly as it has. Growing up, his father worked at NASA and his mother owned a tennis shop. And even though he didn't grow up in a show business family, he said his father was "very good at telling jokes" and had "good timing."

Thompson would sometimes sneak watching Johnny Carson because he wasn't allowed to stay up late, and said he was "enamored by the comics on that show." Since his mom knew he was inspired by comedy, she would buy him DVDs of "The Three Stooges," "The Marx Brothers," and "Benny Hill."

"My birthday and Christmas presents were comedy tapes, and I was enamored by it. In college, my roommate said there was an open mic and said I should go up and do it and I was like, do what? I didn't know how to do it. So I got the nerve and did exactly that. I just did jokes that I knew from those specials and people were loving it," he explained. "I went to a club in West Palm after doing that in school a couple of times."

One of the workers at the club asked where he got his material from and Carrot Top said, "George Carlin." So she then asked if he had any jokes of his own and told him to come back with his own material. That's when he got the idea to include props in his comedy.

"She said, 'I like your look, I like your style, I like the timing, you're very funny, but you've got to come up with your own kind of thing,'" he told The Blast. "And that's how I started doing the props. I thought of a couple of things that I thought were funny visually, and I just went on stage and auditioned for her. I did those few props and she was blown away."

And the rest is history...

For more information about Carrot Top, visit his website. For more information and tickets to his show at Luxor, visit here.