Not only a small sample, but a pretty specifically pre-qualified one: people who actually paid money to see a Carrot Top show. Um, yeah, that’s gonna be skewed; they were fans in the first place, or at least predisposed to be receptive. I’m from another very specific sample: I’ve seen him on TV, and would probably eat a gun before I paid to see him live. Although, now that I think of it, it would be some kind of ironic badge of honor, like going to a monster-truck rally.
Seeing someone on TV doesn’t give you anything more than a vague impression of how a comedian will seem live. For years, I wondered why Buddy Hackett was considered such a great comedian. Then I saw his live act. It was hilarious – but there was no way it would ever have been shown in that form on network TV or even Comedy Central (HBO or Showtime, yes).
Some comedians work well on TV, of course, but many have to be seen live to be appreciated.
Guess what I’m not gonna do? Test your proposition. But you have a pretty foolproof “argument”–no one will ever have the right to form an opinion about a performer until they go out of their way to see them live. You win, Carrot Top’s an unappreciated genius. I hereby pledge to name my first child Carrot Top.
Well, no, actually, most of my sample is from people who went to a free show. But I won’t ding you too much for it; I don’t think your assumption was unreasonable, just wrong.
Well, fine, you saw him on TV. Would you at least be willing to concede that maybe he didn’t bring his “A” material to a guest spot on Regis and Kelly (or WTFE)?
Or maybe the guy did perform his best material, and it just didn’t work for you. Which is why I asked if you remembered any of the stuff he did that was three-adverb unfunny. If not, that’s fine, I’m really not trying to be a dick about it. Just asking.
P.S. I don’t think RealityChuck’s position is all that unreasonable. A lot of comedians work best live, but they’ll still take a paycheck for some dreck-laden guest appearance on a sitcom. That doesn’t make them unfunny; just whorish, I suppose. It’d be a little bit* like me calling Hemingway a terrible writer because I once read a crappy short story of his in Reader’s Digest, and then getting snippy when someone said that maybe I should read one of his novels.
[sub]A very little bit. Believe me, I feel a little bit dirty using that analogy to stick up for Carrot Top[/sub]
Why is it so hard for you to understand that some people like different types of humor than others?
Seriously, dude, what other *possible *point do you imagine I’m trying to make here?
I think you quoted the wrong person. I wasn’t the one who said that Carrot Top being unfunny was a fact. Er, did I? Perhaps you could quote where I said something along those lines? Because I’m pretty sure I’ve just been asking *why *someone holds a given opinion, not denying its validity.
I would guess that your point is you saw him once on “TV” and didn’t find him funny. That’s a little bit like me reading the one post from neutron star above and then concluding that the only thing he ever, ever posts is misguided questions based on absolutely nothing.
My point is I’m curious as to what about the humor didn’t work for you. You’re saying the humor didn’t do it for you, and I’m asking, “Why?” I’d have the exact same question if you took a big swig of horse piss and said it was delicious. You don’t want to answer, fine, that’s your prerogative, and frankly I’m a little embarrassed that I’ve asked you about it so persistently. Consider the question withdrawn, if that will unruffle your feathers.
Yeah, um, no it’s not.
So weird. Just last night I had a dream about Carrot Top.
I’m not even remotely kidding. In the dream he was trying to tell jokes at a convenience store. I don’t know why he was at the convenience store, but he wasn’t getting much of a reaction from the customers.
He’s not really my cup of tea, but I can definitely see how plenty of other people might find him funny. And that’s not to say he has never made me laugh, he delivers one just right every once in a while for me. Now, however, he just looks so hideously deformed that I really cannot stand to look at him long enough to catch the joke.
Because he is a prop comedian and that is at the bottom of the comedic pecking order.
I mostly like comedy that’s clever and/or intelligent. Can you see how someone like me wouldn’t be amused by some weirdo cutting a plastic shark with scissors and saying “Cutty Sark”?
You dreamed of a right and just world, that’s why.
Have you seen the line up in Vegas? Celine Dion is the youngest, biggest name there. That’s where acts like Styx and Streisand go to wither away and die. Vegas casinos lure old people’s expendable retirement checks with those acts. And yet this is the pinnacle of Carrot Top’s career. It is kind of sad.
All I know is that his tickets prices start at 50 bucks a pop, 4 nights a week, and regularly sell out. The guy has to be doing something right.
Do they laugh? Do they drink? Do they tip? Does he get paid? These are the measures of professional success. Sure, the Carlins and the Newharts and the Brookses and the Sahls always enjoyed the unalloyed universal respect of their peers – now, you tell one. There’s no such thing as a successful professional comedian without an extensive negative peer review to his/her credit, and never has been: comedians are a jealous and ungenerous and as a whole not all that brilliant group of people. The fact that I didn’t like Gallagher, for example, and had lots of funny lines denigrating him and his fans, didn’t make me the better stand-up, and he sure made tens of thousands more people laugh than I ever did. Forget who’s “better,” guess who’s gonna get paid? I mean, sure, prop comedy is stupid and evil, but club owners are too stupid to see past all the money they’re making to recognize that.
Similarly, if you’re a consumer of comedy who hates a popular comic, relax: there’s an act out there for you, and it’s probably a cheaper ticket, you being in such a rarefied IQ bracket and all. You’ll just have to buy a lot of those cheaper tickets, because the type of comedy you like doesn’t come along every week, and gets increasingly adulterated with the kind of comedy you hate, because that stuff is working.
Still, if you want a little schadenfreude, reflect on the fact that the man apparently doesn’t have many friends, that he has not evolved into a movie or TV actor (which would create long-term income), that for nigh on twenty years, and God knows how many more to come, he has been living by the sweat of his brow, pretending every night that he’s a slightly-perverted and none-too-bright twelve year old, and worrying in bed after the show that his rapidly-aging audience may all suddenly, one night, finally grow up.
I know, right? But I thought I’d be accused of pretentiousness or something if I’d brought it up. But yeah, to equate “plays Las Vegas” with “artistic value” is, well, it’s not.
I watched Hackett’s late night HBO special. He worked blue and was hilarious. I’m in Vegas now. If Carrot Top’s show is cheap I might check it out. Many of the show tickets here are well over a hundred dollars.
Well…his career is certainly peaking better than mine, or yours, or pretty much anyone elses here 
Yeah, I wasn’t passing judgment on Carrot Top so much as Vegas. I enjoyed its casinos and food when I visited, but I wasn’t too impressed with the selection of live entertainment.
I’m not actually familiar with Carrot Top’s act besides “Carrot Top’s AM Mayhem” on Cartoon Network in the 90s and his appearance as the butt of jokes on “Family Guy” now.
Come to think of it, I think performers who tie their act down to a single city are less respected than their touring counterparts. Another poster compared it to Branson. That might be part of why people make fun of Carrot Top.
“PLEASE NO CARROT CAKE – IT’S STILL NOT FUNNY”
Now THAT’S clearly professional jealousy; he KNOWS a sheet cake of factory-made carrot cake is nine kinds of funnier than he’ll ever be.