Carrot Top | Celebrity Net Worth 2026

Biography & Early Wealth Journey

Known for his bright red hair, self-deprecating humor, elaborate homemade props, and high-energy stage shows, Carrot Top has become one of the most successful and longest-running comedians in Las Vegas history. He has headlined at the Luxor Hotel and Casino since 2005, celebrating his 20th anniversary at the resort in November 2025.

Carrot Top's Luxor residency has made him one of the highest-paid entertainers on the Las Vegas Strip. For much of the run, he has performed as many as six nights a week and close to 300 shows per year. In 2023, he signed a contract extension keeping him at the Luxor through 2030, at which point he will have spent approximately 25 years headlining at the property.

Born Scott Thompson, Carrot Top developed his unusual style while attending Florida Atlantic University. He broke through nationally in the early 1990s through appearances on "Comic Strip Live," "Star Search," and "The Tonight Show." He later became a fixture on television, starred in the film "Chairman of the Board," served as a spokesman for 1-800-CALL-ATT, and built a touring operation large enough to transport dozens of trunks filled with props.

His career has lasted more than four decades despite years of jokes and criticism directed at his unconventional act. Over time, the show has evolved beyond pure prop comedy to incorporate more traditional stand-up, storytelling, impressions, videos, music, and elaborate production effects.

Earnings

Carrot Top is one of the highest-paid entertainers in Las Vegas and earns roughly $8 million per year from his various endeavors. His long-running Luxor residency represents the foundation of those earnings, supplemented by road dates, television appearances, private performances, and other entertainment work.

Unlike touring comedians who must move a large production from city to city, Carrot Top has spent decades performing primarily from the same Las Vegas showroom. That stability, combined with the extraordinary longevity of his residency, has helped make his comedy career unusually lucrative.

Early Life

Real Estate, Luxury Assets & Personal Investments

Carrot Top was born Scott Thompson on February 25, 1965, in Rockledge, Florida, and grew up in nearby Cocoa. He is the younger of two sons. His father worked as an engineer for NASA during the Gemini and Apollo eras, while his older brother later became a fighter pilot.

Scott attended Cocoa High School, where he played drums in both the marching and concert bands. His famous nickname originated during his youth, when a swimming coach began calling him "Carrot Top" because of his bright red hair.

After graduating from high school in 1983, Thompson enrolled at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, where he studied marketing. A roommate convinced him to perform during an open-mic night while he was a freshman. His first attempt did not go particularly well, but he returned with material based on college life and began getting stronger reactions.

Thompson graduated with a marketing degree and initially supported himself with jobs including delivering bread and working as a courier. He continued performing comedy at night before eventually leaving his day job to pursue entertainment full-time.

Early Comedy Career

Carrot Top quickly realized that conventional stand-up was not necessarily his strength. Instead, he began incorporating homemade visual jokes into his act, modifying everyday objects to create absurd inventions and quick punchlines.

The props allowed him to stand out on a crowded comedy circuit. While many comedians were performing traditional observational monologues, Carrot Top arrived carrying trunks of bizarre objects that audiences had never seen before.

He became particularly successful on the college circuit. In 1993, the National Association for Campus Activities named him both Entertainer of the Year and Comedian of the Year, making him the first performer to win both honors in the same year.

National television appearances followed. Carrot Top performed on "Comic Strip Live" and "Star Search" and became a frequent guest on "The Tonight Show." In 1994, he won the American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Stand-Up Comic.

The act became increasingly elaborate as his career grew. What had begun with a few homemade props eventually required a touring crew, an 18-wheeler, and dozens of trunks filled with inventions.

Television and Commercial Success

Carrot Top's growing recognition during the 1990s led to substantial television work. From 1994 to 1996, he starred in and produced Cartoon Network's morning program "Carrot Top's AM Mayhem." He subsequently served as one of the network's continuity announcers for several years.

He also became widely recognized for his advertising work as a spokesman for AT&T's 1-800-CALL-ATT service. The commercials ran extensively during the late 1990s and early 2000s and introduced Carrot Top's distinctive appearance and personality to viewers who had never seen his stand-up act.

His television appearances over the years have included "Space Ghost Coast to Coast," "Scrubs," "Hollywood Squares," "Reno 911!," "Last Comic Standing," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "The Jim Gaffigan Show," "Family Guy," "Glee," "@midnight," and "Gene Simmons Family Jewels."

Carrot Top also appeared in Larry the Cable Guy's "Christmas Spectacular" and participated in programs involving Las Vegas performers including Penn Jillette and Teller.

Film Career

Carrot Top's most prominent movie role came in the 1998 comedy "Chairman of the Board." He played Edison, an eccentric inventor who unexpectedly inherits control of a corporation.

Although the movie was not a major box-office success and became the subject of jokes from other comedians, it eventually developed a degree of cult recognition because of Carrot Top's distinctive performance.

His other film credits include "Dennis the Menace Strikes Again," "Pauly Shore Is Dead," "The Aristocrats," "Swearnet: The Movie," and "Sharknado: The 4th Awakens." He has also made cameo appearances as himself, including in "The Hangover."

Carrot Top has generally been more successful as a live performer than as a film actor, and his career increasingly centered on stage work as Las Vegas became his permanent professional home.

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Las Vegas Career

Carrot Top began performing regularly in Las Vegas years before establishing his permanent residency. He appeared at Bally's beginning in the mid-1990s and subsequently performed at the MGM Grand.

In 2005, he moved into the Atrium Showroom at the Luxor Hotel and Casino. What began as another Las Vegas engagement developed into one of the longest-running comedy residencies in the city's history.

The relatively intimate theater became an ideal setting for his act. Rather than constantly transporting his increasingly elaborate collection of props around the country, Carrot Top could build a permanent production incorporating lighting, music, video screens, fog machines, streamer cannons, and numerous trunks filled with props.

He continually updates the show to reflect current events, popular music, celebrity news, technology, and other cultural trends. That process allows him to change portions of the material frequently instead of performing an identical set year after year.

The act has also changed considerably over time. Although props remain the element most closely associated with Carrot Top, he has estimated that much of his modern show consists of stand-up, storytelling, impressions, and observational material rather than simply pulling inventions out of trunks.

One of his comedy heroes was George Carlin, who once complimented one of Carrot Top's prop jokes involving an increasingly complicated cup-and-string telephone. Carrot Top has also incorporated a tribute to fellow prop comedian Gallagher into his stage show.

20 Years at the Luxor

Carrot Top celebrated his 20th anniversary as a Luxor headliner on November 22, 2025. By that point, he had also spent approximately four decades working professionally in comedy.

His run has survived enormous changes in Las Vegas entertainment, the rise and decline of numerous competing shows, changes in audience tastes, and the lengthy shutdown of live entertainment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In November 2023, MGM Resorts announced that Carrot Top had extended his Luxor contract through 2030. His schedule has continued to center around performances Monday through Saturday, with periodic dark weeks and occasional road dates.

The longevity is particularly striking given that prop comedy was frequently dismissed by other comedians during Carrot Top's early career. Instead of abandoning the format, he turned it into the foundation for one of the most durable live-comedy businesses in the country.

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Later Career and Podcasts

Carrot Top has experienced something of a reassessment within the comedy world later in his career. Performers who might once have dismissed prop comedy have increasingly acknowledged the difficulty of creating, constantly updating, and physically performing his show for decades.

In 2022, he appeared on Joe Rogan's "The Joe Rogan Experience," where the two discussed his career, comedy, and his reputation within the stand-up community. He has also appeared on podcasts hosted by comedians including Bill Maher.

In 2024, Carrot Top appeared as himself in the Max comedy series "Hacks," which centers on a veteran Las Vegas comedian. He subsequently appeared as a guest on "Kill Tony" in 2025 and returned for another episode alongside Triple H.

Those appearances introduced him to younger comedy audiences who were not necessarily familiar with the television commercials and talk-show appearances that originally made him famous.

Personal Life

Carrot Top has kept most details of his private life out of the public spotlight. He has been in a long-term relationship with Amanda Hogan, although the two have generally avoided making their relationship a major part of his public persona.

He has lived in Las Vegas for many years, allowing him to remain close to the Luxor while avoiding the constant travel that characterized the early part of his career.

Despite cultivating an intentionally ridiculous stage persona, Carrot Top has described himself as relatively quiet away from the stage. He has also maintained a rigorous fitness routine for decades, which helps him sustain the highly physical nature of a show that he continues performing several nights a week well into his 60s.

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