Inside, not on, Top.
February 25, 2015 5:06 PM   Subscribe

Carrot Top is known as a Comedian. That is a statement of fact.

Another person known as a comedian, Norm Macdonald, had a noteworthy opinion of Top.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon (72 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
Horrifying discovery of the day: I share a birthday with Carrot Top.
posted by Artw at 5:19 PM on February 25, 2015 [2 favorites]


This is one of those articles that is totally fascinating and a great read, but is simultaneously horrible for me to read because I was really enjoying judging him as a comedic failure without regret.

Like, can't there be someone I can just look down on without seeing their human side?
posted by shmegegge at 5:29 PM on February 25, 2015 [7 favorites]


Oh, God. Not only does Thompson have to put up with the indignity of being Carrot Top, or being told he looks like Carrot Top, "no offense," but he has to put up with assholes paying $49 to ask him why they're not the funny one and strangers shouting jokes out of Hustler at him while he's shopping. Point being, this article made me develop some sympathy for Carrot Top, which I wouldn't have thought was possible.
posted by ob1quixote at 5:35 PM on February 25, 2015 [10 favorites]


When I was younger, I was very much into live stand up. I'm not a Carrot Top fan, per se, but 1) he seemed like a very nice guy who was respectful of his fans, 2) he could really put on a crowd pleasing show (for a crowd that was into what he was selling), and 3) he really, really works hard at it. On the other hand, I can't even begin to list the number of "better" comics who were just fucks as human beings, and most of them you wouldn't remember if you saw a picture of them. Not everyone can be Bill Hicks.
posted by kjs3 at 5:50 PM on February 25, 2015 [19 favorites]


Horrifying discovery of the day: I share a birthday with Artw.

Not really.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:53 PM on February 25, 2015 [8 favorites]


Why does Carrot Top evoke such strong feelings of disgust. He isn't Bill Cosby as far as I know.
posted by humanfont at 5:54 PM on February 25, 2015 [3 favorites]


Carrot Top is 50?
posted by box at 5:54 PM on February 25, 2015 [4 favorites]


I have no specific dislike of the man personally or professionally. He does have spirited detractors, though, and the author's awestruck narrative doesn't help.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 5:59 PM on February 25, 2015


Why does Carrot Top evoke such strong feelings of disgust. He isn't Bill Cosby as far as I know.

OK now, no, he is not a serial rapist or any sort of other despicable human being. But this is not really relevant to the question of whether his comedy is terrible, and it's not a huge stretch to see why some people think that it is. I mean even this article, which was moderately respectful, revealed how it's just one cheap shot, easy joke after another. "Ellen's a lesbian - GETTIT?? Bill Clinton got a blow job that one time!" Etc. He just kind of pokes this memory you have of a thing that's vaguely out of the ordinary, and given that he is "a comic" and you are at "a stand up show," you understand it's supposed to be funny, and so you laugh. Over and over again, 90 minutes a night, 240 nights a year, going on 30 years now apparently.

I actually don't begrudge anyone who can make a living this way, and I admit I probably would too, if I could. But that doesn't make him any sort of comic virtuoso, and I don't feel any pressure to pretend it does. And if he ever does become upset about critics' opinions of him, he has multiple houses, multiple luxury cars in their driveways, and dozens of celebrity friendships to fall back on for comfort. I think he'll be fine.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 6:14 PM on February 25, 2015 [9 favorites]


I wonder if it's an age thing (I'm now in my mid-40's) but I find it almost impossible to hate an entertainer. I just don't pay attention.

To be perfectly honest, while I have heard of this fellow (and have been fascinated by his botoxed look) it wasn't until I read this article that I realized he used props ("the Hugh Hefner walker"). I just wasn't paying attention.

I guess my comment could be interpreted as "is this something I would need to own a television to understand?" but the older I've become the more I understand and appreciate the hard work that has to go in to becoming a star.
posted by Nevin at 6:18 PM on February 25, 2015 [5 favorites]


Carrot Top is a really swell guy. An awesome person and really very funny. People hate on red heads. Period.
Norm, you sir are an asshole.
posted by shockingbluamp at 6:20 PM on February 25, 2015 [2 favorites]


Why does Carrot Top evoke such strong feelings of disgust.

There's a clownish neediness & vulnerability to what he does, a blatant need for the audience's approval; he clearly loves to perform and entertain, and for the folks who dig what he does, he probably gives them their money's worth and more. I'm not as down on the guy as I used to be - his success is no skin off my nose, and who wouldn't want to be making a great living doing what they love - but that Please Look At Me Please Laugh With Me thing still gives me the heebie jeebies (And yeah, I'm probably less healthy in the head than Carrot Top.)
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:21 PM on February 25, 2015 [4 favorites]


I wonder if it's harder for a prop comic to come up with a second five minutes. Also I wonder if prop comics are easy to dislike because it looks like they're trying so hard.
posted by Trochanter at 6:23 PM on February 25, 2015


The guys from MST3k (and consequently Cinematic Titanic and Rifftrax) have always been relentless in skewering both Carrot Top and Gallagher. I remember the Gallagher thing came from Joel Hodgson meeting him once and Gallagher acting like a prick (big surprise), but I don't know if their treatment of Carrot Top stems from something similar.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:23 PM on February 25, 2015 [2 favorites]


I would have liked to hear the other Scott Thompson story. Name aside, it's pretty damn tough to confuse Buddy Cole for Carrot Top.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:24 PM on February 25, 2015 [15 favorites]


There's a clownish neediness & vulnerability to what he does, a blatant need for the audience's approval; he clearly loves to perform and entertain, and for the folks who dig what he does, he probably gives them their money's worth and more.

I thought we were talking about Carrot Top, not Louis C.K.
posted by 99_ at 6:24 PM on February 25, 2015 [7 favorites]


I would have liked to hear the other Scott Thompson story. Name aside, it's pretty damn tough to confuse Buddy Cole for Carrot Top.

Would pay real American dollars to go see an entire Buddy Cole show in Vegas.
posted by 99_ at 6:26 PM on February 25, 2015 [19 favorites]


I have now read about Nicholas Cage wearing a leather white suit and buying Carrot Top chaps...

Anyways, dude obviously has an awesome support network, has walked amongst comedy gods, has obviously done very well with his career, and he has been able to make a living as a comedian for an absurdly long time, even if he has fallen off the radar.

He's turned the criticism against him into a form of self deprecating humor that apparently works for him, and is still making a living in comedy - I cannot emphasize that enough.

Most people can't hold a non-entertainment job that long. I really can't feel bad for him one bit.
posted by MysticMCJ at 6:34 PM on February 25, 2015 [3 favorites]


Carrot Top did a set at my university (holy shit) about 20 years ago. ISTR finding it pretty funny at the time. I can't remember any of his jokes, though, other than they involved props.
posted by dirigibleman at 6:34 PM on February 25, 2015


I don't feel sorry for Carrot Top so much as for people that still use him as an easy go-to joke about bad comedians. (However intrinsically gimmicky prop comedy in general, and Carrot Top's version in particular, may be, at least he seems to come up with his own material.) Looking at that clip in the second link, I wonder, would Coco still make that joke after the humiliation of getting kicked off the Tonight Show? How about Norm McDonald, got fired from SNL and had a couple of failed movies himself, how about that? How many people remember that Andy Richter had his own sitcom once? Quick, without checking Wikipedia, what's Courtney Thorne-Smith been up to lately? Big laffs! Me, I think I might just pay cash money to see CT and the other Scott Thompson do a gig together.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:42 PM on February 25, 2015 [1 favorite]


Why does Carrot Top evoke such strong feelings of disgust. He isn't Bill Cosby as far as I know.

Carrot Top is like the Two and a Half Men of comedy.
posted by rodlymight at 6:46 PM on February 25, 2015 [2 favorites]


Lots more background about the two links in the FPP and the film at The Dissolve - Carrot Top got to star in a movie, once.
posted by unliteral at 6:57 PM on February 25, 2015


I don't feel sorry for Carrot Top so much as for people that still use him as an easy go-to joke about bad comedians

In a weird, bendy, metatextual sort of way, to make a joke about Carrot Top being a hack comic... makes you a hack comic. Carrot Top is the Ringu of comedians.
posted by aureliobuendia at 7:01 PM on February 25, 2015 [13 favorites]


That Conan set is so 90s.
posted by dirigibleman at 7:06 PM on February 25, 2015 [1 favorite]


Would pay real American dollars to go see an entire Buddy Cole show in Vegas.

This needs to happen.
posted by cotton dress sock at 7:09 PM on February 25, 2015


Horrifying fact of the day: I once visited his hometown of Winter Park and ran into him three times in a single weekend.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:12 PM on February 25, 2015 [3 favorites]


(People around town seem to think well of him, but his body does look like a giant potato)
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:13 PM on February 25, 2015


I mean even this article, which was moderately respectful, revealed how it's just one cheap shot, easy joke after another. "Ellen's a lesbian - GETTIT?? Bill Clinton got a blow job that one time!" Etc. He just kind of pokes this memory you have of a thing that's vaguely out of the ordinary, and given that he is "a comic" and you are at "a stand up show," you understand it's supposed to be funny, and so you laugh.

It's a little strange, but--I think I get it, now, after reading this? This is what Vegas is about. It's about going to Vegas to you can have gone to Vegas like everybody else you know went to Vegas. You can't go to Vegas and have a markedly different experience in Vegas than your best friend did. The details can change, but generally, you go to have gone, to feel like a part of the group when people talk about how they've been. And his humor exists for exactly the same purpose. He calls out all these basic cultural touchstones and everybody gets it. You all know what the joke is and it doesn't challenge your assumptions and sometimes people need something like that. Ellen's a lesbian? I get it! Yes! I, too, am an adult who owns a television! I find this at least mildly amusing and so does everybody else here. So does Carrot Top! We all belong--even in thinking that Carrot Top is ridiculous. He has silly hair and he uses silly props, he makes it okay to think he's silly. And that makes it okay for him to make fun of everybody else, because you don't have to worry about it getting too mean.

It's not really to my taste, but I can see why he's been successful doing what he does and it's hard to fault, in that context.
posted by Sequence at 7:21 PM on February 25, 2015 [6 favorites]


I hated Vegas so much more than I expected to. It's not even a fun sham.
posted by Artw at 7:33 PM on February 25, 2015 [13 favorites]


Oh man, a compilation of Norm Macdonald television interviews would be excellent.
posted by Redfield at 7:41 PM on February 25, 2015 [2 favorites]


> Also I wonder if prop comics are easy to dislike because it looks like they're trying so hard.

Prop comedians in general seem to be low on the standup comedy totem pole. Above ventriloquists, but maybe not by much.

But I think in Carrot Top's case, it's partly because his own act involves a lot of self-mockery, in a very broad way; not "I did this thing and I fucked up, shit got complicated and it was embarrassing so let's laugh", but more, "Hey, I'm a redhead, and us redheads are really stupid amirite?"

So when other people make fun of him -- even other comedians -- in a way they're playing along. Even if they mean it.
posted by ardgedee at 7:52 PM on February 25, 2015


This article was worth reading for the Nicolas Cage stuff alone. I'm starting to think Andy Samberg's impression of him on SNL was hardly an exaggeration. Truly, Cage is the possum king!

Whatever you think of Carrot Top's comedy (and I'm not a fan,) I've always thought there was a lot of weird gender stuff in the Carrot Top hatred. He has a head like the little girl in the Wendy's logo, but with this big, muscular, pasty white body. It's not sexy David Bowie androgyny, it's more a sort of awkward, neither-this-nor-that, It's Pat androgyny. I'm trans, and looking at the guy even freaks me out.

His whole look is kind of disorienting, and then he's coming at you with this hack-y act, desperate to please. It's like he just keeps giving you reasons to be creeped out, even if you want to be on his side. He's the chatty little weirdo nerd kid in school who is constantly getting his ass kicked, and even though you feel bad for him and you think it's bullshit he gets beaten up, you also kind of wish he'd just shut up already and stop being so weird.

I remember the Gallagher thing came from Joel Hodgson meeting him once and Gallagher acting like a prick (big surprise), but I don't know if their treatment of Carrot Top stems from something similar.

It's weird, because Hodgson was a prop comedian himself, even on MST3K. I would be curious to learn if there's a story there. Carrot Top was really riding high back in the MST3K days, and maybe Hodgson was a bit envious. His act was smarter and (I'd say) funnier than Carrot Top's, and maybe it annoyed him to watch some guy striking it rich doing a sillier version of the same schtick. Maybe Hodgson even believed Carrot Top ripped off his act. Who knows?

I've always liked Norm Macdonald, and that old Conan clip was hilarious in a really mean way. But I've found myself reevaluating the guy a little since he recently described joking about Cosby as "kicking a man when he's down."
posted by Ursula Hitler at 7:54 PM on February 25, 2015 [9 favorites]


Most interesting lines from the story:

"After the show, Thompson says he wants to see a friend of his at Caesars, and he and Porno Jeff walk through the bowels of the Luxor back to his parking spot. A showgirl wearing only a G-string runs past them, her perfect tits late for something. They stop at Spago, where they are regulars and are greeted warmly."

Good to know her tits were greeted warmly.
posted by bcarter3 at 7:56 PM on February 25, 2015 [38 favorites]


Vegas is fascianting because it's all of these people who are somewhere b/w dead careers and careers that only ever exist there--and that has always been the case, even when the money is new, the art isn't....it's kind of why Elton's stage was genius, and even more so, why Cirque funcitons so well there (hint, i hate Cirque)
posted by PinkMoose at 8:05 PM on February 25, 2015


I've always liked Norm Macdonald, and that old Conan clip was hilarious in a really mean way. But I've found myself reevaluating the guy a little since he recently described joking about Cosby as "kicking a man when he's down."

If it makes you feel better, he wrote the Cosby gag in the 40th Anniversary Celebrity Jeopardy sketch, and was disappointed that Eddie Murphy elected not to play Cosby.
posted by rifflesby at 8:08 PM on February 25, 2015 [4 favorites]


Oh man, a compilation of Norm Macdonald television interviews would be excellent.

What, like on YouTube they have "The Ultimate Norm Macdonald compilation?"

You know, it might be possible to put together a really great FPP with the best bits of Norm Macdonald, but this FPP isn't it. I posted that video in a comment last week, which is probably why you're seeing it as a FPP now.

But Norm really deserves better. He has better material. Like

His opening monologue on SNL, a year after being fired.

Why Norm got fired: Michael Jackson is child molester.

Also why he got fired: Murder is legal in California. Sorry, audio only due to Viacom.

Norm mutilates the ESPY awards (wait for the final joke).

Norm is the keynote of the Radio-Television Correspondent's Dinner with Bill Clinton, Part 1 and Part 2

Norm roasts Bob Saget with the top roast jokes from a Google search.

BTW if you look around torrents, you might be able to find The Norm Macdonald Show, all three seasons. Highly recommended.
posted by charlie don't surf at 8:25 PM on February 25, 2015 [11 favorites]


But I've found myself reevaluating the guy a little since he recently described joking about Cosby as "kicking a man when he's down."

I believe that Norm said this in the act of quoting Eddie Murphy about why Murphy said he'd decided not to play Cosby on the SNL 40th.

Norm's said many, many worse things than that, though, so.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:33 PM on February 25, 2015 [2 favorites]


Carrot Top is like the Two and a Half Men of comedy.

Well, Two and a Half Men certainly isn't.
posted by madmethods at 9:03 PM on February 25, 2015 [1 favorite]


It's weird, because Hodgson was a prop comedian himself, even on MST3K. I would be curious to learn if there's a story there. Carrot Top was really riding high back in the MST3K days, and maybe Hodgson was a bit envious. His act was smarter and (I'd say) funnier than Carrot Top's, and maybe it annoyed him to watch some guy striking it rich doing a sillier version of the same schtick. Maybe Hodgson even believed Carrot Top ripped off his act. Who knows?

I think the story with Gallagher was that Joel was doing the same show as him once, and he caught Gallagher snooping through his props. I think others on the writing staff had also done stand-up, so it might've been personal to some extent, but Gallagher and Carrot Top are easy targets, and a lot of MST's jokes were aimed at easy targets (which we certainly appreciated).
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 9:37 PM on February 25, 2015


MST did over 700 jokes an episode. You can't pick and choose when you have to go with such volume.

I may be the only person in the world who remembers that Carrot Top once did intros and bumpers on the Cartoon Network. He was basically to CN what Penn Jilette was to early Comedy Central. He even had a short-lived show himself called A.M. Mayhem. I always liked his presence on the channel; the Cartoon Network had far more than the usual share of awesome back then.
posted by JHarris at 11:01 PM on February 25, 2015 [1 favorite]


I always get Norm Macdonald mixed up with Mike Bullard.
posted by Nevin at 11:04 PM on February 25, 2015


Mike Bullard

How? Also, I was completely happy not having access to that name in my memory, but thanks, I guess.
posted by cotton dress sock at 12:34 AM on February 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


Norm McDonald is a legend among comedians. I have unbelievable respect for his integrity.

His entire thread of tweets explaining the 40th anniversary SNL show is epic -- true insight into sketch comedy writing, the personalities involved, Eddie Murphy, etc. If you haven't read it yet, and you have any interest in these topics or SNL or celebrities or comedy you should go read it immediately.

http://www.wired.com/2015/02/norm-macdonald-snl-story/
posted by msalt at 12:43 AM on February 26, 2015 [2 favorites]


His production and tour manager, Dan O'Leary — who used to work for Sam Kinison and Gallagher — has been with him nearly twenty years.

That's a hell of a CV.
posted by pracowity at 12:54 AM on February 26, 2015 [2 favorites]


I believe that Norm said this in the act of quoting Eddie Murphy about why Murphy said he'd decided not to play Cosby on the SNL 40th.

Yeah, but IIRC he was saying that the writers of the SNL special (himself included) weren't as classy as Murphy, because Murphy didn't want to kick Cosby when he was down. Which seems to suggest that Cosby is getting kicked around unfairly. Now, if this had been Woody Allen, I would've been 100% on board with what he was saying. There are plenty of reasons to believe the charges against Allen are trumped up (that's a whole other discussion!) and I think joking about him molesting kids is really hack-y and awful. Even if you suspected he did do it, you could say the guy deserves his day in court, or you could say we'll never know what really happened.

But Cosby has had literally dozens of accusers at this point. I didn't want to believe the guy was a serial rapist either, but come on. To suggest that it's wrong to joke about it, especially for Cosby's sake, seems really 1965 and rape culture-y to me. If Macdonald has said stuff worse than that I haven't heard it. I know him as a very dark comedian, but the closer to his Twitter essay gave me the freakin' creeps.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 12:58 AM on February 26, 2015


Quick question: is the article being literal when it describes a woman pooping herself at a comedy show? If so: what
posted by angrycat at 1:34 AM on February 26, 2015 [2 favorites]


angrycat: Quick question: is the article being literal when it describes a woman pooping herself at a comedy show? If so: what
No idea about the veracity of the event described, but the article explicitly states that a recent Carrot Top performance was interrupted when a woman in the audience soiled herself because of, "the cumulative effect of his delivery."
posted by ob1quixote at 2:01 AM on February 26, 2015


If you haven't read it yet, and you have any interest in these topics or SNL or celebrities or comedy you should go read it immediately.

I think on quick glance that msalt's Wired link might be incomplete (and also it's in the form of embedded tweets, which, yeah). If you'd prefer to read what he had to say in old-man-style paragraph form, this is a more readable presentation.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 2:09 AM on February 26, 2015


I can't help but think that for better or worse, Carrot Top has had a really interesting life.

Anyway, hate for Carrot Top feels pretty trite - like hate for Vegas. Everyone knows Vegas is fake/sleazy/gaudy, and that Carrot Top is unfunny/desperate/bad. But I went to Vegas a couple years ago, and while I absolutely hated everything touristy, I kind of had a good time in the other places. There are interesting little niches, like the old lunch counter in the drugstore, or even the old casino where you can eat spam with all the Hawaiian retirees on vacation (a Hawaiian told me, years later, that every Hawaiian knows The Californian). We went out for Venezuelan food and didn't see any botox, day drinking, or whatever. Plus, it was a 30 minute drive to some of the most beautiful parks and canyons I've ever been to. It's not like I want to live there, but I think I'd go back just to see some of that stuff again.

To be sure, there's slot machines in gas stations and everything smells like cigarettes. And for that matter, Carrot Top does not make me laugh. But jeez, it's like everyone just wants stuff to hate with impunity.
posted by teponaztli at 2:11 AM on February 26, 2015 [3 favorites]


angrycat: Quick question: is the article being literal when it describes a woman pooping herself at a comedy show? If so: what
I… just re-read your comment the way you probably meant it instead of the literal interpretation my tired brain tried to fool me with.

So here's a better answer: As the Norm MacDonald clip from the roast of Bob Saget linked above shows, you can get laughs even with bad jokes if you tell them right. Regardless of anything else, one presumes that anyone who can earn a living performing comedy for the better part of three decades knows how to tell a joke.
posted by ob1quixote at 2:15 AM on February 26, 2015


The dude aquitted himself well on Maron.
posted by whuppy at 3:59 AM on February 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


Carrot Top? Why isn't his hair green?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:42 AM on February 26, 2015 [3 favorites]


Excellent non sequitur: When he was a kid, he hated his red hair and begged his mom to bleach it. Denied, he rearranged his bedroom furniture every six weeks.
posted by chavenet at 5:17 AM on February 26, 2015


Denied, he rearranged his bedroom furniture every six weeks.

Is rearranging bedroom furniture really some kind of expression of discontent? I just found it to be one of those things I enjoyed doing as a child.
posted by ambrosen at 5:29 AM on February 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


That was an interesting article and the sort of thing that keeps me coming back to MeFi - thanks.
posted by cardboard at 5:36 AM on February 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


With the disclaimer that I may just be projecting, Carrot Top is one of those performers where I can't help but suspect (obviously I have no way to prove this definitively) that many of the people who find it necessary to let it be known that they are NOT fans of Carrot Top's comedy are really more against what they perceive his act to be rather than a literal rejection of his material. I say that because it dawned on me as I read this article that I am definitely someone who likes to identify as enjoying comedy that is more sophisticated, alternative, darker, rawer, or whatever than Carrot Top, but at the same time, I'm not sure I could tell you that I've actually ever seen a full Carrot Top set (my main memory of him is from a series of annoying 1-800-CALL-ATT commercials he did years and years ago). I wonder how many of his critics are more against the "concept" of Carrot Top - a prop comedian in general being seen as a lower, lesser form of the art and Carrot Top specifically having being used as a punchline for years as the quintessential example of a hack whose success proves that lack of taste of the general public, rather than having seen a few of his sets and saying, "Not for me".

I thought this was a great article. It did exactly what an article like this aims to, which is to keep my attention when writing about someone I wasn't all that interested in at the outset. I really enjoyed the anecdote about Carrot Top partying until the wee hours of the morning with Shania Twain, two tastes I would not have thought go together.
posted by The Gooch at 7:05 AM on February 26, 2015 [6 favorites]


charlie don't surf: No Norm MacDonald compilation is complete without the Bob Uecker story from The Stern Show.
posted by dr_dank at 8:09 AM on February 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


I've only ever seen bits and pieces of Carrot Top's routine--I think once on Just For Laughs maybe? Never really did much for me, but goddamn, 240 shows a year requires a hell of a lot of dedication.

Also I have been jealous of his hair forever.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:23 AM on February 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


stavrosthewonderchicken: the Wired link I put in had the whole sequence, though you had to go to the next page twice to get through them all.

Personally, I thought the embedded tweet format was a crucial part of the rhythm of his story. He had some very short tweets, just to emphasize a line. But that's a matter of taste and your version is definitely easier to read.

Anyway, great sequence either way. I take Ursula Hitler's point about Cosby's guilt, and I agree, but I also think it's about not punching down, and not being hack. You could do an OJ joke too, which would clearly lack edge.

Hannibal Burress' original take down of Cosby was brave and world-changing. For Eddie Murphy to pile on would have made him a follower, a hack and a bit of a bully.
posted by msalt at 10:30 AM on February 26, 2015


You can't go to Vegas and have a markedly different experience in Vegas than your best friend did.

Boy do I ever beg to differ......
posted by kjs3 at 10:49 AM on February 26, 2015


Ursula Hitler: Yeah, but IIRC he was saying that the writers of the SNL special (himself included) weren't as classy as Murphy, because Murphy didn't want to kick Cosby when he was down. Which seems to suggest that Cosby is getting kicked around unfairly.
You're taking Norm McDonald waaaaaay too literally. The man's blood is liquid sarcasm, filtered through a veil of disingenuousness.

Or, to put it another way: you're condemning him based on "seems to suggest", when that interpretation is far from straightforward.
posted by IAmBroom at 2:18 PM on February 26, 2015 [2 favorites]


ambrosen: Is rearranging bedroom furniture really some kind of expression of discontent? I just found it to be one of those things I enjoyed doing as a child.
Spoiler: His mother was blind.
posted by IAmBroom at 2:22 PM on February 26, 2015 [3 favorites]


Am I being dumb?

This Norm chap and the title of the YouTube clip: How did the patronising-rude-guest 'save' an interview by the patronising-rude-host that was conducted around, but not about, the woman-who-seemed-to-be-an-actress?

Is this just not-very-clever sexist shit or just way more meta than I have understood?

I could google these people but I think I might be disappointed with the answer.
posted by stanf at 4:09 PM on February 26, 2015 [2 favorites]


Is rearranging bedroom furniture really some kind of expression of discontent?

Sometimes I wanna move
To the other part of town
But to keep from going out of my mind
I move the furniture around

posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:47 PM on February 26, 2015 [2 favorites]


I am probably going to Hell for this, but here goes:

I love Carrot Top's act, and it makes me laugh every...single...time. Loved his movie, too!

I love Rip Taylor (who paved the way for Carrot Top) for the same reason.

I love Gallagher, too. NOT Gallagher 2.

Then again, I also love Bill Hicks, George Carlin, John Pinette (damned shame about him...)Gilbert Gottfried, and a WHOLE bunch of others.

I guess it all comes down to personal taste, but I still bet there are people out there who would call me crazy for the first three.
posted by Quasimike at 9:32 PM on February 26, 2015 [2 favorites]


I watched a couple of Carrot Top videos on Youtube so I'd have a better foundation to respond to this. Ultimately, I don't hate him, but his act feels really non-cohesive to me; he jumps from one gag to another without really building a narrative or theme. Maybe the television performances he does are different from his Vegas shows, but I feel like the lack of overall direction makes it difficult to appreciate the individual bits for me.
posted by LSK at 11:34 PM on February 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


Not a Carrot Top fan, but it's possible that those who find him funny enjoy the random, non-sequitur nature of the act. You don't really get settled into a certain path, so you don't know what to expect. Everything's out of context and becomes absurd. Mitch Hedberg and Steven Wright seemed to do the same thing.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 2:53 AM on February 27, 2015


The act reminds me of the Legendary Wid, a prop comic that was frequently on Comic Strip Live back in the 80s.

A lot of quick hit-and-run visual puns.
*throws a stuffed animal bee* "bee-leave me!"

*stabs a knife through a box of Lucky Charms* "cereal killer!"
posted by dr_dank at 4:57 AM on February 27, 2015


Tommy Cooper had a great one - "I've got a small pain, here" - then he'd take a tiny window pane out of his jacket.

Died on stage, he did.
posted by Artw at 6:22 AM on February 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


Tangentially: This guy is not a prop comic, but I never heard of him until this week when he was the guest comic of the week for the local 24/7 comedy station. Many/most of his jokes are cringe-y racial bits (dude's stage name is China Man, as in Super Man, not superm'n) or impressions.

He was roommates with Pablo Francisco and has at least one near-identical bit that he hinted at mutually coming up with by teaching Pablo his Arnold Schwarzenegger in exchange for learning Pablo's Movie Guy...in one of his pre-recorded segues he talks about being a vocal impressionist and how it puts you in a different lower-class of comedian, and it's interesting to hear his matter-of-fact self-awareness on the matter. He did specifically use Carrot Top as a frame of reference, essentially saying "I was rated like a prop comic, but am not quite a prop comic." As a budding comic you have to partner up with and tour with other comics, perhaps just one other partner for years, and only a handful of comics like Bobby Slayton (an often cringe-y guy [misogyny²] in his own right) were willing to do that.
posted by aydeejones at 7:53 PM on March 1, 2015


Maria Bamford is a gifted vocal impressionist who makes a lot of money voicing cartoons, etc. But she is incredibly respected among other comedians, and she is an example of how to do it right. All of her impressions are original characters that she writes and then creates voices for (unless you count her mom, dad and sister, or the pterodactyl.)
posted by msalt at 10:40 AM on March 3, 2015 [2 favorites]


oh my god lol

@stephenrodrick:
Next time someone tells you print mags are dying shout not true and tell them a man wrote about Carrot Top for a mens magazine out of spite.
@alexheard I said on Twitter I loved Carrot Top and he'd be a great profile. Other guy wrote it and admitted today he did it out of spite.
@alexheard He made the announcement in front of 300 Missouri journo students while calling me a two-faced bad man by name.
@Bro_Pair:
Chris Jones (@MySecondEmpire) wrote a magazine profile of Carrot Top to spite another writer for a perceived slight. THE MATRIX IS REAL
I didn't think Chris Jones could top himself UNTIL HE WROTE A MAGAZINE PROFILE OF CARROT TOP JUST TO SOMEHOW FUCK OVER A GUY
Sure, Chris Jones talks a big game. But we're currently in year three of Mister Cuddly Binky Rabbit Baby refusing my acceptance of his fight
That last bit refers to Chris Jones's previous Twitter bio.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 11:04 AM on March 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


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