Trading Secrets - Famous comedian, “Carrot Top” isn’t focused on the money! From not picking up paychecks to Las Vegas residencies, the $ecrets to his long standing comedy career revealed

Episode Date: November 20, 2023

This week, Jason is joined by world renowned actor and stand up comedian who has been making audiences around the world laugh for almost four decades, Scott “Carrot Top” Thompson! Scott’s comedy career and Carrot Top persona quickly became well known for his three trademarks; red hair, performing hilarious prop comedy acts, and his tiny shorts. His comedic skill set earned him acting jobs across film and television for the better part of 25 years. Named Comedian of the Year and Performer of the Year, both are considered some of his more notable accomplishments. However, one of Scott’s most impressive career marks comes from his long standing residency in Las Vegas, 17+ years performing at Luxor, 10 years at MGM before that, and a year at Bally’s.  Scott gives insight to the blessing and curse of naming himself Carrot Top and staying in that lane, how he came up with the name, how he almost turned down the Vegas residency, how the president of the Luxor called him and convinced him to take the gig, how the pay compares between roadshows and residencies, the difference between 2-wall and 4-wall shows, and shares some of his most memorable shows. Scott also reveals a time when he left comedy but was brought back by one of his best friends, what his relationship with money is like, the work behind being famous, how a broken leg and coming back during COVID lead him back to the roots of storytelling, what the best thing he has done for his career is, and his best career advice. What is a Q rating? Who did he give a hard time about not selling merchandise? Which professionals has he been most impressed with? Does he gamble?  Carrot Top reveals all that and so much more in another episode you can’t afford to miss!  Host: Jason Tartick Co-Host: David Arduin Audio: Declan O’Connell Guests: Scott “Carrot Top” Thompson Stay connected with the Trading Secrets Podcast!  Instagram: @tradingsecretspodcast  Youtube: Trading Secrets Facebook: Join the Group All Access: Free 30-Day Trial 

Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. I'm your host Jason Tardick, and you can hear from this voice. I have a little shot. It has been 12 days on the road, a whole lot of talking, a whole lot of moving. And I'll tell you what, I am ready for a little rest in recovery. but welcome to the pre-market trading segment where I tell you a little bit about what you can expect from today's episode, a little update from the market and something happening in my personal life. First and foremost, if you could please remember to subscribe, give us a five-star review at the end

of every single episode. We do a recap and we give one thing away from the influencer closet to those who give us a five-star review. So thank you for that. Today, without further ado, we have the one and only the legend, Carrot Top. Carat Top has been a comedian. for decades, in decades, in decades. He is absolutely legendary. He has been referenced and noted by almost every talk show, every late night show, every celebrity literally out there. What's interesting is like, everyone loves Caratop,

but he's also known as like the brunt of the joke. Like he's also like, oh, it's Carit Top. But also, he talks a little bit today about how he understands that. He recognizes his brand. And leaning into that has served him with 30 plus years of a very successful career. I think the biggest thing you're going to hear today from Caratop is his relationship with money.

It could not be more different than mine. But it is so wildly refreshing. You're not going to believe what he says about his checks. It's literally such a refreshing take. So I'm excited for you to see into the life of a comedian what it is like performing in Vegas for almost 20, years in the ins and outs of an industry that is growing by the second, especially with social media. So this is carrot top today. Something I want to talk about in the market, we talk

all the time about inflation. inflation, inflation, inflation, inflation, inflation. I want to take a beat here. I want to go with like a 101 here. Just make sure that you understand why inflation is being talked about so much and really what it is. So inflation wasn't really talked much at all because in 2019, the overall inflation rate in the U.S. was running at 1.8%. In 2020, the rate was 1.2%. So we haven't seen much inflation, right, over the last two decades. But once we hit 2021, in 2022, things changed. 2021, we saw the inflation go to 4.7%. And then it reached its peak of 9.1% in June of 2022. Now, we just got a new inflation report that came out. For the 12 months ending September 2020, a new inflation report came out saying that the U.S. inflation now is 3.7%. So the reason

it's being talked about so much is because just in the last two years, inflation has changed so significantly. And I think at this point, you know what it is. But inflation, right, it measures the increase in the price of goods or services or the decrease in buying power. Now, here are the things that inflation factors when it comes to the effect cost of living. Higher food costs, higher gasoline costs, higher utility costs, not receiving an increased wage, higher interest rates on home loans. So those are the top five ways that we are impacted by inflation. And what we're seeing now in the housing market is that housing prices are affected by many factors

connected to inflation, but the biggest one is going to be the cost of borrowing, the cost of our loans. And that is what's changed the landscape with the real estate market. Now, I wanted to do that because I have talked so much about inflation and interest rates. I'm like, are we really even doing you guys justice by not explaining the basics of it? So that's what you need to know about the current inflation report. It is cooling down, but this is why it's such a prevalent topic. I saw two quotes I really like this week. One was just talking about the whole idea that when you are paid your money,

when you are earning your dollar, every time you spend, just think through it. is you are giving away your wealth every time you put that card down, every time you pay cash. And if it makes sense, experience, something you need, do it. But if you're spending on too many wants, think through it twice. And I loved a quote I saw recently, and I believe it was from Jelly Rolls speech when he just said, there's a reason the rearview mirror is so much smaller than the windshield. And I'll leave you with that. A little update for my personal life, I want to give you the business side of this mayhem, right? You might follow me on Instagram and you might say, Jason, you've been just going, going, going, but here's the business side,

right? So I was in New York for four days, had one brand deal, which I had to be there, knocked out about six podcasts, met with a few different agencies and a few different talent, and then also met with my business partner. We then flew to Buffalo because I had a partnership with screwball whiskey, which required me to actually be at the game. What a dream, right? A dream to be working with a company I love and then be at the game and be paid for. How cool is that? To me, that's a dream. And then on Tuesday for another deliverable, I had to be at an event in Vegas at 11 a.m. It was part of delivery. So I had to leave from Buffalo Monday night, got home around 2 a.m. Flight was at 5 a.m. and had to be at this event at 11 a.m. in Vegas from Buffalo to Las Vegas.

That was for the Netflix cup with Nispresso, two incredible companies that I'm so honored that I got to work with. I got to meet so many different executives at Netflix through this partnership. And again, getting paid to be part of this golf tournament, to be drinking the best coffee in the world, and to be doing social media with it. That's one of the reasons why I push everyone to say, hey, give it a shot. You got an idea out there on social media. You got an idea. Give it a chance because there's so much cool that comes with it. Obviously, there's a lot of headaches that you guys hear about.

And then the last part of the partnership was with Salesforce.com and Formula One racing. Again, what an absolute honor. Only 1% of F1 fans get the chance to go to a live event. I got to go to the live event, post about the live event, meet Salesforce executives, and be in places I never could have imagined being all with the company. And this is what I'm also seeing right now, seeing a lot of this in the social media space, where they're connecting deliverables to appearances and content creation. And so that's part of all the reason I was on.

So, well, I had a lot of fun the past week and a half. It was a shit ton of work. And I know it's hard to connect it to, but it was. It was an honor. I feel so fortunate. And the last thing I just want to say is thank you to you guys. Every place I went, someone came up. And the first time, the first thing, every person said to me, it wasn't The Bachelor.

It wasn't how are the dogs, which is I do love that. It wasn't, how are you doing after your last relationship? It was about the podcast. can't tell you what it means to me, when I have people come up and say, you're making an impact on what I do and how I do it. And also provide feedback, which I've gotten a lot of too. So thank you. I love you guys. Go Money Mafia. Let's ring in the bell with the one and only, Carat Top. Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. Today, I am joined by world-renowned actor and stand-up comedian who has been making audiences around the world laugh

for almost four damn decades. Scott Carat-Thompson. Scott, Scott, comedy career and carrot top persona quickly became well known for his three trademarks, red hair, performing hilarious prop comedy acts, and, of course, his tiny shorts. Oh, you liked that? No, I didn't know that. Yeah, you didn't know that. Yeah, we found that. At least our writers came up with it. His comedy skill set earned him acting jobs across film and television for the better part of 25 years. Name comedian of the year and performer of the year are both some of his more notable accomplishments, however, one of Scott's most impressive career marks from his longstanding residency in Las Vegas, 17 plus years performing

at Luxor 10 years at MGM before that in a year at Bailey's. I mean, it's unbelievable what you've done. Scott, we are so excited to have you on Trading Secrets, our first comedian. I don't think anyone believed any of that, but yes, it's all true. It's all true. I will tell you, this was like two pages and I had to cut it down because your resume is like ridiculously stacked. Well, I'm old. That's what happened when you're old. You have a longer resume. It doesn't really mean it's impressive. It just But also, like, what, like, if you look at entertainment and media, what under the sun haven't you done? You've done commercials. You've done Jay Leno.

You've done acting. You've done comedian. You've done Las Vegas residencies. Anything under media and entertainment, I think you've checked the box. Yeah, it has been fun. I've been lucky to kind of tackle a little bit, not a lot of everything, but a little bit of everything, you know, with movies, a couple, movies, three or four, you know, been in some other movies. Sitcoms have been part of. I never had my own, but cameos and whatnot.

So it's fun to see the different formats of performing. I still think stand-up is probably my favorite only because I think I know more about that than anything else. And, you know, not that I know anything, but I'm saying, you know, that's your comfort. You know, you get that instant feedback. You know, if something's funny immediately, in a movie, for film, you don't know for, it could be years. You know, you film on set, no one's allowed to laugh. And then they comes out, and you're like, wow, that's really funny. So it's a different format, different style of, you know, performing in front of a camera in front of a crew that can't.

laugh. Other than stand-up, of all those different avenues and things you've touched in your career, what would you say you've had the most fun with? Well, doing the movie stuff is fun because it's out of my element. So, you know, I have to play Caratop in the film. When Nicholas Cage one time said that, it was the hardest thing in the world when they said, we're doing a film, it's about you. You have to play you. And he said, this is the hardest thing ever because I have to play me and who are you. Like, he's used to playing a character. You know, I'm going to be this drunk guy. I'm going to be this accountant. I'm going to be this lawyer. Yeah, most movies I've done, exception of maybe a few that have done recently where I got to place someone outside

myself. And that's fun because you're not being Caratop. You're being this crazy killer or whatever. And so it's fun. Who are you? That's a comment. I'm Batman. Well, that's a comment. You just who are you? And I think about just your career, your direction, your brand. You've had no choice really but to stay in your lane. You've had to remain consistent and it's been so successful doing so. At any point throughout your career, have you started to think there's another identity like I have that I want to step. Oh, absolutely. There's always a blessing and a curse, you know.

The day I named myself Karatop was like, oh, this is good. And then it was like Karatop. And then you're stuck and then you're in this, like you said, Jarlene. So you're this character, you're this person. I even had a lady at my show that I was going through the crowd doing my whatever. And she said, I like your old wig better. And I just thought it was brilliant because I'm like, my old wig. And she goes, yeah, I don't like this new wig.

The old wig was better. I'm like, well, the first one, it's not a wig. but she liked my old look better. I don't know. So it's a brand, yeah. You know, that's how it all started. I was a marketing major. And somehow, of course, you get a degree in marketing and you go writing to comedy.

That's, you know, natural. But that was kind of like, you know, people always made a joke. Like, what a waste of time doing a marketing career because you didn't use it. And I'm like, actually, well, once I realized that I had, because when I first started doing comedy, there would be 100 comics going on stage. And I could have been the 50th or whatever comic going up. And most comics, I mean, pretty much all of them were just stand-up monologist with the mic. And when I came up, it was like, you know, props and whatnot.

But I had my prop trunk behind me for about it. So I remember one night I was doing my show and I remember I had my prop trunk and it was just a black lid in the back. Sure. I put like a fur in there, like a fun pink fur or something. And then it dawned on me. Oh, I should put keratop in the lid of it. Genius. Well, it is now thinking about because I thought, hey, if they're going to stare at me the whole night,

they're going to see keratop the whole time. So my name literally is, is behind me the whole show. So at the end of the night, when people would see, who did you see tonight? They said, we saw this guy, Carrotop? Because it was in their fate. It was like the name of the club, Zanis, you know, behind them of the brick wall. So it was kind of smart.

In a sense, I didn't really, I just kind of thought, hey, it's marketing. And that was kind of the first idea of getting, you know, branding in the name. And it wasn't my normal, Scott Thompson. So I went, oh, I need, I can't use Queen Latifah. It's been taken. So I got to find something, something fun. Yeah, Queen Latifah. So I figured, so I just, someone, you know, I thought Caratop, I don't know how I was in my dorm and I just thought Caratop, that's kind of stagey and fun.

And I drew a logo and that was my first joke in my show was I had a logo before I had an act, which is actually kind of true. It's interesting, because even like this show, we've had some really cool people on, like Rob Grunkowski and A-Rod, some of the people from Vanderpump, the sharks from Shark. I almost always have to tell people who are revving on and I'll have some of my friends or family say, who is that. And interestingly enough, when I say Caratop, there is not one person that didn't know who Caratop is. You are such a household. Yeah, that's good. What did they call that? There's a thing they used to call that.

We're going to go around and see how your QI or IQ, your Q rating. Yeah, your Q rating. It's called a Q rating. Yeah. And based on like, we had a bet years and years ago. This is like 30 years ago. I was in L.A. And we were trying to pitch something.

I don't know what it was. And this guy was very big time. And my manager agent at the time was. was with me. He was my manager and he was going on and just building me up. And this guy, he sells out theater and he's been, he's great. And this guy was just like, I'm sorry, I'm not going to be rude, but I have no idea who are. And I says, you know, I don't blame you because, you know, why would you know who I am unless you went into the south or went into the Midwest? So my manager of all things was very ballsy. He said, I'll tell you what,

if we leave your office and walk down the elevator and go down to Robertson Street right there in West Hollywood, if someone doesn't say Caratop within five minutes, whatever, they made a bet. I said, I'm looking at my, you idiot. You know, it's L.A. They might not know if it was in Charlotte, they might. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we went down to the, before even the elevator opened, some guys like, Caratop. And the guy's like, no way. Like, it was just, it was good. So it was a key, I found out, you have a big high Q rating. So, yeah. The Q rating. Stay tuned with the recap. We'll break down what the Q rating is. It's been fun, been able to do this all these years and still have people enjoy it. And I think some of this stuff, doing some research here, you're inducted to the

Las Vegas Magazine's 12 member Hall of Fame. That was in 2020. Guys, listen back home to these names. Afsnith, Barry Manilow, Cirque de Salade, the Coliseum, which is literally at Caesar's Palace, David Copperfield, the Fountains of Belagio, Tao Nightclub, Beestro at the Venetian, Vegas Knights, who just won the Stanley Cup, Wayne Newton, Wolfgang Puck. You are one of like four actually individuals on this Hall of Fame list. The most impressive is I was in the same group, grouping with the Fountains of Belagio. I think that's the best part. You and the fountains made it.

You and a water system are very well known. That's so great. What did they do? They did nothing. They just turned on a faucet, but that's great. It's good to be in that grouping. I love that. The Bellagio of Water Fountains.

Isn't that amazing? When you're in that grouping, though, and you got like Wayne Newton and there, Barry Manelow, you know, are these people that you're building relationships with, you're collaborating with on business strategy, just other things? Sure. Or do you guys not really connect? No, I know all these.

When you've mentioned, I would say I'm best friends, but we know each other. We all wouldn't say we hang out, but we're very, very social. But when I was very young, I think I was 13 or so I came to Vegas with a friend. And we went to see Rich Little. And Rich Little's opening act was Charo. And I remember sitting in the crowd 13 years old, like, oh, my God, this is just, it was bigger than life. It was like, wow. And so then I'm sitting, you know, next to Wayne Newton at a night's game.

And it's one of those things, you just kind of go, oh, my God, this is, like, like it's cool. So it's a cool thing to be able to, you know, get to know these people that, you know, loved your whole life and, and worshipped in a sense, you know, of entertainment. And those guys, same thing. I mean, you know, those guys have been doing it for a lot of years. So those are, those are great moments when you think back when it gets to be like, you know, I'll be up in 40 years in comedy. It's kind of this cool, you know, you've lasted this long and stayed somewhat relevant and so keep the show fresh and fun. You'll see that I think you guys are coming tonight.

coming a night. You'll see there's jokes about the, you know, the night's parade already. We haven't even done it, but there'll be jokes about the parade or Trump's indictments, you know, there'll be a whole bunch of those things. I love it. I love it. You're staying with the time. Greatest comedian, by the way, in the world is Assam, the greatest comedian.

It's the worst Trump impression ever. Come on. Come on. I'm going to drink his water. That was good. That was good. That was the best one. You get to dialed in.

So what are the most successful residencies, though, in the history. of, I was doing some research of Vegas was Elvis Presum, 636 consecutive shows, right? This is from 1969 to 1976. I look at some of your stats, though, and I see that you're doing six shows per week, one week off per month. I do the math that's at least estimating about 18 shows a month times 12, 18 years, almost 18 years. That's over 4,000 shows just in your luxer crime contract. I mean, when you look back at when you were first making the society,

I saw in an interview, you said you actually almost turned down the residency because you were a road guy. That is true. How unbelievable or surprising is it to you that all these years later you have all these shows under your belt and it's something you almost turned down? Yeah, that's a true story. I was always a road guy doing theaters and doing on a tour bus and doing what you do. And we would do in and out with Vegas at the MGM and valleys and that whatnot. And it was always an interesting, Vegas was just an interesting market, you know, I would be in, you know, college campuses or wherever, you know, people in Tulsa, Oklahoma,

carotop shirts, and you come to Vegas, it was a totally different thing. It was not, it wasn't that they weren't fans. It was just wasn't the energy and wasn't the same thing as you would get, you know, in Charlotte or Raleigh or wherever. So I would do it and I was like, God, Vegas is like the real deal. Vegas is like really pushed you to your limits to figure out what you're doing up there. And I think up to last night, I haven't figured it. I think last night I'm not making this up. I have always, it was. I just was terrified when I first started doing Vegas, and that's how the whole show became production-oriented

because when I was at Ballets, there was just a huge stage, huge. Huge. And then it was just me in like three prop trunks, and I thought, I don't know why, but like, you know, George Crom would stand there in the middle of a stage and with a microphone and tell jokes, but for some reason it just didn't feel right to me. I needed to have like a set. I needed things behind me, so I got like tapestries and tables and lava lamps and couches and rugs and I just made like this set in a sense so I felt like I was you know in my my

dorm or whatever and it was a cool little setting and then I felt a little better but that's when it first started to try to think of a bigger scale because it didn't work in so much in Vegas and they asked me to do the residency deluxeur I said yeah no I appreciate it but no I really don't want to do it I'm a rogue guy and then and then the president of the Luxor at that time called me I remember getting on a plane this is not a joke I'm like bored and I said, you know, I don't know the number. And I picked up, it was Felix Rappaport, and Felix said, Scotty, and I never met him in person.

And he says, Felix, and I said, yeah, he says, you know, you're taking this gig, right? And I said, you know, I'm getting on a plane, I'll call you when I land. He says, there's no time to, you know, take it now. I'm not going to wait for you to land. You're going to take this gig, right? And I was like, I don't know if I'm the guy. Like, he's like, you know, Rita Rudner did it for the,

you're the guy. I need an answer. And I'm like, let me take him off yet. So I was like, I guess. And I reluctantly said yes and got on the plane and we did it. And we did like a, we did a couple months and we got through the whatever it was. It was really tough. And then all of a sudden it was just one day, I thought, you know, this is fun.

And then it was two years and then all of a sudden we were three years. And then I was like, I really liked this gig. So now I'm like, can I get an extension for like another? In 20 years. Yeah. So now I'm praying for extensions. I love staying in Vegas. I don't want to go on the road.

I'm not a road guy. I'm not a bus guy. So it's a very, it's a very cool. gig. Let me ask you this, though, road comedy versus having a luxur residency, which paid more at how dramatically different was it? Well, I think the pay is going to be a little different on some kind of the road shows, because the number of seats that are out there in the road shows. You might get paid more to do a show on the road somewhere. Are comedians typically paid like that? Are you paid by the seat, or you paid a fee for that show? Sometimes it's fees and sometimes

it's what you sell. Yeah, Vegas, here in Vegas, I get paid for what I sell. So I get, you Oh, interesting. Yeah. Each night, yeah, I don't get, like, I don't get the deal where you get, oh, a $10 million deal for, yeah, I've always, I haven't had one of those deals. Interesting. We call it a four wall where I basically run the show. We'd run the show, so the Luxor really doesn't have a lot of, they don't own any part of it.

So it's really my show. We just ran out the four walls. That's why they called a four wall. Two walls, when they kind of split it with the other hotel. So there's a two wall, they split the, the cost with the entertainer, so they do a two wall. I always have done a four wall, which is also interesting because fellow comedians of mine are like, that's really risky. And I always said, you, well, I'm going off my name.

I'm going off, you know, I'm going off with, this is all I've ever done. I never have done a thing where I split the cost with anybody. And on the road shows, yeah, you'd get like a set fee for doing a show, and then they've figured out all the other stuff. Break this down, though, for me, scissors so I can understand. Four wall means all you're actually doing is renting the space. In a sense, yeah, in a sense, yeah. I mean, they still give me the residence, the space to do it. So they could at any time say, we don't want you there anymore.

And then, so then you lose, you lose the space. the, you know, the gig and the residency at the Luxus. So in a sense, they are definitely part of it at that level, but they're not. Financially, we own the show, but they, of course, have a lot of... Okay, so then you would get then this split of ticket sales, merch, revenue, like, even food and beverage, do you, are you running? No, we don't get the... I wish we had food and beverage.

That'd be nice. We've tried. We've tried. We've tried. I was one of the first comics that sold T-shirts, and people were, like, what? And I'm like, I got to sell, you know, want to sell some carrot top t-shirts. And so, again, it was on marketing and adding carrot top t-shirt and people would love them. And so Rodney Dangerfield, this is not a joke. Rodney Dangerfield at MGM day when I was finishing my run and he

came in with his wife. And he says, and it was my merchandise counter outside. And he says, oh, you saw her t-shirts on there? And I said, yeah. I said, where's Rodney Dangerfield impression by the other way? He's selling t-shirts? And I said, yeah. I said, you don't sell merchandise? He's like, his wife's like, no. I said, you don't sell like, you don't sell like a red tie like no respect you yeah she would have killed and oh well he finally he did he started selling red ties and teeth but i thought that was amazing i thought how did no one else would thought of you know nowadays you go to a comedy show everyone were sells records and albums and you know but i was one of the very first that that thought of selling it and the comedy clubs

just just didn't understand it and i would set up a table and i'd sell more i'd make more money in the sales of my t-shirts than i did doing my jokes until they got one of that and then they're like we want my percentage up and i said no and then they're like yeah we have to get a percentage where you're making all this money. I'm like, yeah, but it's my t-shirt. So that kind of got a little tricky, yeah. So I think any show you go to, I'm sure even Aerosmith probably has some kind of deal where they get, they have to split it with the venue and whatnot, a certain percentage I'm not sure.

When you think about merch versus ticket sales, would you say that they're pretty close? Well, rock and roll bands make, make, like, Tatao Swift probably makes more money on her merchandise and she, well, I wouldn't say more than her show, but she makes a pretty good penny. Sure, sure, yeah, merchandise with certain artists are, it's on. real what they get what they get when you're comparing because these are times I'm so intrigued four wall versus two wall like percentage split how would it be different if you're 50 50 50 so two wall would be 50 50 and then four wall would be 100% yeah oh interesting okay gotcha looking back of your and I suck at math I figured that one out that was pretty quick yeah it was quick we got a roger

danger field impression I got a horrible rodion you got a trump impression you got a trump impression you got You're top to it with numbers and math equations. I mean, holy smokes, this is unbelievable. When you look back at your residency with Luxor, would you have structured it differently? Are you happy with the way this stuff? No, I'm happy. Lovely, yeah. I wouldn't have changed the thing, no.

Got it. That's awesome. I mean, I would have started with you and say, can I have like 20, 35 years straight without having to renegotiate, yeah. Yeah, that's amazing. But no, it's always fun to, you know, I think the hotel's happy and I think, you know, I've been here so long. It's fun to be part of the history of Vegas, you know. It's, I'd hope this is where I end at all, which is funny because back in the day, not that long ago in the day, Vegas is always considered to be the place where people went to kind of, to die and kind of like, oh, you're playing Vegas. It was kind of looked down, not down upon, but, you know, I mean, it's like a Branson, oh, you're playing, you're not, you're not able to do anywhere else, just Vegas. And now, you got Elton John, you know, everyone changed drastically. It's the place to go now, right? So now it's, it's, it's, I've seen it go from that, you know, that to where it's at now. So we've been through that whole change of how now it's cool to have a residency in Vegas.

It's like cool to be the guy here. So yeah, yeah. That's pretty cool. When you think about all the shows that you've done at Luxor and how crazy Vegas could be while we're still on the topic, do you have one show where things just got like a story that was just so memorable, got out of hand, one bachelor's party just screaming too much. There's been hundreds. Like what's the most memorable show you've done in your residence?

We've had shows that have been memorable and we've had tours that have been memorable. one we just had was Tahoe. So we had done Palm Springs, great crowd. Next night we did, like, I don't know, we're somewhere in India, near there, near Palm Springs. And then on our tour, we're going to Tahoe. So it was like, you know, gorgeous, beautiful Palm Springs. We look at the map.

It's like, oh, wow, it's like a blizzard. Oh, we got this. So we took off on the bus that night. And I don't know, what was it, 9 o'clock at night when the show was supposed to start. We're still on the bus driving in the snow. Okay. Not just driving. We're sliding, and we're not.

So we, of course, couldn't make the show. So it was horrible because I don't think the logistics of that was a very smart idea. Like, you know, let's go to Tahoe in, like, January when it was a blizzard. So it's happened a few times. I guess, you know, Chris Rock and Bill Maher turned it all down. Of course, Carolew. I'll do the Blizzard show. But we've had shows that have been, yeah, I mean, my God, we had one probably 30 years ago.

I was doing a show on Valentine's Day in Iowa. Nice big theater, everything, 3,000 people. And I used to do a thing where I'd bring a guy and say, who wants to race a beer with me? I was young. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Who wants to race a beer, chug a beer, right? So I'd randomly pick some guy or a girl, whoever it was that wanted it's so exciting

to do it, and I'd come up and I'd say, oh, we're going to race this beer and had a little cooler, and I'd pull the beer out and give him the beer, and we'd, it was a whole shtick, you know, it went on forever, and then, so we're going to do this. We're ready on three. And so, and then I would have an egg. like Rocky, because this is when Rocky was out. You know, the Rocky 10, 12, whatever movie was out that time. Sylvester and I were actually good friends.

I feel mad Ripna, but whatever a Rocky movie it was. And so I pull an egg out and I give the guy an egg, and they were like, you know, and the Rocky music comes, Dom, Dom, and I said, let's go, you know, and we'd shoot the egg and then we'd slam the beer. So I, you know, of course, I'd always slam the egg and they'd slam the egg and then I'd spit mine back. What are you crazy? And so they would, and so this guy's like, right? right when he's slammy, he's just already green.

Yeah. And I haven't even done the beer yet, so I go to take a sip of the beer, and I'm like, and he would just like, just project that all over. Not only the, not only the, my carpet rug into the, I was, I had the cooler, I think I picked up the cooler, and I was trying to, you know, get most of it. And it's Valentine's, and now the whole crowd,

what do you call that where they're all throwing up? So it went from, you know, like myriad behavior. And so there you, you hear people, oh, and it's Valentine's Day. I'm like, oh my God, so, so no one's getting late tonight. No, I mean, nobody, no one's in a mood to have said, it was covering the throw up. I had to finish the show covered in vomit. It was, it was an interesting night. Well, that's a dozy.

I mean, unbelievable. And I just kept going. We had one where it rained in the, in the theater. How's that happen? Well, there's a pipe leak at the Luxor, and I kept hearing this for a while. It was just exactly that noise, right? But it was like, doom, and I was like, what is that? And then, you know, one hit me on the head, and then I was like, was it raining?

And I looked up and I said, oh, shit, there's like a, This one, what the, but then it went like, it started, you know, and then it was just pouring. Yeah. So all my prop trunks were just, so the people come out with towels, and then they moved at the, and I was on my scooter because I broke in my leg snowboarding, because I, because I look like Sean Wyatt, but I'm not as talented as Sean White. And so I'm on my, I think I was on my knee scooter doing my show on a scooter for six

months because I had broke my leg. And so it was already rough, and I'm on this, and it's pouring down rain, and I'm on this, I'm already wiped out in the scooter many times. And then the trunks are being just downpoured. And I don't, I'm thinking, hey, this is, you know, it's comedy. Show must go on. So I just keep going and it's pouring. I mean, literally, I'm saying, if you have never seen the O show at the Belagio, look at this free show.

And I look at all my, and my guy's like, you know, stop the show, quit the show. And I'm like, no, we're, this is fun. What we're happening is so funny. It's so weird. But after the end, he's like, dude, there could have been like a fire. It's water and you have electronics. And I'm like, I'm not that bright. I don't think that way.

I just think, oh, I'm doing my show. But you're right. I should have thought, this is probably not, it's probably dangerous. I should probably shut the show down. But we just did the whole show. It was pouring down rain, did the whole show like it was nothing. We are all our own business, but if you run small businesses, I want you to listen up, especially if you make over $80,000, this is a perfect solution for you.

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Yeah, back to the four walls, right to the four walls. No, but then you have to cancel the show because of weather. Who takes the liability of that? Do you, like, do you still get the ticket sales? You're looking at them. Yeah. No, I eat shit when that happens, yeah. No, I ate all the, yeah, and the stage hands and my crew, everything, yeah.

Interesting. Okay, let me ask you about that. But that's true, yeah, that's true, yeah. So another downside of doing that, that is that, yeah, so if there's not a show, then I'm, I'm, I'm, yeah. So you've mentioned, Sylvester Stallone, Chris Rock, I know you're friends with Jay Leno, all the big. Oh, he's going to do yourself, look, see, and I was, I was going to say, I know, Chappelle, you know, he's about your, so great, yeah. So you're friends with so many of the great, who are. of all the professionals you've seen in this space,

have you been most impressed with and why? Wow. Well, I mean, of course, stand-up comics, I mean, you know, George Carlin, I was down the side of the stage watching how I got to see Richard Pryor perform. There's the moments where you're kind of just in awe and just mouth-dropping,

especially, you know, definitely legends, people like that where you just can't believe you're even in that. I saw Billy Crystal one time in New York City. And, you know, I knew Billy, I met him, a few times that I know Billy Crystal, but I'd never seen him do this one-man show called 57 Sundays or something with his father. It was the most moving thing I've ever sat through my life. It was on Broadway and was like an hour and a half where you're just, you're laughing to you can't laugh anymore and then you're crying, like full on crying. And then they take

an intermission and then he comes back out and does another hour and a half and you're laughing and crying. You're so exhausted at the end of it that you just, I remember saying to my girlfriend I said, I'm getting out of this. I'm not even in this business. Like, I'm not a, I'm not even qualified to say that I'm in this business. It was mouth dropping. And then at the end of the show, there, all the whole thing I cared about it. I really want to say, hi, you know, if I can say hi to him.

And the lady came over and said, just at the end of the show, just stand by this door. And I was like, oh, my God. And he couldn't, he didn't have to say hi to me, you know. And he had the only one, he brought me back. And he was like, same as any comic, you know, you know, I'm doing it tomorrow if you want. I said, don't stop. Like, it was the best thing I've ever seen. He was like, this tail between his leg.

Like, it was okay. It could have been better. I'm like, you can't cry anymore. Like, stop with all the crying thing. Like, they've almost crying. My eyeliner was running. It was horrible. But it was the most brilliant show I think I've seen in a long time.

Yeah, Billy Crystal. What a brilliant, brilliant mind. That's pretty cool. I think that a lot of people, especially back home, listening in their careers, regardless of what it is, might have similar moments where they're doing unbelievable work, but they don't feel good about it. They're trying to find that fulfillment. they're trying to find that confidence. Have you ever gone through a period where you've looked at

your career, your performance, and said it wasn't good enough? But the whole outside world thought it was. And what advice would you give for those people? Besides on the way here? Yes. I was thinking this exact thing. No, I had a, I had a discussion with my friend today at lunch. Didn't know that I didn't, that I had that. Oh, you've always been, no, I did not. I, I started in comedy and I didn't do well. And I got out of it because I couldn't figure out to get enough bookings. How long a period was that before you dipped out? It was about over a year. Wow.

And so I was shucking oysters. And this is a weird, again, these are all things in life that you just think happens for reasons. I was shucking oysters and bartending. And that's where I came up with this whole end of my show. I did this dance around the music. It's like a montage of rock and roll and whatever. And I did that behind the bar. You know, it's bartending.

I would do like Aerosmith and McJagger and Michael Jackson. And when I put the show together, you know, 40 years ago, I thought, oh, I need to have, like, this rock and roll feel to it. I need to have, like, this element of rock. So it came from being a bartender and an oyster shucker, but I was doing that one night. And these two couples came in. I was making them oysters. And they're like, looking at me, and they're laughing. And they're like, you must have a twin.

And I said, God forbid, the twin. Jesus. End it now. And they said, yeah, please tell me there's not a twin of me somewhere. And they said, no, like littered, like spitting him between. And they said, he's a comedian. Because by Carrotop, we saw him in Tampa. And I was like, oh, wow, no, I never heard of him.

And I remember that at moment, I thought, wow, I must have done okay. And then it was not even that long. After that, my best friend who booked comedy clubs said, I need you to perform. And I said, I'm shucking oysters. I'm not a comedian. And he was like, you're what? Like for a joke? or you're doing? Like, when are you doing? Are you open on New Year's Eve? And I said, no, I'm, I'm working

to this bar shuck and oysters. He's like, you're fucking carrot top. What are you talking about? I said, no, I'm not, I'm an oyster shucker now. And he said, you're out of your mind. You have to, you have to do this show. And I said, I haven't performed in over a year and a half. I'm not, especially New Year's Eve, I mean, actually looking back, I probably would have been the easiest gig to do because no one's listening. They're just doing party favors. So I took the gig, and my own mother said, I'm going to see this show. I said, no, no, God, I don't need you to come my first show back, and it went, you know, I guess okay, and then I never got out of it again, but there was that period where I, you know, I lived in a partner with four guys,

and we scavenge up money to go to a dollar movie night across the street, and we'd play tenants and smoke weed, and, you know, that was it. That's awesome. When you Google, like, Back then, I don't smoke weed anymore. Yeah, that's not good. Don't do it. I think I had an edible last night.

No. When you Google, like, your wealth, you've met at least, It says you've amassed a lot. We can get in that before we do. This is a tough career that you said, that you almost got out of and had to shuck oysters. What is your relationship with money? Was there almost like a time where you didn't pursue this because of money?

Are you motivated by money? Like, what's your relationship with money? I am well known in the comedy world, at least the people that worked with me back in the day, I would never pick up my check. Interesting. I have friends that would validate this. I would do my show and I would leave,

and they'd say, did you get you check? Did they take out percentages? And I was like, I didn't even pick up my check. And I remember I'd get it, but I would, I wasn't the guy. I just, I just loved doing the Joe. I loved doing the show and I knew it was going to get paid, but I did mail it to me, but I never was the guy that, I mean, unless they were paying me cash, under the table, the table, no cash.

They would do, there was clubs that would do that too. And so you go. With the cigarette. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't get a kid. I would never take my money. I would always, so, yeah. I swear, people remember that.

They say, what the, and I just, I always get wrapped up in the moment of being in this career. But, you know, of course, now I pick up my mind. No, there was a guy that I work with, and I think he's still alive. And what a funny guy in the South is, it was James Gregory. And he used to, he was just, he would sell out these, like, weekends on it. He had me open for him. And it was like a big honor to open for him because it was packed. And he was so funny.

And at the end of the night, I had done the weekend. It was like a Friday, Saturday. It was like two shows and Friday, two and Saturday. and we were in the lobby and he walked out this is not a joke he walked out with this like bat

like an actual pillowcase so I and he's a big fat guy with a beer so I said oh fuck Santa you know I'm making a joke

like oh Santa whatever and you know what's in your bag Santa and he's like what's in my bag it's calf

care of thought that's how exactly how we taught and I said cash it's not cash and he said no it's

it's cash it's almost like my genline I said that's impression of him and I said that's honestly he says

yeah, when you get big enough, you come to pay in cash. And I never forgot that. I was like, I'm holding my, I had this little check and they took out all this stuff. I don't know what it was. It took out like half of it. Took it out. I mean, for things. And I remember thinking, I made like, after all these shows, I had like $150, which

was huge back then. Yeah. You know, my God, I got $150 for a whole weekend. This is amazing. And he had like, you know, 10 grand in cash in a pillowcase. And he just threw it in his car and took us all to do. Denny's and we, uh, he would, he would take us all to dinner, but I never forget that. I was like, one day I'm going to get paid and then cash in a big sack and just walk out

with it. That might have to be a proper year. It's just a big set of sack. He'd always do that. We go to Denny's and he said, oh, what's your name? And they say, Tina, Sarah, can I get the potatoes? He'd always do that same fucking joke every night. What's your name, Tina?

Barbara, can I get that? Yeah. One of the things you mentioned is you look at your check and half of it's gone over your career. It's called the IRS. It's called the IRS, by the way. But also when you look at a lot of massive figures who are just pursuing their passion and really don't pay attention to dollars

and sense they have stories that at some point they're taking advantage of or they lost money in a transaction because they invested in something they shouldn't have. Do you have any stories like that when you look back at your career a moment you're taking advantage of or invest in something you shouldn't have

like a lesson learned for money? I've been very lucky that I've not done that yet. I've had people that have been invested in things that were a full thing. I mean, a full no-brainer go-go, it's all going to be great. you know there's no downside to it all i've lived i guess maybe because i i i grew up no money and i and i and i got a little money i still do i still don't gamble i still don't go to gamble i don't i just it's not my thing it's not my cards i don't do much investing uh

outside of i'm a very very uh i'm a very yeah i just don't i don't understand it as much as i don't really wouldn't do it i just don't understand it so i've i've been lucky not to get in too many things and i've had some some things and i've had some things in the past with um other people that have worked with i've had to that went south but that everyone in this business is the day where you're you know but that's you know part of the job that's cool how about this what is one thing you spend maybe you look at it you spend a little too much money on but you won't stop spending it's a convenience or it's something you buy t-shirts i mean i don't i honestly don't know i'm not making it's my guy no i don't buy i don't have many jewelry i have a

cockering. Now that's very nice. The Rolex of Cochranes. Maybe that can be your next product brand you drop. Sell it. Cochrings, yeah. Go Vegas, you'll sell it every show.

Every night. Like your manager's about to put that together right now. No, I've been one of the, again, one of those guys, I never, I never, I have one car. I mean, I have one, you know, I have 41 houses, though, no. I have, I just have a house. I have a car. I don't have any jewelry. I don't have watches.

I don't have, I don't have, uh, once in a while, I buy, expensive pair, like stage, I'll buy a pair of Valenciagos for my stage. Other than that, people always say, me like, dude, you're like, just like this little hippie dude. And I say, yeah, I can't even afford, you know, to wash my hair. It's just, you know, but yeah, I just not my thing. I don't know. But thank God I'm not. I don't know. Yeah. I have friends that have like a garage full of cars and Ferraris and Lamborghinis and whatever, and not as I had. But I think it's so, it's so good to have, there's so many people that look up to you. And they can finally look up to someone. It doesn't have to like live their

identity through materials, which is very hard to come by these days. Yeah, I think. Well, you know, I think, you know, I get, and I, now that you get older, you, you know, you speak to a lot of young people and when I would speak to, and it still happens to this day, they'll say things to me like, oh my God, I want to be like, I want to be like, I want to be like famous. Yeah. And I always would say, oh, I still say, what do you mean, what do you mean like famous? And I said, you know, and be in TV and whatever. I'm like, but okay, but what is what is it that you want to do though? You don't, you don't

just famous, you're not just a famous person, do you, what is your craft? What are you are you singing? Are you down? Are you speaking? Maybe, maybe are you what are you doing to, you know, invest some kind of investment thing? But when they just say famous, they instantly think oh, you're just, you're famous and you're, you have

a big house and a fancy car and jewelry and watches and but you don't do anything. You're just famous. You don't work. Yeah, you're going to go to Like the night's game, right? I'm like, no, I have a show. Like, oh, they don't cancel the show because the night's game? No, they, no, they don't.

No, they don't. Right. So there's a lot of responsibility that goes in with, if you're going to be famous, it's more about the job. It's not a being famous. It's silly. I mean, but you only find out until you probably are. And then you're like, this is silly.

That's what, that's one of the cool things about I think what we've done with this show is all different issues. And I'm not famous. And I'm not famous. I'm not famous. I'd say you're both. Yeah, they say I, if you didn't do it, you're going to do it. Yeah. If someone recognizes you in the lineup, they're going to pick you out pretty quick.

But one of the things we do is uncover all these industries so people can actually talk about the truth about where it is that they do, make money, where they don't, and where all the illusions are because there are so many out there. I mean, when you Googled your stuff, I'm seeing like 75, 100 million net worth, are these things realistic? Is it bullshit? Is it like, you know, what would be your advice for people that are stuck in the mirage of Googling what people make and how much they earn? and that's why they're chasing because they want to be famous. Well, I could be true. That's all bullshit. I would say, first thing, don't we did that one night backstage. It was hilarious. We Googled carrot.

And we did it. And we have it on my Instagram somewhere. I see Caratop net worth. And it came up something ridiculous, like $100,9. And my manager was like, $100 million. I said, yeah. And he's like, why are we not getting raises? I said, well, dude, it's not real.

So then we said, let's Google you. So we literally, Dan, we googled everybody in the crew. Like Dan O'Leer. Yeah, and it came up 1.8, you know, whatever, million. And he's like, oh, my God, I'm worth 1.8 million. I'm like, exactly. So it's kind of, it's going to be, I don't know how they came up with it. It's not real, but God bless them for printing it.

I guess it's real. The fun part about, of course, is, you know, television and the realism is so I did a little episode on, a little episodes, on hacks, the show's coming out on HBO. And when I get there, this is big. I mean, it's, it might be 50,000 square feet or more. All made a stone, this big, huge house. And then I get there, I'm like, oh, this is supposed to be my house. And they're like, yeah, and they're great.

And I'm like, okay, this is not going to be good for me after this because everyone that's going to see this episode is going to really honestly think that just like that. They're going to think that I live in this monstrosity of a house made of stone. So when that comes out, I just can't wait. I just can't wait. I'm like, dude, your house is unreal. it's TV home it's not my home

you know the golden girls don't live in that house that they shoot in front of but no one thing you had mentioned too is people the famous and the rich and you talked about no I'm working you're doing six nights every single night that first of all it's a grind second of all the lifestyle's got to be kind of wild right like when like during the day you have so much time but then you're up so I say that's kind of the only I wouldn't say down the tricky side of being having a show at night every night and as a comic, not just,

is you have to kind of pace yourself as you go during the day because you have work at night every night at 8 o'clock. And you've got to get there at 6 and a thing and a meet and greet and a sound check and it's like anything else. So it's really your whole day is gearing up towards your evening at work. So you can go to lunch, but you can't, let's do shots. I can't do shot. I have to work in a bit.

You know, they don't understand that. Like, if you're going to go to work right, you're not going to do shots and then go to work, are you? I hope not. my doctor we have surgery just one week now we're going to go in

and fix his spleen but yeah airline pilot there's always things like that too I can have a bad show and everything's going to be okay but you have a doctor or a lawyer

that has a bad night it's not good so but there is that lifestyle I guess you'd say in a sense where I've done it so long that I kind of am I'm used to it

in a sense where I know I have to be ready to go and you know focused and kind of like tonight I've got three or four things that I've never done that I'm going to try to throw in the show and kind of

just play with it and see it's fun. I'm lucky in that regard because my show is just my show. It's not a CERC show where everything's rehearsed. It's rehearsed, but it's not you know, it's a big outline and I can kind of dance in and out of it. Whereas, you know, it would be hard to be in a show where it has to be the same, same, same, same, every night.

I'm lucky I can do a joke about the nights and I can do a joke about Trump, I can do a joke about whatever it is that's going to happen in the next week or two weeks or, you know, Aaron Rogers, whatever, whatever the story is, I can throw it in there. Adjust it to what's relevant to that. A lot of people, which I think is fun, as they notice that, and they'll say, like,

wow, the show's really current. Yeah. Which is the best compliment you can ever get a comic, I think, is when they say, wow, your stuff's really kind of on point, uncurrent. You're not talking about Nixon, you know? Right. That makes sense.

You know what I mean. Yeah, that makes a good point. I want to talk a little bit about storytelling. I think people, whether they're selling back at home, or they're CPA, or they are a teacher, whatever they are, everyone has to be able to adjust their storytelling. Maybe it's an interview. As a comedian, your storytelling is just, it's one of the best in the world. What tips do you have from people back home that struggle with storytelling? Maybe if it's on a date, interview, whatever it

might be, what tips would you give them to focus on storytelling? I would say, that's a great question, by the way. I think it comes down to real truth and honesty when you're telling a story. And my whole career, literally up until COVID, maybe, a little bit before COVID, I was so, Maybe when I broke my leg snowboarding, I was kind of, you know, I'm this fast-paced, fast-paced, it's props, it's this, but I never, I'd tell a little bit of a joke, but I wouldn't tell a story. And then I was stuck in this knee scooter for like five, six months. And the show had to change because I couldn't run around like an idiot every night with all my things. So I was just stuck, just stuck like a stand-up. And I would just tell stories. I just told, and it started becoming, like, people were like, wow, this is, And it was just, my, even my crew was like, this is kind of fun. It's like you, and then it just turned into more, more of that. And then I got back on my two feet from that. We had COVID, and COVID, we were the first show back in Vegas.

It was me and fantasy, we came back. And it was only, because it was the only, there was only one person on stage. So they brought me back. Again, they asked me and I said, no, no, no. So you were probably one of the first shows, right? Because you don't have any on time. Oh, no, no, the only, no in Vegas. They had to be great for your show, though.

shows going on. But as far as performance shows, it was just me. But the thing, they moved me into the Chris Angel Theater, which was at the time when he was there, it was like, I don't know, let's say, 1,700 seats, somewhere close to that. They only allowed, you know, 150, 200 people. And they had a moat in the front of it. So it would take off about, you know, 40 feet.

And then they would have two people, four people, two people, four, you know, six people, one. And I come out on this, you know, a little, on this big stay, again, back to the ballet's days. and I'm holding up a prop that nobody can see. They didn't have screens. There's no, they can't see it. What the hell?

And I started doing more of that. I was like, I got to just tell stories again. Because they would listen to my stories. Yeah, as they would do, trying to follow along with these props. So I just started telling more. And I came up with almost an hour of just things about my family and how, you know, my brother was named after a aviation company

and I was named after a toilet paper company. But it turned into this whole story. and people were, like, really digging it. So then it just kind of happened where I just started, and then I went down, I said, oh, yeah, I'm old now, so I can't lie about my age on the Internet. So, you know, when I played colleges, I always say, yeah, how old are you, like, 20 days?

I always go up on your, you're 26, 27. It always works if you go up one. If you go up any more than one or go down more than one, and they don't buy it. Okay, got you. But they kind of guess you're 30, you just go 31. They go, okay. I still do that.

But I'm not now because they look you up where you're at the restaurant. They're like, 58. I'm like, yeah, I'm not like 50, I'm 58. to become fun kind of to being honest again, like I was telling true story, is telling and being honest with the crowd. And that's how it seems to me it's work more because I'm honest in telling a story that's real. It's not, you're not making it up. It's like really happened to me, you know, as a kid. So I think people can see it and sense it. Same with what you're saying. If anyone's going to tell a story or have to speak and do a thing in front of

the crowd, just from the heart, I think is really, really makes a difference. And I think people can really see through it, you know? They can tell that you're really sincere about your story. Yeah, I think the sincerity and honesty thing is so true, but I also want to go into some people do that, and then they completely fall apart. They're in an interview and it goes a ride. They're in a presentation, they start to panic. Have you ever had those moments

where you are doing your storytelling? Didn't go the way you wanted, and you're trying to adjust from, like, to break down. What do you do to adjust that accordingly? Well, that's life in general, yeah. It happens to, I don't care of who you are. Probably the best of the best have had a moment, especially in comedy where you're doing something,

and you had them and you're like, oh man, what did I do wrong? Did I say it wrong? Did I just fucking don't think. I remember talking to George Carlin one night, where this is irrelevant to what you just said. I remember saying to him directly to him, I said, wow, what's it like to be you, like where you finally, you know, got it? And he said, what do you mean?

I said, you know, you're at this level now where you figured it out. You've done, you know, HBO specials for 30 years. I mean, you got it now. And he said, I got nothing. I got nothing shit. I have nothing. I still don't have a clue what I'm doing. Every night I try to do better.

And every night I feel I did and do as good as I could do. And I mean, that's, and that was coming from the best to the best in the world. And it's kind of true. I think I think I kind of use that theory. I mean, it's been very, very rare. I come off a show. I'm like, fucking nailed that. That was a great goddamn show.

And because usually I'm like, ah, God, we messed up that one. Everything was perfect. Sure. I mean, the one thing I just, but I mean, I let it go away sooner than I used to. I'd hold on to it for two days, but now, Letterman used to do that. Letterman was very famously known for coming off a show and going up and watching the show and just horribly upset with himself every night. Even it was a good show.

He'll even tell you that. He just was miserable, but he would kill. David Letterman, but he would just like, ah, it's not good enough. Yeah. You think if guys like you, Dave Letterman and George Carlin are experiencing that, then maybe the answer is get comfortable. Or just get out of the business, I think. Just quit.

But I think it's all businesses. I don't think it's just comedy. No, as I said, it's in any business. It doesn't matter if you're a comedian, if you're selling sod. I mean, everyone has had a situation where you're like, ah, man. Yeah.

But again, I think that's just life and it's just having to, you know, not have that anxiety. It's easy to say. Yeah. People always say, you can just calm down. You know, you have an anxiety. Well, just relax.

It's like the worst advice you can give so. Yeah, just, just, just, just, just, relax, just relax, you know, take deep breaths. I've done that. It's like when you get a cold, they always say, you know, drink some, some lemon water. Okay, like I didn't thank you for giving the advice of drinking some fucking tea. Like I didn't know that. Appreciate it.

Yeah, they were sleeping. Well, rest and just relax and drink some tea and have a, okay, I didn't, I didn't even think about that. I love it. Getting comfortable with the uncomfortable. That's the answer from Scott. Scott, we have to end with two trading secrets, right? So every guest comes on, they give us trading secrets.

The first trading secret is going to be one deal you did that, like, changed your life or that you'll always remember. Maybe it was small. Maybe it was like, I did the stupid stand-up deal for 10 bucks, but it changed my life. Or you got the million-dollar check for doing this. One deal that changed your life. And then the second one is going to be a career lesson. People can only get from Scott Thompson giving your career track. They can't find it on YouTube or a textbook. So let's start with the deal that you'll always remember. Well, the deal that I remember, again, that's not about money. In fact, I don't think there's been one time in my career where I did something for money where I thought, ooh, I signed a big contract or got a deal for something

because I've never, I mean, because I've never done that. That's so cool. But the best thing that I've done for my career, I think when I was starting out, they asked if I would be, if I would do this college, it's called NACA, National Association's College activities. Oh, yeah, I know NACA. Yeah. And so I did the NACA and I did all these different regions and I did really, really, really well and then they had the national convention in Dallas and this is literally probably what broke I think my career wide open was and it wasn't television I well the television of course has had a big impact because I was but it started with the colleges and so I did I did the national performance in front of all the college kids I mean all the the main people so

imagine you know 10,000 kids but they're all every every person in different schools books books the you know Notre Dame books Florida State books Florida so and you know you did kind of I am always been good at they don't think about that just you know just do your normal show don't over constant think about all these people out there could make or break you yeah so I went my thing just whatever I would normally do at a show and it was so it went so great and I broke whatever Harry Chapin's record for the number of bookings in one day at a at a NACA so what happened with that was like I was I was employed for you know two or three years automatically like I'm already booked three years out you know at Notre Dame I got Florida I got you know Boston College

for like three years and so I was always and I was playing big venues but then little cafeterias one morning in the cafeteria and the afternoon was it was our evening was a big theater so I was doing I was like the weirdest thing it was just from and you learn so much and then that's when I started doing TV so I would do like Notre Dame and then that next morning I fly to New York and do Regis and Kathy Lee and then do a couple colleges and then Friday I would do the Tonight Show and so

people was like grassroots marketing in a sense where people like kids in college would say we saw this guy Caratop and then their grandmother said I saw Caratop on Regis and their other parents are like I just saw him on the show so it was like I became like this it was like from 8 to 80 I was kind of entertaining every group and it kind of appealed to every group and every market so it kind of became this

who the fuck is carrots up and how is he getting oh but it was it was all this hard work but it was I was lucky in a sense that they you know I was perfect for television all the props and the thing it was a perfect match you know because the visuals aspect of my show was perfect for television and especially at that time when they had a lot of shows that put comics on and there's not a lot of outlets now except the internet there's a lot of TV shows don't even book comics anymore. They don't have comedians on that much unless they're selling a book or a DVD or a special or something of that nature. So I was very lucky at that time when I hit. That's cool. That's where the snowball started. We see where it is today. One trading secrets, career advice.

Someone's lost within their career, something that you experienced that got you through, maybe hard times. One trading secret on the career advice perspective. Well, I think just being general about it, I think kind of we've talked about it a few times with my leg being broken and talking about the COVID. But I think it's finding, especially in a career, any career, I think if you find out what it is that you do and what you're trying to do, is really hone in on what you're doing and what you want to do, but know everything about what you do and also put in the work. I think that's the most important part of any job.

I don't care if you're an accountant, you're a lawyer, doctor, you're a comedian, you're a rock star. You know, the ones that, the Rolling Stones are in the studio right now, making their 71st album. That's the kind of shit. that I take, I'm like, you know what? Fuck, you know, the Rolling Stones are still in the studio making your album. They don't need to make an album.

They don't have to even perform, but they love what they fucking do. And that's what I do. I love my job. I love preparing for it. I love doing my sound check and we come up with you every night and the sounds that we come up with a joke. I don't know why I just, that's the time where I think of it. But putting in the hard work, you know, putting in the time, putting in taking your job seriously too. like, you know, some of those, just some shots.

And they're like, well, I have to go to work, you know, sorry, but I'll have a shot after. Yeah, I'm definitely going to have a shot with you after the show. But, yeah, I think to stay dedicated and really honed in on your craft. And I believe in what you're doing, too. I mean, everybody in the world told me that I wouldn't make it as anything. I mean, especially as a comic, I mean, everybody was like, there's a joke in my show. It's not even a joke. It's a real story.

But, you know, even my father, when I said, I wanted to be a comedian, he said something to the effect of, you do know that's probably not going to happen. And it's true. I said, yeah, you're, fuck, you're probably right. But I didn't believe him. I said, why, why wouldn't happen? Why can I do it? I mean, why not?

Yeah. Why not? Don't believe in noise. You can't, I mean, I mean, it sounds so cliche, but everyone will say that. You're not going to, oh, you're going to be, okay, you're going to be that. Okay. My brother went to the Air Force Academy and flew F-16s. Like, what the fuck?

I remember my brother wanted to, I was like, you know, 12. My brother said, I want to be a pilot. it and I said, okay, but my brother was smart, you know, so I said, well, you could probably do it, you're smart, you know, you're a book smart, you can do it, and then he went to the Air Force Academy, you know, I was like, what the fun? And I'm, you know, I didn't go to the Air Force Academy, but I went and saw him there, and I remember thinking, man, my brother's smart, but he did, he committed to it. He did all the work that he had to do to become an F-16 fighter jet pilot that no one else, shit, there's only 30 people in his class that, you know,

a billion people wanted to do that, but he was dedicated, no, we didn't have money, And he didn't, he got a point, you know, he got a scholarship to go and from swimming. But you don't just go to the Air Force Academy and do it. You got to do it. You got to do it. You get kicked out of the Air Force Academy. You don't do it. Yeah.

I think it's brilliant advice, especially for people that are on the precipice of, like, trying to push through to what they want to do. And to me, like, the biggest thing that I admire from what you said today that I'll never forget is you never even picked up your paycheck. Oh, that is such an inspiring. Kind of a dumb thing, by the way. A dumb thing, right, but whatever, but it's also, that's a... People hear that and go, Jesus. It's a dream. Like, that is, I agree, but it's also a dream.

I have about 100 comics that, we could attest to that. They always say, you didn't, you didn't pick up his check. And then call me and say, you left your check at the club. And I said, I know, they'll mail it to me. That is a dream. It is awesome. I know you have a show to go to tonight. And for everyone listening right now in the recap, we're going to talk all about the show

because we are going. That's right. You're going. Oh, my God. Let's go. That'd be good. We're, I'm fired up. We're having a couple drinks before.

We're going to watch it. Scott, if anybody wants to know more from you, wants to reach out to you, where can they find you, where can they find this? My cell phone number is 40, you just reach out to, what we have, all my social media, like at Caratop.com, and Instagram's Caratop Live and it's Real Caratop at Facebook and all over what I recall. But, yeah, you can just Google me, find me somehow, and I would love to chat with any. I try to answer a lot of questions on my Instagram, people will ask me.

If they're a question you want to answer back, you know, it's like, you know, people are just like, yeah. People could be asked us. But they have a question that really does spark me. I'm always like, ooh, I love to, I love to. That's awesome. Or it's a real dumb and I love getting back to them. There you go. Go buy carrot top, by social media. Guys, we're going to show you where to get tickets to Carrot Top's show when you come to Vegas. And Scott, thank you so much for coming on training secrets. This was awesome. Yeah. Thank you. Next time he's trading secrets. Yes, well, every year, end of the year, I got to be in the hot seat. I share where I make it, where I lost. Good, good, good. This was great. Thank you. Thank you.

Ding, ding, ding, wow, that's the worst ding, ding, ding, ding of my career. But that is what 12 days on the road will get you. It has been a very, very productive 12 days. My gosh, the networking work has been incredible. But David, I am doing this recording live from Vegas, flying back tomorrow and how appropriate that we have Caratop, the Vegas legend, one of the top performers in the entire city for decades plus. What are you thinking about the one and only Caratop?

Well, I'm looking at you as we do this in your hotel room in Vegas. I can't help but get the Katie Perry song waking up in Vegas out of my head as I look at you. A little bit of a frog in the throat, but to be expected. F1, big weekend in Vegas and Jay, I'm going to get to that a little later because I have my curiosities on the whole F1 in Vegas thing are running rampant. But like you said, Caratop, Vegas, and I just got to put this out there in the universe. I couldn't believe how calm and well-natured his tone and energy was. I was expecting Caratop like off the rails, bouncy ball energy, like you not being able

to get a control of them, just so different when you sit down and talk to someone with their life and their path and their experiences, just like how normal they can be compared to the character that they're perceived to be. Yeah, and I think his character is his show, is his brand. When he's on stage, that's him, right? He's doing it. And it's hilarious and it's amazing to watch. But behind stage, which we went backstage, he's everything you would imagine, the same exact

guy that you just heard. And what's interesting, though, is do you remember Batman Forever the Riddler? Yes, way back in the day. So his VIP area, it reminded me of like the Riddler's Cave. Like he has all these different like props and toys and these ideals with pens and paper of, you know, his next joke that he comes up with on the spot and he creates his own props and, you know, big famous people like prince and really well-known people had been there and signed it in pictures he's a huge crown royal fan so we had a lot of crown royal back there it was just interesting but he was very accommodating very sweet very very kind soul uh if you don't know crown royal it's a canadian whiskey shout out to all my Canadians out there but hearing you say that and knowing the character

even hearing you say that what his backstage looks like looking like the riddler i would assume that that goes home with him that he would have the crazy Las Vegas man with the weird antique cars and crazy cars and weird setups at home. But as he talked about, he lives a very frugal lifestyle, which I just respect so much. And it was just so interesting to hear this side of him. Because I got to be honest,

Jay, when you told me that we had Carrotop coming on, I'm like, where is this coming from? This is coming out of left field. But he had such good perspectives on not only his path, but I think, like we always talk about things that you can take home as a listener.

And I just think overall his perspective of like, when you said his name, Scott, I like laughed out loud when I was listening to it because I was like Scott, I was like, oh yeah, he, he isn't just character top. And you've had this a little bit like Jason from The Bachelor now obviously like changing that brand. But can you just touch on a little bit about what you feel like the perception when you're a character to the world and people don't even know your name, like how much that just may change like the value of your name or people calling you by your name, which I really respected that you did. Yeah, I mean, I think that's, I think

it's really interesting just to hear his name, but also how he got, like, stuck in that brand, the whole idea of carrot top. That, to me, is, like, fascinating. And David, when you talked about the simplicity of it, like, we edited this out, but I said, what's your favorite restaurant in Vegas? Because Vegas has some of the best restaurants in the world. And he said, Norda, Italian, they have good pizza, which is like a chain. So I think he just has this, like, simple, simple lifestyle. This is his life. He does it six days a week. He's so good at what he does. And what's interesting is when he kind of talked about being like once your carrot top like you're stuck like there's no pivoting out of it i've talked about the movie i saw him do you know he took shots at

that but there's other the counter to that is like he's at a sustainable brand for 30 years so who cares if he can't pivot out you know and he's happy exactly and i and i think like he touched on how his marketing degree actually you know came in handy as he was establishing the carot name and i just I have a lot of respect for you calling him Scott the whole interview and not Caratop. And I think that allowed him to just kind of like melt into the interview a little bit and really give you some raw answers, which is really cool. One answer that I do need to ask you about that you said to bring up and I was already in my notes was curating.

He talked about, you know, the story of him, you know, convince his manager convincing someone I'll take the elevator downstairs and you're in Hollywood and he was all nervous that no one would recognize him. But what exactly is it curating? Is it something that still exists and do you know yours? if it does. So I don't know mine, but Q rating is essentially like a measurement of the familiarity. This is from Wikipedia, too, and then I'll break it down. The familiarity and appeal of a brand celebrity company or entertainment product, so the higher the Q score, the more highly regarded

that item or person is, and they will look at Q rating scores when someone does an appearance on TV. How long they're there? What is the overall Q rating? And the Q, the Q score is a metric that determines a quotient factor through mail or online panelists who make up representative samples of the population. The things that go into the curating are given choices for each person, which are, A, being surveyed, right? So if you're surveyed, they're asked, is this one of my favorites? Are they very good? Are they good? Are they fair? Are they poor? Or did you never hear them? When you're talking about the brand, the person is celebrity? So the, you know, the layman's terms is it's a rating that media and companies use to determine what the popularity is of an

item something person or place. And I remember, like even the bachelor world, they'll give you engagement scores of like when your face showed and stuff like that. They won't give you that, but I had a producer talk to me about it. But they're monitoring that to see when someone's on TV, what is it doing for ratings based on curating? Yeah, that's very interesting. Now, my my conspiracy hat, as I think about the curating and you tie to things that we've talked about on this podcast like credit score. Do you think between curating credit score, the way that we're looked at is aside, do you think that we'll ever get to a point where a social score is really something that is instituted in our society? And if so, have you seen the Black Mirror episode

on basically that? Yeah, I've seen that episode. And I think 100%. I think what do you look at social currency. You know, I had a dinner with a bunch of executives the other day. All big timers in Nashville, older gentlemen for the most part. And I got on the table, I told them, like, everyone here is respected and loved within their communities. A lot of because their title power and like what they've achieved. But in the next generation, in the next generation after that, it's actually not going to be about like title. It's social currency is going to be a big thing. Like, if you're running the hospitals, you're going to have to have an online presence. And the idea of like following and social brand and all that is now a new

form of currency. And it's changing dramatically. And I think that Black Mirror episode is terrifying, but also there's some truth to it. Wow. Okay. That was a great answer. Also terrifies me a little bit. I was hoping you're saying, no way, but I have said more words in the last 12. So I have no voice. I've said more words in the last 12 days than I've ever said before. So the fact that I could shrink a sentence together and make it make sense right now. You're sharp. Sharp is attack right now, Jay. Sharp's attack. I just got to end with, before I get into the F1 stuff, he taught, you asked him what his biggest deal was. He didn't talk a lot of numbers. And that's because at the end of the day, you could tell like he just doesn't give a fuck about numbers. Talked about not picking up his paycheck. Talk about when his biggest deal, he talked about the NACA set a record for bookings and things that really propelled this career. And I loved how he was saying I was going to colleges, then I was going on Regis, then I was going on late night. And by the way, his impressions all time. So, you know, we've had a lot of people who when you bring deals up and money up. I always go back to, like, Rich BFF. She probably could have listed off her top 50 deals financially. You get a guy like Carrotup on. He gives you more of like a

holistic answer. I was just really impressed with him. I know you got to spend some time with and went to a show, went backstage, but just overall really, really interesting character. Interesting guy who's done amazing things, really enjoyed his presence. We'll talk a little F1 here for just a couple minutes because then I got to go because they're trying to kick me out of this room, David. I got to get out of here. But we got to give some of the Money Mafia. This review comes in from KLDRPDB22. Jason Longtime listener, first time reviewer, love the pod. I've heard you say a few times that if you won the lottery, the first thing you would do is delete all your social media. Do you have a savings goal or anything that you would consider winning the lottery?

Also, I often heard that winning the lottery can be pretty detrimental to your finances and most winners go broke. It'd be interesting to hear from a lottery winner or someone who has insight into that. Thank you so much for that review. Email us your address at trading secrets at jasontark.com. We will give you something from the influencer closet. That's a great question about what would be my lottery. And the big thing with lottery would be that I would never have to worry about money again and that I could pass on money to hopefully what will soon at some point be a next generation. That number sounds like a number I could ask you in the Jason Tell All season three that's coming up in six weeks here, Jason, or four weeks almost. Put it on your list. I will put it on

my list. Put it on your list. Let's do it. That's a great review. All right, David, what else you got an F1? Because they're going to kick me out of here. Yeah, I don't want to get kicked out of the room. I am going to ask you one question. And then I think we're going to, it's going to be a call to action from our listeners. If you want to hear more about F1, I think we could almost spin this into a mini episode potentially or maybe some ideas that we can get more active on our social media channels. But you've been to F1, you've been to Super Bowls, you've been to Rotter Cups, you've been to big events. How did the F1 in Vegas atmosphere event just whole grandeur of it all? How did it compare to some other big sporting events you've been to in your life?

So Evan gave me an article here before, and it said over 300,000 people attended and had a $1.2 billion impact on the city. That doesn't surprise me at all because the biggest thing with F1 that I'm just blown away by is the money. Like the money behind it is just so, so next level. It's really hard to comprehend the economics behind this. The infrastructure, the time, the detail, the effort. It's a sport like no other. It's fascinating. It's growing at a very fast pace.

I would say logistically, it was a nightmare. They had some issues early on. Getting there and getting out was a nightmare. But the actual race was the only one word I could think of as an absolute spectacle. That's amazing. Because I was on TikTok nonstop before, and they were calling it Firefress 2.0 leading up to it. And some of the, you know, like you said, the logistical issues they were having the race itself, a spectacle. I could imagine being charged of like hospitality of the event.

so many celebrities, so many billionaires, so many millionaires, so many people flying in for that event, all wanting and seeking access. It looked great on TV. I love that. You had a positive experience, but I want to hear more about it. So you're going to get that for me, whether it's on this pot or, you know, a quick phone call after this. If you guys want to know more, let us know, just go to the comments, give us five stars and say, do it F1 and recap, because I can talk all about the dollars, this sense, the events, the people that it came across, all the detail. So let us know. But thank you again for tuning into another episode of Trading Secrets. One, forward to miss. I'm going to take a pause here because when I said thank you right there,

it really hit home. I had come across so many people, David, in my time and traveling over the last week and a half. And 95% of them came up and asked about the podcast, talked about the podcast, had feedback for the podcast. Say they listen to it every day. One girl said every morning, 530 at Monday, that's my routine, is listening to your show. And I just want to say, thank you to the money mafia. You guys have built us. You have made us. And you have given us the energy to keep going, keep making an impact through education and insight. Please remember to subscribe. Please remember to give us five stars.

And thank you. Thank you for tuning into another episode of Trading Secrets. One, you can't afford to miss. Time for me to get out of Vegas and go treat this horse voice. Making that money Living that dream