Everyone knows the comedy stylings of Scott Thompson. Well, maybe they don’t know the name Scott Thompson, but most people know him by his stage name — Carrot Top. 

Thompson has been an active comedian for more than three decades and has spent the last 17 years entertaining fans in Las Vegas with his residency at Luxor Hotel and Casino. Fans will have the opportunity to experience his signature prop comedy at Bally’s Lake Tahoe on Saturday, Jan. 14.

Thompson got his start as a student at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton during his freshman year, when he went to a club and saw live standup comedy for the first time. A few months later, his roommate convinced him to sign up at an open mic night and after a handful of nerve-wracking performances, he caught the comedy bug.

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Thompson recently sat down with the Tribune to talk about his love of Lake Tahoe and his life outside of comedy. While he’s performed in Tahoe many times, he said he also likes to come even when he’s not performing, just to take a snowboarding vacation. His go to spot is Heavenly Mountain Resort.

“It’s so pretty there, you know, you get in that lift and you get to the top and you’re looking at the lake, it’s just so pretty,” Thompson said. “The runs are fun, it’s a good time.” 

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It’s been a few years since he’s visited the basin but he recalls the last time he was here. 

“I had my dog at the time and I remember she was jumping in the lake, it was awesome,” Thompson said. 

Thompson has more than 200 props and he brings them all each time he tours but he specializes each set to the place he’s performing. 

When he’s in Lake Tahoe, he said, “of course I’ll do ski jokes, things I would normally talk about in my Vegas show. I have a whole routine about snowboarding and looking like Shaun White and the whole nine yards. So there will be jokes that I won’t do anywhere else except for Tahoe.”

While Thompson wouldn’t say where he thought the funniest crowds were, he did say Tahoe had some of the rowdiest crowds. 

“I used to have this thing where people would bring me up shots of Jagermeister — good lord — but I remember this one time [in Tahoe], it was like, ‘no I can’t do it anymore.’ I did it one time when I was there and the next time there were like 10, then the next there was 20 … but Tahoe has always had a good energy.”

Thompson is known for his bright red, curly hair — hence the name “Carrot Top” — and he’s so recognizable. When asked if he tries to disguise himself in public, he said no.

“I just go out but people are not,” he said. “But it’s not like, ‘oh that guy looks like Carrot Top,’ it’s, ‘that’s Carrot Top.’ It’s fun. This was funny though, just happened on Halloween … this older lady was walking to her car and she said, ‘Oh my goodness, that is a great costume.’”

If a biopic was made about his life, Thompson said he’d like Jason Bateman to play him. 

“He’s always so funny, he doesn’t look like me but everything he’s in, I like him,” Thompson said. 

When asked if people can still take him seriously outside of his comedy, he said yes but shared one story. He was scheduled to do a show the day his dad died and decided to go through with the show. 

“At the end of my show I do a thing where I do a little toast to the crowd, I find someone in the crowd to come up and do a shot with me. So I said, ‘this is to my father, it’s been a hard day, my dad passed away today,’ and everybody laughed. So that was an awkward one time.”

Finally, when asked what he wants fan to know, he said, “I want them to know that I’m having fun still.”

“It’s great to come back to Tahoe, it’s been a few years since I’ve performed there so it’s going to be great to come back. Fans can see how the show has evolved over the years,” Thompson said. 

To learn more, visit the entertainment tab on Bally’s website at https://casinos.ballys.com/lake-tahoe.