Carrot Top on Receiving Backlash

You're a funny guy, man, and you at least used to take a lot of shit. And I never understood it. I never under... I don't either. I never have understood that. But it's mellowed out a little bit. It's kind of like, you know, you've done it so long, you're kind of like, okay, you can go to the barbecue now, you're part of the club. But for years and years, I mean, from the very, very beginning, which is kind of funny, you being a comic, but I started in Florida. One thing everybody worried about was, you know, the fever, you know, you want to steal. You know, I stole Zach, so I thought, you know, not only did I do my thing just because I wanted to do props, but I thought, wow, no one's going to hate me because I'm doing... I'm not doing anyone's... I mean, I'm stealing crime watch signs and shit, and lugging him around the country. So if anything, they would say, you know, okay, he's not funny, or at least he's original, but he's not funny. But they would say, oh, no, he's, you know, everything. I just got... I would get shit for... like, I was the shit... I was just filling the punch line. Yeah, you were a whipping boy. You know what it's like? You're like the... it's like Nickelback. For whatever Nickelback takes so much shit, it's like someone decides that that's a good punch line, you know, and I've seen Nickelback and they put on a pretty amazing show. They've got some good songs, man. They're pop songs, yeah, but so fucking what? It's like they're not hurting anybody. It was, you know, so let's say I would do a show and we have a nice crowd. It was great. In Standing Evasion, we get on the bus and we're driving to wherever next gig, and we're all watching, you know, the TV, and then boom, there's a Carrot Top rip, and I'd be like, you know, what the fuck? We just... not only... we just did a great show, we had to hope it's people laughing. So this one guy is telling me, you know, that I said, whatever, you know. I've always been a guy that's considered the source. I mean, I was always picked on as a kid, but when I'd come home, my mom would, you know, what happened? I picked on me. Who was it? I was this guy. Well, consider the source, right? So it's always been that with comedy too, like when, you know, George Carlin said I was funny. That just negated every asshole that said I sucked. I thought George Carlin thought I was funny. No, you are funny, man. You have a good show. Well, you kind of want... I think most humans want everyone to love them, right? Yeah. But as comics, we're even more sensitive. We want... I want not only to have fans, but I want my peers to like me as well. So it's weird. And then people say, well, who gives a shit of, you know, you have fans that love you. Who cares about your peers? I'm like, well, you kind of want other comics to go, hey, man, I dig your style. No, for sure. That's the thing. If you're rejected by your peers, even if the rest of the world loves you, what comics hate you? Right. That's horrible. Like I said, I've kind of... I've done it so wrong. I guess they're funny. Like, fuck it. He can stay, I guess. Well, I think, first of all, you own the genre now. There used to be like when I started in 88, there used to be prop comics. You became so successful as a prop comic that you own the genre. Like, there's no prop comics anymore, man. I think... I know. I don't think anyone wants to be one. That's what I think. They're like, fuck that. I'm not going down that path. I'm going to take over all the abuse that I took. I'd tell them, don't do it. But then we had, though, like you said, the Rip Taylor or Gallagher. And by the way, Gallagher was very much of an influence on me when I started doing comedy. And I would get... Well, I should just say, because also one day Gallagher meets me for lunch and Gallagher's listening. So he's up my... I mean, he's yelling at me and screaming in front of everybody in front of the... like the valley. And he says, I stole his act. And I was like, Gallagher, yeah. He meets you for lunch to yell at you? Yeah. Well, I think we've made up sense, I think. He came to the show and told me how to redo it. But I did. He's out there like... I've heard him on stern, dude. He sounds fucking crazy. And he stopped doing props. So, yeah. So... But the thing that I thought was kind of funny, because in my defense of Gallagher, I used to always say, it's not the watermelon. He's a really brilliant comic. I mean, you go back and listen to his writing. It was great, but all people knew was him jumping on a big couch and hitting a watermelon. But I would always say, no, that guy's a genius. And so then he meets me and he tells me, you know what? You stole my act and you didn't steal... You stole the stupid stuff. And I said, well, first I didn't steal anything. He says, hey, the stupid stuff. Why didn't you steal the smart stuff? The words, the stuff that's actually clever. Why would you steal... I said, but I didn't steal... It's my stupid stuff. I didn't... What was he saying you stole? My act, he said, you know, just made me the genre, I guess. Because if you break down Gallagher prop stuff, it was always a pun. It was a shoe horn. It was like Rip Taylor, kind of like a... Hey, it's a butterfly. It's butter with wings. And mine was like, no, it's a Crimewatch sign. It was more of an invention prop. So he thought that by, you know, holding up two things and saying, it's a this and a that. But he used to do that. See, I never did that. That's what was funny. I've never... My style of prop comedy is kind of interesting. It's like an inventive... If you go back and find the prop... No, no, I have seen it. Because that was a twist to it. So it's not just me holding up a... It's not a word playword. Like the wit. You know, it's like, I've got my tubes tied. And she was tubes all together. So Morin's like, kind of thinking what I would have, like, you know... I don't know, like a microphone from Mick Jagger that has an oxygen thing in it. So it's something that's more into... Anyway, it's just a different... Same with... I get it. It's jokey, but it's also... Yeah. And when I did the family guy, they called and they said, you know, we got the thing already and they sent me the script. And I was like... So the joke is, it's a seesaw, right? So I'm like, so it's prop is a saw with glasses on it, right? And that's kind of not what I do, right? And so I was like, oh, man, this is... I don't like this. If we change it to something that I do and the guy that was... What's up? Macfarlane says, dude, no, this is... People is fucking great. And I said, I don't know, but it's seesaw. It's really stupid. And he says, I wrote it. I said, no, that's stupid. I said, no, I just want to do... Can I do one of my props? He said, well, two things wrong. We already have the animation done. Right. And secondly, everyone loves it. And if you want to do it, we'll just get someone else to do the voice. It's fine. I said, no, no, I want to do it. I just... If we can't... Fuck it. So I did it and I still to this day get people go, dude, seesaw. So they were right. I just was like, damn it, I want it to be a little more of a... I get it. Well, also, you've got to be a little defensive after all the years of people shitting on you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. True. Yeah.