Carrot Top

Thompson was born in Rockledge, Florida, and grew up in Cocoa. He is the younger of two sons, and his father was a NASA engineer. Thompson was raised Catholic and attended St. Mary’s Catholic School as a child. Later, he went to Cocoa High School where he played drums in the marching and concert band, and graduated in 1983. He got the nickname "Carrot Top" from a local swimming coach, a reference to his red hair, which would become one of his trademarks in later life. In the late 1980s, Thompson worked as a courier for a mortgage company. After high school he enrolled at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. While a freshman, Thompson performed his first standup comedy routine.

Carrot Top's big break was in 1991 when he performed on Comic Strip Live. Around this time, he also performed on the television show Star Search. He has appeared in Larry the Cable Guy's Christmas Spectacular, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Criss Angel Mindfreak, Scrubs (2001), George Lopez, and Tugger: The Jeep 4x4 Who Wanted to Fly (2005). His film roles include Chairman of the Board, and he also served as a spokesman in commercials for 1-800-CALL-ATT. In 2002, he recorded a commentary track for The Rules of Attraction. In 2006, Carrot Top appeared in the Reno 911! episode "Weigel's Pregnant" as an enraged version of himself who trashes his hotel room and steals a police car. In 2008, he was a guest judge for Last Comic Standing. From 1995 to 1999, Carrot Top was the continuity announcer for Cartoon Network, for which he also produced and starred in an early morning show called Carrot Top's AM Mayhem from 1994 to 1996.

Since 2005, Carrot Top has headlined at MGM Resorts International properties in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has had a residency comedy show at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas since November 22, 2005, and he performs various comedy engagements when his show is not playing. His comedy routine typically incorporates dozens of props stored in large trunks on stage and his prop jokes commonly consist simply of his pulling out a prop, describing it in a one-liner, and tossing it away. He typically closes his show with a lip synced musical montage.

On January 16, 2010, Carrot Top appeared on Don't Forget the Lyrics!, where he assisted illusionists Penn & Teller in their quest for the million-dollar grand prize. He was one of the roasters at the Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav and Gene Simmons Roast. He appeared on a second-season episode of the television series Criss Angel Mindfreak and continued to be a regular guest. Carrot Top also appeared in an episode of the reality series The Bad Girls Club. He appeared as himself in episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ("Man Up"), Family Guy ("Petergeist"), Scrubs ("My Balancing Act"), and Robot Chicken ("The Unnamed One"). Carrot Top appeared briefly in both Bad Girls Club's third season (2008–09) and Holly's World (2010–11). He appeared alongside country artist Toby Keith in the music video for "Red Solo Cup" and also appeared alongside Keith as he performed the song in the audience as a member of Keith's entourage at the 2011 ACM Awards. Carrot Top has appeared on numerous nighttime television talk shows. In 1996, he appeared on the animated/live action Cartoon Network talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast. On February 8, 2010, he appeared on an episode of The Jay Leno Show, wherein he had pies thrown at him by Leno and guest Emma Roberts. He also appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson alongside Courteney Cox on May 24, 2011. Carrot Top appeared on an episode of Tosh.0, receiving a full-body massage from Daniel Tosh. He was also a special guest performer in Tosh.0's Selena Gomez tribute video of "Good for You". On October 22, 2011, Carrot Top appeared as a first-time guest panelist on Red Eye w/Greg Gutfeld. On April 13, 2016, he appeared as a panelist on the @midnight game show.

Carrot Top appeared as himself on the Bradley Cooper episode of Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis. He also appeared as himself on the show Tom Green's House Tonight to discuss his props and career. In 2022, he appeared on "The Joe Rogan Experience" on Spotify episode #1758. On October 26, 2023, he appeared as himself in the ‘Guess How Much This Weighs (Challenge)’ episode of YouTube variety show ‘Good Mythical Morning’ with Rhett and Link. On May 26, 2025, he appeared on Kill Tony, and again on September 15th.