Comedian Carrot Top (aka Scott Thompson) created his own unique style of humor using props on stage as visual gags. Now the zany red-haired comic’s headlining show at the Luxor in Las Vegas has a new “prop,” Elation Professional Design Spot 250 moving head fixtures.
Twelve of the automated 250W fixtures were recently installed at the Luxor venue, where Carrot Top is currently giving 280 performances a year, to provide “a new element to the show,” says Dan O’Leary, production and tour manager for Carrot Top, Inc. There were already 120 automated lights in the room, but “we wanted something that would add a whole new dimension and give a completely different look,” explains O’Leary.
However, with so much lighting and trussing and a big video screen filling the stage area, space was at a premium. “There are only a couple inches’ clearance on either side of our video truss when you fly it up,” says O’Leary. “We needed a fixture that would fit into our limited stage space, yet also give off lots of brightness and visual excitement. The Design Spot 250 overhangs only about an inch, which is well within our restrictions, but even though it’s small, it’s got a lot of the features and effects of bigger lights. Plus, it’s brighter than other 250W lights we looked at.”
Eight Design Spot 250s were hung overhead from the existing screen truss, while the remaining four units are being used on the floor. O’Leary says that the frost feature has been a real enhancement, allowing the show lighting to “go from spot to wash while keeping the same look.”
Quiet performance was also an important factor for the production, according to O’Leary “You can definitely hear the other moving lights in the room, but the Design Spots are so quiet, the performer doesn’t even know they’re there,” he says, adding that Carrot Top “loves them.”
With Carrot Top not yet midway through his 280-annual-show, three-year contract with the Luxor, and an extension in the works, his lighting gear must be able to withstand a grueling schedule. “You really can’t beat this light for reliability, cost-point, and brightness,” O’Leary adds.