Just a trucker hauling jokes

He looks like a throwback to the 1950s with his high pompadour hairstyle.

And his name -- yes, it's real -- sounds like he's a regular on "Veggie Tales."

But Lord Carrett -- pronounced care-RETTE, not carrot -- is a stand-up comic who likes working without a safety net.

"I love it when funny, unexpected things happen to me on stage," Carrett said by phone from his Los Angeles home.

"I think of it like a high-wire act. You never know what's going to happen."

"Comedy can be so unpredictable. It's all in how the comedian reacts. I handle adversity well. I'm super cocky. That's part of my shtick. Nothing is ever my fault."

Carrett will team with Wild Bill Bauer again for a return appearance at the Orpheum Theatre Saturday night.

They have separate careers but are both favorite guests on syndicated radio's "The Bob and Tom Show." Carrett said that he and Bauer have different styles but that their audiences overlap.

"He claims to appeal to the lowest common denominator, which isn't really true, and I come on all cerebral," he said.

"Someone described it as first being attacked by a bear and then being attacked by a ninja."

A 20-year veteran of the comedy club circuit, Carrett is still on the road virtually every week of the year.

"I like to write comedy. But I love to perform. Most comics go on the road as a vehicle to get a sitcom. I'm just the opposite. I do radio to go on the road."

Carrett grew up in Florida where his father owned a tavern.

"Dad's bar shaped me more than I realized. At 4, I was overhearing filthy jokes and trying to tell them. Usually the people were drunk and dropped lines so that the joke didn't make sense," he said.

"It was like comedy archaeology. I'd go back and try to figure out what was missing. That's how I learned to write comedy."

He also learned discretion when retelling the jokes to his Catholic school classmates.

"My act is adult but 95 percent of it could be on the radio. It's not intended for Sunday school, but you can tell it in mixed company with no problems."

When he was a kid, Carrett was leaning toward both music and comedy. Then he caught Jan Murray on "Hollywood Squares."

"They asked him what was the penalty for bigamy and he said: 'Two mothers-in-law.' I think that's what tipped me to comedy," he said.

"I said, 'Man, that's a joke that will still be funny a hundred years from now. That's what I want to do."

Much of his joke-based act is drawn from real life, such as being on the road all the time.

"Comedians are just truckers hauling jokes around," he said. "I eat more meals behind a wheel than a hamster."

IF YOU GO

LORD CARRETT AND WILD BILL BAUER

What: Separate comedy acts by two favorites on radio's "The Bob and Tom Show."

When/where: 8 p.m. Saturday at the Orpheum Theatre, First and Broadway

How much: $10 in advance from Select-A-Seat (755-SEAT) and $15 (cash) at the door.

For more information, call the Orpheum at (316) 263-0884.