Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 15, 1993 TAG: 9301140051
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
LORD, HE'S A HOOT
If you want your boy to grow up to be a man, you could name him "Sue."But if you want him to be a comedian, just call him "Lord."
That's what Jules and Rita Carrett did 31 years ago when their son was born.
"I think it was their way of getting even with me for being an unexpected child," said Lord Carrett (pronounced cah-RETT), the professional funnyman who bills himself as the "comedy icon."
Yes, Lord is his real name. Yes, he's heard all the wisecracks. And no, he doesn't dwell on it.
"As a child, I went by Lor," he explained in a phone interview. "I went to a Catholic school in St. Petersburg, Florida, where I was raised."
"The nuns," he added, "were hesitant to call me Lord."
Lord was Carrett's mother's maiden name. When his mother died early in his childhood, Carrett said his oldest sister, Leandra, became a second mother to him. She is 14 years his senior.
"Lea still babies me," he admitted. "This year, she had the traditional family Thanksgiving dinner. She's the nurturing type."
It was his second sister, Leonora, who cultivated Carrett's keen wit, however.
"Leo is very funny in a mean way," Carrett said. "She was mean to me the whole time I grew up.
"If she had a white gumball and a black gumball, she would ask which one I wanted. If I said the black gumball, she inevitably threw the black gumball in her mouth.
"I spent years trying to outsmart her," he said.
Carrett also spent much of his youth in the neighborhood bar his father owned, a place he recalls as colorful and educational.
"I went to the Catholic school during the day and hung out with the old drunks afterward," he said. "Seeing both sides of the world definitely colored my perceptions.
"As a child growing up, I could always cut through the extraneous stuff and get to the meat of the issue."
Today, his knack for candor puts him a leg up among stand-up comics.
One of the hottest acts on the comedy club circuit, he's loaded with smoking jokes. Literally.
"When I go to a restaurant and the waitress asks if I want smoking or non-smoking, I ask her if freebasing is technically considered smoking.
"I don't smoke, but I don't understand people who say, `Secondhand smoke is killing me!' How can a cigarette in someone else's mouth kill me?
"I do sarcastic humor," Carrett noted. "Sarcastic people live longer. It's a healthy release.
" `Politically correct' are two words that don't belong in a comedy club. A joke often exposes a truth. If people don't have a grasp of sarcasm, they don't get the joke."
Carrett's act deals with common (but not corny) issues. He rags about life on the road, airlines, male-female relationships, childhood, marriage and, of course, sex.
"I don't really work blue," he's quick to note, adding that his material is the "kind of stuff that might make Grandma rear back, but she wouldn't smack you."
Billed as a cross between Sid Caesar and Sid Vicious, Carrett says his gimmick is his look. His green smoking jacket, rhinestone string tie, stud earring and big hair make for an offbeat stage image.
The pompadour serves a dual purpose. Carrett says he's 5 feet 9 without the hair, 5 feet 11 with it.
In addition to his hectic road schedule, he stays busy writing and working on cable television appearances. He has performed on the Comedy Channel's "Comedy from A to Z" and on the Showtime Comedy Club Network. He's in a video, "Videotomy Vol. 1," with rock groups L.A. Guns and Trixter.
He lives in Annapolis, Md., with his wife, Amanda, an actress and model. The couple plans to move to San Francisco in March.
Carrett will give one performance Wednesday at Greek's Restaurant in Blacksburg. It starts at 10 p.m.
"This probably will be my last Blacksburg appearance," he said. "I've played at Radford University, Virginia Tech and some of the clubs in the area. The audiences have always been very supportive.
"I'm enjoying what I do. I always have a new joke and that's what keeps it interesting for me. If the audience is funny, that makes it even more fun for me."