Donna Wood doesn't go out for dinner in Las Vegas with her younger son because it's not much fun. It isn't that he's not fun; he definitely is. But the constant interruptions end up ruining her enjoyment. So instead, when they want to see each other, she'll cook for him on Tuesday nights, either at her home or his.

When they're out together, he's one of the most recognizable and distinctive figures around. And unlike some headliners, Scott Thompson can't disguise himself.

You might not recognize him by that name. But when Donna says she is the mother of Carrot Top, usually the initial reaction is disbelief.

"You're not really," people say with disbelief, as if Carrot Top couldn't have a mother but emerged from a pod.

She doesn't often mention that she's Carrot Top's mom.

"Lots of people don't know," she said. "It's not that I'm not proud of him, but I don't want to come off like I'm somebody special. And I'm proud of my other son, too."

Her other son, Garrett, 43, is a fighter pilot with the Air Force. He's married, has three daughters and lives in Texas.

People wanted to know three things after I said Carrot Top's mom helped me at Chico's at Desert Passage: Is her hair red? Why does she need to work? What was he like as a kid?

Just like her son, Donna, 66, is a natural redhead, although she's been a blonde for many years. Photos of her at other times show that her natural color was as vivid and distinctive as his.

She works part time at Chico's because she wants to, not because she has to, so set aside any thoughts that Scott isn't good to his mother. He buys her extravagant handbags. (Judith Leiber and Louis Vuitton come to mind.) On his last birthday, he gave her a Movado watch, saying he wanted her to have it even though it was his birthday.

She's lucky because he has excellent taste. People are surprised that Scott himself decorated his home ... and it's elegant and stylish, not the least bit like the college dorm room one might suspect would be his decorating style.

Elegance is not the first image projected by Carrot Top, who started working as a full-time headliner at the Luxor Atrium Showroom a year ago. Manic energy, topical comedy and creative use of props made him a pop culture icon, but he got his start in comedy clubs and on the college circuit.

Today, Carrot Top is mainstream. Heck, AT&T signed him as a spokesman three years ago.

At 39, he's no longer a kid, but when he was, Donna said, "I wouldn't say he was funny, but he was charming. People gravitated toward him."

His charm was such that when he was young, she surmised that he might be a good salesman, perhaps a car salesman. He was puny. His hair was orange but straight, turning curly when he was in college and had a growth spurt.

Donna moved to Las Vegas in 1996 with her second husband with plans of retiring. Instead, she went to work for CitiBank in human resources, retiring as staffing manager about a year ago. A Chico's shopper, she became a saleswoman at the Desert Passage shop a month ago because she wanted a part-time job, something with which she still could play tennis and travel.

Donna is an adoring mother but admits Scott isn't perfect. Her pet peeve: "He doesn't know how to say no. He wants to please everyone."

So if he makes plans to see her at 7 p.m. Tuesday, but someone else asks to meet him for a drink at 7 p.m. Tuesday, he doesn't say he already has plans, he double-books, driving her crazy.

Other than that, she wouldn't change a thing about him.

"I'm proud he's doing something he thoroughly enjoys doing and he's able to make so many people happy and feel good," said Donna, who sees his show two or three times a month.

Her sense of humor isn't like her son's, but it's definitely quirky. She named her cat Norman Bates, after the mother-whacking murderer in "Psycho," because the cat was so strange. Now that's funny. Not Carrot Top funny, but funny.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.