24 Brutal TV Shows That Were Adapted From Great Movies

30 Wacky Pieces of History That We Wish Someone Would Prune Out of Our Family Trees

A Boarding From Nathan Fielder’s ‘Miracle Over the Mojave’ Raises More Questions for ‘The Rehearsal’ Fans

12 Random Facts That Are Likely to Leak Out of Your Ears Without the Proper Emulsifier

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia That Will Taste Extremely Bitter to the Zombie That Chomps Into Your Brain

10 Real Names of Famous Comedians

Would you believe Carrot Top is not his Christian name?

10 Real Names of Famous Comedians

October 25, 2021

Welcome to ComedyNerd, Cracked's Sign up here.)

Stage names are hardly uncommon in show biz, but here are 10 with the most interesting origin stories:

10

Carrot Top was not born Carrot Top. His real name is Scott Thompson. CRACKED.COM — source: Carrot Top

9

Whoopi Goldberg

Caryn Elaine Johnson's stage name, Whoopi Goldberg, has real life origins. In 2006, she told The New York Times Here's the thing. When you're performing on stage, you never really have time to go into the bathroom... if you get a little gassy, you've got to let it go. So people used to say to me, You are like a whoopee cushion. CRACKED.COM — source: The New York Times

8

Larry the Cable Guy

Daniel Lawrence Whitney is known to most as Larry The Cable Guy. Larry The Cable Guy was originally a character in Whitney's stand up act. However, the character became so popular Whitney assumed the identity entirely. CRACKED.COM — source: Ticket Entertainment

7

Kevin George Knipfing thought it best to shorten his name to Kevin James. TE UNIVERSAL DE UNIVERSAL DICKS DICKSTE FREU FREUND UNIVE It is believed he chose James to honor a beloved teacher. CRACKED.COM — source: The Things

6

Leslie Townes Hope first changed his name to Bill before settling on Bob. According to The New Yorker Bob Hope chose the name because it had more 'Hiya Fellas' to it. CRACKED.COM — source: The New Yorker

5

Chevy Chase

Cornelius Crane Chase was nicknamed Chevy by his grandmother. She got the name from the medieval narrative folk song, The Ballad of Chevy Chase. CRACKED.COM — source: Yahoo News

4

Tim Alan Dick was forced to change his name to Tim Allen. Before he was famous, Allen was offered a position on a local talk show and the producer refused to put his original name on screen. CRACKED.COM — source: Detroit Historical Society

3

Ned Holness was 21 when he changed his name to Carlos Mencia. The name change was suggested by Mitzi Shore, the owner of The Comedy Store: She said, 'You can't be an angry Mexican named Ned.' And I said, 'Well, first of all, I'm not Mexican, I'm from Honduras,' And she said, Everybody's going to think you're Mexican, so deal with it.' CRACKED.COM — source: The Fayetteville Observer

2

Eric Marlon Bishop is the real name of Jamie Foxx. The stage name came from Foxx's open mic days whenhe realized a unisex name would guarantee him more stage time as comedians running the show would often call female names first. CRACKED.COM — source: Youtube

1

Joan Rivers was born Joan Molinsky. In 1986, she told the Evening News Joan Rivers was like a party dress I put on, so in those early days, she was only the tiniest part of me and Joan Molinsky was still frightened and confused and bewildered in her life. CRACKED.COM — source: Evening News

Tags:

Chevy Chase

Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

Movies & TV

Jerry’s ‘Seinfeld’ Apartment Sucks, According to Interior Design Expert

Movies & TV

Glenn Howerton Says That This Is the Best Thing An ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Fan Ever Asked Him to Sign

Movies & TV

‘King of the Hill’ Fans Revolt Against the Show’s Instagram Tribute to Jonathan Joss

Movies & TV

‘Rick and Morty’ Fans Say Season 8 Re What Makes the Show Work

Trivia & Jokes

36 of the Funniest Tweets from Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Movies & TV

The 10 Funniest Pop-Culture Stories Out There Today and 10 Bonus Trivia Bits

VIRAL ON CRACKED

1

21 People Who Got Creative With Revenge Plots

2

Jon Stewart Jokes That the More Karoline Leavitt Lies, the Bigger Her Cross Gets

3

18 Bizarre Reasons For Iconic Quirks Of Celebrities

4

‘Dogma’ Was the Last Time People Took Kevin Smith Seriously

5

Bill Burr Wants Americans to Stop Yelling at Each Other and Start Yelling at ‘Idiot Nerd’ Elon Musk