Former Stripper Channing Tatum Was Once Tricked Into Performing as a Clown
Before Channing Tatum made a name for himself in Hollywood, starring in films such as White House Down and Logan Lucky, the actor worked as a stripper in a Tampa, Florida nightclub.
In a recent interview with Howard Stern, the Magic Mike star talked about how he was once tricked into performing as a clown.
Channing Tatum’s life before ‘Magic Mike’
Before Tatum gained mainstream success with the high-grossing film about a group of male dancers, he worked as a stripper, using the name Chan Crawford. According to GQ, the 21 Jump Street actor lived in Tampa after turning down a college football scholarship.
Tatum was getting bored of his random side hustles. This included telemarketing for a mortgage company, cleaning animal cages, and framing houses.
At only 18 years of age, he and a friend put on G-strings for their first night of work at the Joy nightclub in Tampa. He became part of the all-male revue, recalling that he told his friend, “Okay, we’re going to do this for a little while just to be crazy and insane; then we’re getting out.”
His stripping career was short-lived, and he left soon after to pursue modeling and acting after being discovered by a Miami talent scout who saw him perform. In 2009, the man that hired him to work at Joy sold a video to Us Weekly that showed him performing in front of a group of screaming women.
While Tatum’s public relations team wanted to bury the story, the young actor said, “I had wanted to tell people.” He recalled the experience saying, “I’m not ashamed of it. I don’t regret one thing. I’m not a person who hides s–t.”
That confidence led to director Steven Soderbergh turning his stripping experience into a major motion picture that received worldwide success. The Magic Mike franchise is ready to release its third installment of the hit movie to the streaming platform HBO Max. Tatum will reprise his lead role as Mike Lane.
Channing Tatum’s stripping clown performance was a one-night run
In a recent interview on the The Howard Stern Show, the 42-year-old actor revealed he was once persuaded to go out on stage dressed as a clown. Right from the start, he knew it was a bad idea, but since he was the youngest performer in the club, he did what was asked of him.
Tatum said, “I was like guys, this is going to f–king terrify them. You got to understand. Like this is not going to work. And, I’m coming out with balloons and f–king big old red feet and everything.”
He remembers dancing to the song “99 Red Balloons” and knowing the routine wasn’t working. The Lost City actor said, “You could tell everyone wanted to run out of the place.” When he took off the costume, no one clapped, and from that moment on, he decided to choose his own routine.
Other celebrities who got their start as exotic dancers
Tatum is not alone in his early days as a stripper/dancer. Lady Gaga, Cardi B, and Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes all worked as exotic dancers before hitting it big.
According to Insider, Courtney Love used the money she earned dancing to start her band, Hole. Rapper Azealia Banks, Kendra Wilkinson of Playboy fame, and Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Chris Pratt also worked as strippers before achieving mainstream success. Even talk show host Kelly Ripa’s husband, Mark Consuelos, had a brief stint as a male dancer.
At the grand opening of the stage performance Magic Mike Live at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas, Tatum told People, “I don’t miss anything about stripping.” He explained, “I stripped in Tampa for like 25 girls, at best. It wasn’t glamorous whatsoever, so there’s nothing that I miss about stripping.”
