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The talented Wayne Brady is a celebrity known for his singing, dancing, acting, comedy, and impersonation abilities.
Brady is particularly well-known when it comes to his comedic work on the iconic improvisation show called Whose Line Is It Anyway?, in which he starred alongside Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, Aisha Tyler, and (previously) Drew Carey.
The Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Kinky Boots, The Masked Singer, and Hamilton performer didn’t make a living with improv right away, however!
According to an interview with Playbill, Wayne Brady actually “got his professional start as a teenager at Disney World in Florida” and “his first job was as Tigger.”
“Seeing Tigger Die”
Brady apparently made a rookie mistake while being “friends with Tigger.”
On his first day in the Tigger costume (which happened to be during a Walt Disney World Resort parade), the enthusiastic performer went overboard with his dancing and fainted due to heat exhaustion!
Credit: Disney
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Brady then made the situation worse, as Tigger the Winnie the Pooh tiger. Brady panicked loudly when he woke up to a disjointed costume head that made him feel temporarily blinded.
Wayne Brady has jokingly said that he worries about the young Disney World Guests who had to endure “seeing Tigger die on Main Street.”
Sorry, Wayne, It Gets Worse
However, Brady’s difficulties in the role of Tigger didn’t stop there.
The singer and actor (who can be seen performing in his Masked Singer costume below) was about to move on from the role and take a coveted part in Rap’n Roll until his co-worker Chris Judd called in a favor and asked Brady to take his Tigger shift.
Brady apparently has theorized jokingly that “it’s because Chris had great hair and didn’t like it [being] ruined” by the costume. Unfortunately, the Disney magic was not present during that particular shift within Walt Disney World Resort!
Credit: Disney Fanatic
While playing Tigger in a Character Meet and Greet on Main Street, U.S.A., an aggressive woman tried to cut the line (line jumpers striking again!) and demanded a photo with Tigger without waiting her turn.
When Wayne Brady stuck to his guns and refused the photo opportunity (via mime, in keeping with his role), the furious woman (supposedly affiliated with Disney) left with threatening intent.
Later that day, the young actor was inaccurately reported to management for pinching a child during the Character Meet and Greet and then suspended!
This suspension resulted in not only Brady’s loss of the Rap’n Roll opportunity but also his loss of a Disney stage opportunity a few years later.
Credit: Disney
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Somehow, Brady eventually made it onto Whose Line Is it, Anway? on ABC (after a stint at Universal, one of Disney’s major competitors), which made him a Disney employee again — and when the acclaimed singer returned to Disney World as part of an ABC event in 1999, he actually ran into the same woman who had led to his firing!
“it’s a small world,” After All.
The woman seemed keen on pretending nothing had happened, but Brady thanked her for what she had done. After all, his only goal back then had been Rap”n Roll, and her actions had indirectly forced him to dream bigger.
If you were in Walt Disney World Resort back in the day and saw a Tigger performer faint during a parade, you may have seen Wayne Brady in action!
Did you know about this improv star’s Disney background? Let us know in the comments!
She was affiliated with Disney, and still felt the need to cut the line to get a photo with “Tigger”? That is the saddest most disrespectful thing I’ve heard in a long time.
So glad it worked out in Waune’s favor in the end.