Apparently being a celebrity impersonator is a rather lucrative business, and what better place to be one, besides Hollywood of course, than the City of Lights itself, Las Vegas.
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A fella named Thaddeus Kalinoski headed to Vegas in 2009 after he lost his job and his wife left him. What began as a vacation turned into much more due to his uncanny resemblance to Zach Galifianakis’ character Alan from The Hangover. Kalinoski estimated that he would pull in about $900 a night ($240,000 annually) by taking pictures with tourists.
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What could be better than raking in a quarter-millon to kick it in Las Vegas? But, like most things in Vegas, there was a downside. Considering Alan’s reputation, people would expect Kalinoski to do as Alan did in the movie. Which meant tons of drinking, drug use and partying in general.
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So, it wasn’t exactly all fun and games, which has led to him parting ways with his Alan-esque lifestyle, out of fear that he would die from it. In an interview with The Sun, he discussed the pressure that was placed upon him to be Alan and not himself.
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“Playing Alan, everyone expects you to party, everyone expects you to drink,” Kalinoski said. “Whatever they have, and whatever is they want you to do for a tip, you better do it.”
“I remember I once got so drunk one night that I puked and defecated all over my costume in the Caesars valet lot and had to drive home naked.”
“I was under so much pressure to do parties and was often pushed into rooms with groups of people telling me I had to do drugs. It got really desperate.”
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After hearing this, we could see why he would want to walk away from such good money, but some of the perks that came with the gig do still sound pretty sweet. According to Kalinoski, the women were his favorite part of playing Alan on the strip.
“The women were my favorite part, if I’m being truly honest,” he said. “I’ve seen my fair share of breasts, some ladies have even shown them as a tip or they’ve let me grab onto them.
There’s only so much one can handle in Las Vegas, and for this faux Alan, what happens there doesn’t necessarily just stay there.