Champ was a touring comedian who had gained minor renown for winning first place in the comedy category of the 1992 edition of Star Search.
When Champ was three years old, his older brother Victor died aged ten during an accident at Langley Air Force Base.
He graduated Edison High School, where Champ placed fourth in both categories of a nationwide Dramatic and Humorous Interpretation contest hosted by the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association in his senior year.
[6] Cummings would later be charged for indecent exposure and solicitation of an undercover sheriff's deputy for a lewd and lascivious act in separate incidents in April and July 1997.
[7][8] After graduating Sacramento State College, Champ started his comic career at age 24, working alongside other fledgling comedy figures such as Marc Maron and Jason Stuart.
Champ also regularly performed at Punch Line comedy club in Sacramento and Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and acted in local theatre plays.
Champ was charged in three separate cases and pled no contest to first-degree kidnapping, second-degree sexual abuse, and assault under the Code of Iowa.