Gay Video Dad Presents...
Issue #23 - June 10, 1999
Gay Video Dad Presents... |
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Issue #23 - June 10, 1999 |
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The 8th Annual at the first live show |
Grabbing for the Stars... |
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HOLLYWOOD - What a weekend! For those who made it for the Grabby show over the Memorial Day weekend, you can now remove your jaws from the floor. If you need help, perhaps we can refer you to a local cosmetic surgeon. I can't speak for everyone who attended the event, but I - for one - am still amazed. While the Music Hall at Man's Country was full, I'm sure that a few of you missed the festivities. So let me fill you in. The show opened with an original video clip from Sidetrack, featuring classic Chicago tunes and clips of sexy men on the beach. Then Honey West was on stage to belt out her cover of Cher's Take Me Home. Next we got a brief welcome from the godfather of the Grabbys, our own Big Daddy Ferguson. Then trophy studs Big Peter Dixon and Robby Taylor arrived on stage, underdressed for the occasion, so they were sent back to put on (slightly) more clothes. Finally, the awards began to be announced. |
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| Chi Chi LaRue and Honey West dish as Trophy Studs Robby Taylor and Peter Dixon look on. |
| I won't give you a blow by blow of the awards, please refer to the winners list accompanying this column. But here are some highlights. Best screenplay winners Jim Steele (for Ryker's Revenge) and Mike Donner (for A Lesson Learned) were both surprised and delighted. They set the pace for the rest of the show. Soon, Chi Chi LaRue was introduced to a warm Chicago welcome. Well sort of... There was some unscripted drama between her and the sound effects person, which inadvertently added to the entertainment (with Chi Chi being the pro that she is). Then she called out the second set of presenters - Doug Jeffries and... Ken Ryker. As the titan blond hit the stage, you could hear the collective sound of jaws hitting the floor. If you heard some sniffling coming from the jacuzzi room under the DJ booth, that was me. The Grabbys had arrived. |
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Ken Ryker - Best Duo Sex Scene |
J.C. Carter - Best Ethnic Performer |
| Local bronze porn god J.C. Carter proved to be a popular choice for Best Ethnic Performer. Whenever he hit the stage, the shrieks were at the highest decibel. In a tie for Best Duo Sex scene with Miles Andrews in Toby Ross' Even Steven, trophy stud-turned winner Robby Taylor was in shock. It was the first time we've ever seen him at a loss for words. And that's saying a lot. Being the gracious star that he is, Ken Ryker was also surprised and quite pleased to accept his well-deserved sex scene award for his coupling with Steve Harper in Ryker's Revenge. Video reviewers across the country had to get their jaws realigned after seeing Ryker do XXX like we've never seen him do anyone before. To end the first half, Taylor and Dixon were joined on stage by show studs Tony Acosta, Christopher Scott and Dr. Feel Good. They did a mock orgy as Link 2 Link was given the Best Group Sex Scene award. Honey West promised the crowd that they hadn't seen anything yet, and, boy, was she right. | ||
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| Presenter J.C. Carter watchs as Christopher Scott joined the Trophy Studs for a mock orgy scene (above). On the other half of the stage (below) the Trophy Studs helped keep the show interesting as they are joined by Tony Acosta and Dr. Feel Good. | ||
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| After the intermission. we viewed All That Jazz from the show "Chicago" and IML clips courtesy of Sidetrack's master of videos, Pepin Peña. Chi Chi brought down the house with a routine about categories she would create if she had her own awards show. Wish I could reprint some of it here, but sorry you had to be there. The megahunk Blue Blake was well poised and very gratified to be named for Best Actor: Dramatic. For a sex break, VideoSpoon star Mitch Allmond did a live performance of Happiness is a Big Cock, the title song from the hot new Toby Ross video. It was a breathy rap number that would make Barry White blush. Allmond was backed up by the sexy Christopher Scott while trophy studs Taylor and Dixon had trouble keeping a hold on their towels. Chi Chi picked up the Best Ethnic Video award for Blackballed 2, saying, "With 10 hot black studs and a white bottom boy, how can you miss?" |
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| Writer/director Mike Donner and his award for Best Screen Play, A Lesson Learned. | Australian leather star, Andrew Lennox rose to the occasion to please the crowd as a presenter. |
| Twin winners for Best Performer Will Clark and Cole Tucker were both present. They were both more than delighted to be honored. Was tough guy Tucker getting a little choked up? Befitting the newest Best Actor winner, Blue Blake presented the award for Best Directors. The Bear, Barry Gollop, from Sarava Productions accepted their award in true Kristen Bjorn style, with a soft spoken "Thank You." Then Chi Chi was back, for a well deserved third time. She was touched to be honored a tie along with Bjorn. | ||
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| Cole Tucker and Will Clark both drew Best Performer Awards. |
For Best Videos of the Year, we had the man who writes the books on Best Videos, Mickey Skee, present the awards. The Bear and Chi Chi were able to do encore bows for their movies Manwatcher and Link 2 Link. Next, the legends in the crowd were recognized in a Wall of Fame ceremony, which proved to be the emotional highlight of the night. Longtime directors Jim Steel, Toby Ross and Chi Chi LaRue were shoe-ins for such an award, but they were still shocked that their names were called. The baby in the crowd, Bob East, was also surprised that we recognized the big impact he has made at Odyssey Man Video in his short time in the business. But he has been in it for about as long as superstar Ken Ryker, who was also honored. Talk about making a big impact... The biggest surprise was in store for the final winners. Mickey Skee was amazed to see his first such recognition after so many years of making contributions to the industry. And our own Big Daddy Ferguson accepted his award under protest. Just call it a mutiny by the staff and crew, but we believe that since he created it all, he deserved to be inducted into the Grabbys' first Wall of Fame. Speaking of mutinies, when Chi Chi grabbed the mike for the show's finale, she invited the performers on stage for a sizzling curtain call. There wasn't a dry crotch in the house. I don't mean to tease, but these guys were ready for action and didn't want to wait until their next video shoot to do it. Of course, things were kept under control (yeah, right). We had garden hoses on stand-by in case things got too hot. I would describe more, but once again you had to be there... |
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| Chi Chi LaRue introduced new industry director of Sport and Recreation Video, Drew Warner as a presenter along with J.C. Carter. | ||
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| Almost at a lost for words, Robby Taylor accepted an award along with his co-star, Miles Andrews for Best Duo Sex Scene as Warner and Peter Dixon look on. | ||
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| When not onstage, writer/director Jim Steel, author Mickey Skee, Ken Ryker and Andrew Lennox enjoyed the show from the first row. |
Let's just say that I have an "in" with the show's coordinator, and he wants to thank all of you who took out time to join us for the first ever Grabby Awards Show. I bet the Reimer Foundation has never had a fund-raiser quite like it, nor had the attendees and participants ever had so much fun giving to charity. Hostess Honey West put in her best, as did trophy studs Peter Dixon and Robby Taylor. And Chi Chi - what can we say? A simple thank you is not nearly enough. The same holds true for stage and house managers Jeremy Spencer, Stacy Bridges and Tim Peterson. You guys are simply the best. We also want to thank the show's corporate sponsor Wet International for underwriting the awards, which were created by Anderson Trophies here in Hollywood. Should I go down the list? Why not. Gay Chicago Magazine's sales rep Mark Nagel worked overtime helping arrange transportation and being all-around host to the divas in ways the rest of us never could. Thank you's are also in order to Chuck Renslow, Ron Ehemann, Sarabia, Darcy and the rest of the staff at Man's Country and Chicago Eagle. Their professionalism and support went beyond expectations, especially coming in the midst of their big IML event. Those high-tech winner screens with running video clips were provided by Toby Ross, the show's technical director, with assistance from Steve Jerome, the show's official photographer. Toby kept the clips rolling through the show along with Frank Ross, who jumped in to help just in time. Jerome kept busy clicking the camera to catch all the action as seen here and on the our Web site, www.gayvideodad.com. Finally, we want to thank all of the performers and industry people who came to support this event. The list would take another column to write, but you know who you are. But I will name the presenters who made it onstage - big breath - Andrew Lennox, Ted and Mark, Ken Ryker, Doug Jeffries, Mike Donner, Jim Steele, Drew Warner, J.C. Carter, Chris Ward, Addison Scott, Will Clark, Cole Tucker, Blue Blake and Mickey Skee. We also thank all those who volunteered to present, including Sonny Markham, who was just minutes too late, and Christopher Scott, who was ready to stand in for Ken Ryker. You guys are in the head of the line for next time. Look in the future issues for further Grabby notes, peeks at other weekend events and dish from behind the scenes - Hank Ferguson |
For additional Grabby photos see Grabby Show Pictorial To read the full review click on the Title or the Box. Did you miss last issue's reviews? Check them out! To find out if you missed any of the hottest current
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