Grabby Awards - First Award Ceremony

First Award Ceremony

Held on Saturday, May 29, 1999, the 1998 Grabbys were presented during an awards ceremony for the first time during the Memorial Day weekend. Chicago had been home to the International Mister Leather Contest (IML) for 20 years, and the founder of IML, Chuck Renslow, suggested that the Grabbys be added to the weekend's activities to provide additional entertainment for the thousands of IML attendees.

The ceremony was a fundraiser for the Reimer Foundation, "a nonprofit corporation that promotes safer sexual behavior through education and public awareness campaigns. The organization provides information resources and produces videos and other materials on safer sex. Outreach services include free condom distribution; services are available internationally."

The first live show took place in the Music Hall of Man's Country, a gay bathhouse in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood. The event drew a capacity crowd. Fans, gay "adult male erotic performers", directors, other industry people, and national media came from all over the United States to attend. Well-known Chicago performer Honey West and prominent porn director Chi Chi LaRue served as co-hostesses for the evening's festivities.

Ferguson, (sometimes referred to as the "godfather" of the Grabbys) welcomed the crowd to the first live presentation of the awards. Ferguson was inspired and urged by his porn friend Mickey Skee, of AVN Magazine, to start an awards show in the Midwest that would rival the shows Mickey puts on in the West, but also be different enough to encourage stars to go to all of them. Award categories were once again expanded with the addition of new categories or subdivisions of previous ones. Changes included "Best Video: Romance", "Best Video: All Sex", "Best Video: Fantasy", "Best Actor: Dramatic", "Best Actor: Action Hero", "Best Duo Sex Scene", "Best Group Scene", "Best Ethnic Video", "Best Fetish Video", and "Best Leather Video".

Unlike the similar Gay Video News (GayVN) Awards, which are open only by invitation to participants and journalists, tickets for the Grabbys are available for public purchase, allowing fans and performers to mingle and network directly. The event also includes a "People's Choice" category, though other awards are given by a committee selected by the magazine. Additionally, the Grabbys show x-rated video clips of the nominations, while the GayVN Awards don't.

The show also saw the creation of a "Wall of Fame" to honor industry legends, awarded for their impact on the industry rather than the length of time they had been involved in it. Relative newcomers to the industry Ken Ryker, performer, industry critic and author Mickey Skee from Adult Video News and Bob East, the Executive Director of the Men of Odyssey Studio, were inducted alongside long-time directors Jim Steel, Toby Ross, and co-hostess Chi Chi LaRue. Ferguson" was also inducted into the "Wall of Fame" despite his protests; his staff insisted that he be honored as the creator of the awards.

LaRue also won awards for "Best Ethnic Video" and tied with Kristen Bjorn for "Best Videos". Commenting on the award for "Best Ethnic Video", LaRue remarked, "With 10 hot black studs and a white bottom boy, how can you miss?"

"Trophy Studs", very scantily-clad men, were on hand to hand the awards to the presenters. The inaugural year's Trophy Studs were Peter Dixon and Robby Taylor. During the evening, porn performer Mitch Allmond performed a rap piece, Happiness is a Big Cock, the title song from a video by Toby Ross. During the performance, former Falcon Studios exclusive Christopher Scott joined Dixon and Taylor onstage for explicit oral sex to prove the point—Dixon is noted for having a large penis. That wasn't the only explicit activity during the show; the Trophy Studs were joined at one point by award-winning porn performers Tony Acosta and Dr. Feel Good for additional sexual activity; and the closing number quickly morphed into a group sex scene involving many of the performers and even some of the fans.

For the 1999 Grabbys, additional awards for "Best Actor: Fantasy", "Best Actor: Romance", "Best Screenplay: Fantasy", "Best Screenplay: Romance"; "Best Solo Scene", "Best Threeway Sex Scene", and "Best Twink Video" were added. Once again, LaRue and West were the co-hostesses. The award ceremony, held over the Memorial Day Weekend of 2000, also included a surprise appearance by comedienne Judy Tenuta, in town doing promotional work. She delighted the crowd and, as Ferguson remarked in his report on the event, "it was a great treat to have her come out to support the gay porn industry. People like that have a lot of class, because they risk a lot to come to these events, and God love 'em, if they're gonna support us, I'm gonna support them!" Other highlights from the show included the use of a dildo on stage on Trophy Stud Robby Taylor (who wasn't expecting it), and a closing orgy with porn performer Spike ejaculating off the stage onto the audience.