Grab all you can boys, because here are The Grabbys!!!

Last weekend the heat got up very high in Chicago!!! It was Memorial Day weekend and it got sweaty with IML, The Grabby Awards and Bear Pride all in one City. The Grabby Awards (better known as The Grabbys), were presented annually in Chicago to honor work done in the gay pornography industry. The awards are sponsored by Grab Magazine, a free biweekly that describes itself as “Chicago’s premier LGBT publication.” The Grabby Awards and Grab Magazine are owned and operated by Grabbys, LLC. The awards were owned until 2009 by Gay Chicago Magazine.

The first Grabby Awards (formally known as Adult Erotic Gay Video Awards) were given in 1991, when the awards were listed in the year-end issue of Gay Chicago Magazine. “Big Daddy” Ferguson, the founder of Gay Chicago Magazine and creator of the awards said that the Grabbys are “their way of highlighting certain aspects of the past year’s videos that, in their opinion, are worth[y] of special notice.” Each year after 1991 the Grabby Awards evolved and matured with new categories and several different co-hosts.

THE GRABBYS 2014 Winners are:
BEST NEWCOMER: Levi Karter and Shawn Wolfe
BEST ACTOR: Jessy Ares – Original Sinners – Lucas Entertainment
BEST SCREENPLAY & BEST VIDEOGRAPHY: The Haunting – Cockyboys
BEST VERSATILE PERFORMER: Ryan Rose
HOTTEST TOP: Topher Dimaggio
HOTTEST BOTTOM: Alexander Gustavo
HOTTEST COCK: Boomer Banks
BEST GROUP (3 OR MORE): Adam Killian, Diego Lauzen, Wagner Vittoria – Original Sinners – Lucas Entertainment
BEST DUO: Shawn Wolfe & Hunter Page – Frat House Cream – Nakedsword
BEST ALL SEX: First Time 1 & 2 – Kristen Bjorn
BEST SOLO: Christopher Daniels – Teddy Bear – Channel 1 Releasing
MANLY MAN: Connor Maguire
PERFORMER OF THE YEAR: Boomer Banks and Trenton Ducati
BEST MOVIE: Frat House Cream – Nakedsword
BEST WEB ORIGINAL CONTENT: DominicFord.com
WEB PERFORMER OF THE YEAR: Billy Santoro
BEST LIVE CAM: HotHouse.com
BEST VIDEO COMPANY SITE: BelAmiOnline.com
BEST FETISH SITE: Recon.com
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Chris Ward – Raging Stallion

FUN FACTS:
In 1993 was the first tie for an award; Falcon Studios and Kristen Bjorn Productions got the award for “Best Video of the Year”. In 1995 they changed in award categories “Best Cum Shot” into “Hot Shots.
The 1998 Grabbys were presented during an awards ceremony for the first time during the Memorial Day weekend on Saturday the 29th of May 1999. 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 non-profit 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.
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.
For the 2000 awards They moved from the prior shows’ location Man’s Country to the Circuit nightclub in the heart of the Lakeview known as Chicago’s “Boystown”. Due to the change in location, there was more clothing visible than in past years and the closing orgy was omitted. However, Jeff Stryker, on his way to sign the “Wall of Fame”, managed to “lose” his bathrobe and strut across the stage naked—his body well-oiled— and proceeded to stroke his erection for the appreciative crowd. Porn movie directorChi Chi LaRue exclaimed, “OK, we’re all going to jail!”.;o)

On May 24, 2003The Grabbys were held at the Circuit nightclub for the third year in a row and was once again hosted by Chi Chi LaRue and Honey West. This time the show was interpreted for the hearing impaired by porn newcomer Dillon Press. Jason Sechrest, of JasonCurious.com, was on hand to present a gift basket of several types of sexual lubricant to super-bottom performer Bret Wolfe. On May 27, 2006 was the last Grabbys attended by “Big Daddy” Ferguson, the founder of Gay Chicago Magazine and the Grabbys; Ralph Paul “Big Daddy” died in June 2006 a couple of days after his 72nd Birthday.
In 2009 Former Gay Chicago publisher Stacy Bridges took ownership of the awards show along with former Gay Chicago Sales Manager Mark Nagel. Bridges and Nagel also founded Grab Magazine in Chicago. On January 5, 2009, for the first time ever, the Grabbys allowed fans the chance to vote for their preferred porn star co-host.

Congratulations to all the winners and to everybody who made Memorial Day Weekend in Chicago a great place to be last  Weekend. Kudos to the organizations of IML, The Grabbys and to all the party-organizers, an amazing job and keep it up to make next year even better.

Have a Pink day and be ballsy enough to grab what you can get ;o) Follow us also on Facebook and Twitter. Big kiss Lesley