A Peek Inside Adult Video with Mickey Skee

“In your face to all the other nominees, I’m better than you!” That’s perhaps the most honest acceptance speech ever given, and that’s what Erik Rhodes said when he picked up best versatile performer at the Grabby Awards in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend.

Raging Stallion and Titan Men Media were the big winners at the 10th show. Like most awards shows, it got a little long, but overall it was a blast!

Chi Chi LaRue and Chicago’s grand diva, Honey West, kept the show moving with some funny clips (their Brokeback Mountain spoof was priceless), and there was a particularly hysterical scene where Hot House director Steven Scarborough was humping LaRue. Handsome co-host Dean Flynn had LaRue tongue-tied, as she repeatedly said, “You make me nervous.” Yes, the Titan stud who starred in Gunnery Sgt. McCool is dreamy. Jake Deckard and Trevor Knight also hosted.

Diesel Washington took the Fleshjack hottest cock award (the cut version), and Devin Moss won best uncut. Washington practically pulled his pants down on stage, but satisfied the audience by stripping off his shirt.

I was sitting with sexy comeback star Steve O’Donnell and had seats just behind Chris Ward and the Raging Stallion team in the new dinner-theater-like venue. We had a great front-row seat from which to watch Ward and Ben Leon pick up the best director award and Grunts pick up best picture, just like at the GayVN Awards. Ink Storm won best fetish film and the sexy, full-bodied, tattooed German star, Logan McCree, was making the audience swoon as he took the stage in his cowboy hat and sexy voice.

Grunts’ great barking military man, Ricky Sinz, won best supporting actor and best solo. Tory Mason of Buckshot also won best solo for Paradise Found.

Ward is particularly thrilled, saying, “It was our year, our guys have never been better, and the lineup for next year looks even more spectacular! Grunts is going to be a hard act to follow, but we will do our best … It took us almost 10 years to get to the top (Raging Stalion was founded in 1999), but it was worth it—to have us included in the ranks of studios such as Channel 1, Hot House and Falcon is a real honor.”

Titan’s Breathless won the MaleFlixxx people’s choice movie of the year, while Fear won best fetish extreme and H20 won best videography.

The lifetime achievement award went to director Toby Ross, and the Wall of Fame—which I am also on—now includes the names of director Doug Jeffries, Parker Williams, Brett Smith, the late Kent North (who died this year of a drug overdose), directors Brian Mills and Tony DeMarco and porn promoter and columnist Billy Masters, who said he was surprised and delighted.

Masters is opening his one-man show in Chicago and promises to bring it local (perhaps Palm Springs, first), so we can heckle him in person. I reminded him persistently that I was on the Grabby Wall of Fame before he was, and of course, he retorted that my name (and number) were on all the bathroom walls long before as well.

I was particularly delighted that Andrew Rosen was finally awarded for his clever writing ability. We all knew him as a very successful, award-winning editor, and he’s performed in front of the camera rather well, but this time his F Word (loosely based on a homophobic slur by an actor that really sort of happened), is funny, dramatic and meaningful. He won best screenplay and beat out superstars like Jerry Douglas, Jett Blakk and Doug Jeffries.

It was also amazing to see Erasure’s Andy Bell giving out an award at the show, and he remembered the show I produced in 1992 when he first presented an award at a porn show (with Ryan Idol) and came out of the closet soon after.

Mickey Skee's F.U., Bad Boys, and Best of Gay Adult Video series are on Amazon.com.