JASON LEVASSEUR 12 America’s #1 Small Venue Performer. Jason has a following that has put him at the top of his category a total of nine times. JEFF DUNHAM 14 America’s Puppet Master, Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham takes the Comedian of the Year by a resounding margin.
APRIL 2009
2009 ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR JUSTIN KREDIBLE 34
When all is said and done, America’s campus buyers simply love this guy. For three years straight he has taken the top spot in Campus Activities Magazine’s® Reader’s Choice Awards all the while knocking down two additional categories to boot. Students and directors alike will tell you he not only has a terrific show, but the kind of personality that gives him that “star” power.
JASON MRAZ 20 His stampede into the music world was not overlooked by campus programmers. He takes the 2009 Major Artist category. ROANOKE COLLEGE 36 They may not be one of the largest schools in America but they have one excellent campus organization. 2009 Campus of the Year.
D E P A R T M E N T S
From the Publisher 4 Spanky Back Stage 8 2009 Reader’s Choice Awards 10
2009 Awards Scoreboard Unique Perspectives Artist Report Cards
ONLINE EDITION: campusactivitiesmagazine.com
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RANDOM THOUGHTS & OTHER MINDLESS DRIBBLE
Schools Weigh In On The 2009 NACA National Conference
In times of a struggling economy, the main issue on the minds of both campuses and the agencies who supply the entertainment, is how will this effect programming that needs to be provided to student populations. Our poll of students and advisors returning from the recent NACA National gave information that was not unexpected. 1) Are you a student delegate or director? Students: 43.7% Directors or School Personnel: 55.2% 2) What did you hope to accomplish at the NACA National (more than one answer was acceptable)? Book Entertainment: 63.2% Meet Artists and Agencies: 86.2% Learn techniques and processes for booking entertainment: 28.7% Simply browse: 47.1% Participate in co-op buying: 26.4% 3) Do you feel you were prepared for the convention? Did you check on dates of upcoming events for which you planned to book entertainment? Did you have an understanding of block booking and know why and how it is useful? Yes: 59.3% No: 40.7% 4) Does your campus participate in cooperative buying? Yes: 59.3% No: 40.7% 5) Did you participate in educational sessions? Yes: 90.8%
No: 9.2% 6) Did you attend the entertainment showcases? Yes: 98.9% No: 1.1% 7) Do you fill your entertainment needs at conferences (Not just NACA, but APCA and all their regional conferences)? Yes: 58.5% No: 41.5% 8) Did you attend the lecture showcases? Yes: 50%; No 50% 9) Did you attend the marketplace? Yes: 100% 10) Did you attend the marketplace to do business or socialize? Do Business: 41.5% Socialize: 58.5% How can you use this information? First off, schools are continuing to buy - a good sign. Exactly how much business will come from the 2009 NACA conference is still up for debate. Each of the questions above gave schools the chance to elaborate. Some students were enthused by what they saw while others thought it was much of the “same oldsame old”. From veteran personnel, there was nothing monumental or awe inspiring but there were bookable acts. One director said, “there weren’t any of the ‘knock your socks off’ acts that we were exposed to a number of years ago. Maybe the submissions were down.” Another explained, “NACAwas founded on block booking celebrity acts so schools could group together an get a decent rate rather than paying full boat. That is all gone now. Not only are we not seeing any celebrity acts but no one is interested or knows how to block book them if we did. I don’t know how we all lost our way here and I wonder if we can recover.”
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While the co-op numbers are not impressive (59.3% had campuses that participated in co-operative buying but only 26.4% said that cooperative buying was a goal for them) perhaps the most important statistic is how many dollars are spent and dates booked. “There are too many dates that fall through,” one agent told us. “It only takes one date to make a block fall apart then we have to scramble to fix it or either take a hit or explain to the others why they can’t buy the act for the block price. I have had a date fall out two hours before it was scheduled to happen and got no help trying to negotiate a settlement. If you hold the school to the agreement, they may never do business with you again.” On the plus side, 100% of the students and directors made it to the marketplace at least once during the conference and almost 100% said they attended showcases. But only a little more than half the schools attending said they filled their entertainment needs at conferences (NACA or APCA, national and regionals combined) which is more significant than you might think because the NACAmembership represents less than half of the campus entertainment buying community. I also think it is important to note that according to this survey, more directors and school personnel attended than actual student buyers so this would seem to tell us that either staff is taking the buying decisions away from students or they have to go back and sell it to their students - a reason you may not see contracts confirmed on-site. To be fair to NACA, the participation in this survey was about 150 schools that were in attendance, but still considered a strong sampling by marketing standards. We will survey schools on the APCA National next issue.
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“Talking About My Generation” FROM PART ONE: How can I be a member of the generation viewed as responsible for environmental disaster, economic collapse, countless broken homes, and unparalleled corporate avarice? If you are a college student reading this, on behalf of myself and all members of your parent’s generation, I’d like to offer a few explanations.
I suppose I was fortunate to grow up with one of the few remaining stay-athome mothers, but we really didn’t see each other much, unless she stood in front of the television. Gen-X may not have invented TV, but we certainly did suckle on the cathode-ray teat. The TV was my babysitter; each day my mother could plop me down in front of the set and go about her day. It all seemed innocent enough at the time, but little did she, or millions of other parents know, they was creating monsters—legions of insatiable shopping machines—that would transform the economy and totally reshape the American landscape, arguably not for the better. There are a number of reasons the American economy shifted from being powered by manufacturing and agriculture to consumerism, but none greater than television. I can’t remember or imagine life without TV. In 1950, America had 5 million TV sets, by 1995, there were 900 million, three for every single citizen. For Gen-X, life is TV and TV is life; we started as toddlers watching Sesame Street on PBS, moved on to Nickelodeon as children, MTV as teenagers, VH-1 in
Part Two of Three:
middle age, now we’re becoming old lumps watching the Weather Channel.
I love television; rarely a day goes by that I do not find myself perched in front of one, so it pains me to admit TV has had a harmful effect on my generation, and on those that followed: it showed us how the upper half lives. When people compare their lives with the inflated lifestyles of TV characters, they are left feeling inadequate. What family would not feel dysfunctional compared to Beaver, Wally, June, and Ward? TV characters of the time were all nicely dressed and lived in large homes equipped with all the modern luxuries. So the luxuries of the 60s (dishwashers, clothes dryers, central air and heat) became the necessities of the 80s; just as the luxuries of the 80s (microwaves, VCRs, CD players, fax machines, and computers) are considered necessities today. These feeling of inadequacy twisted our priorities, for example, we now have more tanning salons than libraries.
Television created an unreasonable sense of entitlement. I recall watching Flipper and the following Christmas asking my parents for a pet dolphin. The next year I wanted a Batmobile. This needy feeling was expanded by a constant barrage of advertising, the industry that exploded with the Baby Boomers and fueled TV production in the process. Recent studies report that children under seven are not capable of recog-
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nizing messages with ulterior marketing motives, but when I was a child no one gave it much thought. In 1980, over 100 million dollars was spent on children’s advertising, by 1997, that amount ballooned to $1.5 billion! The popularity of the term “Couch Potato” is ironic in that the very first toy sold on television was Mr. Potato Head.
The very first TV cartoon shows were created explicitly to sell sugared cereals. As a result I know more phrases from commercials than the Constitution. “Snap crackle pop,” I’m cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs,” “Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids,” and “They’re magically delicious,” are good examples; no not good, “They’re gr-r-reat!”
90% of the Saturday morning food ads promote products high in calories, sugar, and salt; small wonder obesity rates for children doubled in the 80s. I witnessed this tragedy firsthand: my sister stepped on my dog’s tail and I had to rush him to the vet; the vet said, “I’m sorry, your beaver is dead.” Ba-dum-bum! (Sorry, bad joke, but the statistics I’ve uncovered in my research are so depressing I felt the need for some comic relief.) The average American will spend two years of their life watching TV commercials, and that number is increasing as the avalanche of advertising continues to snowball. Way back in 1957, advertising guru, Pierre Martineau, proclaimed “The average individual doesn’t make anything. He buys everything and our economy is
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Martineau, proclaimed “The average individual doesn’t make anything. He buys everything and our economy is geared to the faster and faster tempo of his buying based on wants which are created by advertising in large degree.” “Faster and faster” is an understatement. In 1980, there were 6 minutes of ads per half hour of broadcasting, by 2000, it was up to 8 minutes, in 2009, commercial messages are not limited to the commercials, as it is now common practice for TV producers to sell “product placement” within the shows themselves. Today’s children will see more than a million commercials before the age of 20, up to 200 more each day than their parents. The average 12 year old will spend 48 hours each week exposed to commercial messages, but only 90 minutes in significant conversation with their parents. What effect did all this advertising have on Generation X? I can sum it up in one tragic statement: it made having what we want more important that wanting what we have.
Having what we want became our new religion. Our dogma was to acquire, attain, obtain, procure, secure, and consume more than we could reasonably expect or possibly deserve. We placed our faith in bigger & better, new & improved, and more, more, more. We were thankful that in 1956 the Baby Boomers created our new house of worship: the first fully enclosed shopping mall. In 1964, there were 7,600 shopping centers, a mere half-dozen years later there were 13,174. In 1986, there were more high schools than malls; by 1999, there were twice as many malls. To suggest that malls supplanted churches as our symbol of cultural values is not that much of a stretch; 75% of Americans go to a mall at least once a week, far more than attend church. In Mammon we trust! Materialism became our new deity and the mall was its altar. Previous generations dreamed of visiting Vatican City or Mecca, for Gen-X however, the Mall became a vacation www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
destination; The Mall of America, outside Minneapolis, boasts 40 million visitors each year (roughly 8 times the population of Minnesota). Adults now spend 6 hours a week shopping and only 40 minutes playing with their kids, and then complain the athletes we see in commercials are not good role models. Any surprise that 93% of teenage girls rate shopping as their favorite activity? Gen-X embraced shopping with dedication and devotion. Over-spending became our creed. The next time your parents complain that college tuitions are too expensive, remind them that Americans spend more each year on shoes, jewelry, and watches ($80 billion) than they do on higher education ($65 billion). Or that America spends more on trash bags than 90 of the world’s 210 countries spend on everything! Or that America’s 102 million households contain and consume more than all other households throughout history combined!
And it came to pass that in 1974 the demon “inflation” arose, and lo, a terrible plague descended across the land. Our spending continued to increase but our incomes did not. By 2004, men 30 to 39 years old (born 1964-1974) earned 12% less in real dollars than their fathers did at the same age in 1974. Thus the devout required a new doctrine, and so it came to be the 11th Commandment was etched in stone: “Buy now. Pay later.” Credit cards became our holy icons. We don’t need money, we have small pieces of plastic salvation fulfilling our every need with a simple swipe; it’s a miracle!
In the 90s credit card debt tripled. The average person today has $9,200 in credit card debt. The average college student has $2,500, roughly what the average person in 1950 earned in a year. Here’s a terrifying fact: if you are 19 years old and have $2,000 in debt at 18% and are making minimum payments, by the time you pay it off you will be in your thirties. Credit cards do not make us rich, they just enable us to pretend we are, but it’s much easier to run up a bill than to run down the money to pay for it. Ironically, just pretending to be rich keeps some people poor.
1 in 7 Americans now carry 10 or more credit cards, with the average person sustaining 4. According to the Guinness World Records, the “Pope of Plastic,” his holiness Walter Cavanagh, owns 1,497 credit cards; his wallet weighs over 38 pounds and extends over 250 feet. Hallelujah!
Now that we could buy stuff without having to pay for it, soon we had more stuff than would fit into our homes, so we bought bigger homes. In the 50s, the average new home was 800 square feet; by the 90s, it was up to 2,300 square feet, almost three times as large. The average early Baby Boomer home would fit into today’s 3-car garage. And we need 3-car garages because we now have more cars than registered drivers. (The average price of a new car in 1970 was around $3,500, now it is close to $30,000. Do you know how depressing it is to pay more to insure my car than my life?) But even our McMansions can’t contain all of our purchases; since 1960, the storage business has increased 40 fold; it now generates over 12 billion dollars each year, more than the US music industry. Gen-X became masters of “having what you want,” but it is more difficult to “want what you have” when what you have is in storage. And that is a very sad tune indeed. TO BE CONTINUED…
Spanky has twice been voted “Campus Comic Of The Year,” and once the “Campus Performer Of The Year.” He is looking for friends myspace.com/campuscomic.
at
He is represented by Red Planet Productions (212-514-5741).
If you were amused or bemused by the above, please write to: forgiveplease@hotmail.com
April 2009, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE, 9
Agency of the Year. Bass/Schuler Entertainment pulled out the victory with a 68 vote lead over CAMPUSPEAK. Both agencies have topped the list of winners in recent years. But notice how close the remaining candidates were. Less than 13 votes separate The College Agency, GP Entertainment and Coleman Productions. This certainly speaks highly of the agencies selected by schools Amazingly, even with over 45,000 total votes, to be considered for this honor. some categories were very close. The Newest Rising Star category separated the Adult Circus Jason LeVasseur controlled the Small Venue Enfrom Daniel Martin by only one vote. Some other tertainment slot and has been an icon in that categories only showed some 70-80 votes be- genre for most of the last decade. Sean McConnell made a strong showing in the Best Music tween first and second place finishers. Performer category, out-distancing Chapter 6 by Justin Kredible made it three for three, winning 225 votes. Entertainer of the Year for the third straight time while also capturing Best Male Entertainer and Jeff Dunham was the run-away winner of the Best Comedy category with almost three times the Best Live Novelty Entertainer. votes of his nearest competitor, Michael Palascak. Two legendary competitors battled it out for If there was ever any doubt about the popularity of Campus Activities Magazine’s® Reader’s Choice Awards, it ends with this year’s voting. Not only did votes arrive in record numbers from the website, but mail-in votes included FEDEX packages from schools where their entire Campus Activities Board participated.
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When it came to the Best Male and Female Performers, each category had its run-away favorites. Erin Weed managed almost twice as many votes as her nearest competitor in the Female contest and Justin Kredible stormed the field with over four times the votes of the second place finisher, David Coleman who pulled past Daniel Martin by only 27 votes. Last Year’s top finisher in Best Major Performance, Emerson Drive, was bested by 3rd Eye Blind for second place, while Jason Mraz finished first with a commanding lead.
second place finisher, C.L. Lindsay for 2009 Speaker of the Year and Justin Kredible pulled another landslide win over the very persistent Daniel Martin for Best Live Novelty Performer. Live Band Karaoke pulled away from ThinkFast to take the Best Novelty Game slot and Roanoke College managed a substantial win over a group of strong campus competitors for Campus of the Year. Central Michigan took the #2 position. Justin Kredible pushed past two strong competitors, Mike Super and Dane Cook to take his third walk to the top position in the Campus Entertainment Industry as 2009 Entertainer of the Year.
Another close race was that for Best Diversity Performer with both acts in the lead being regular finishers for the last several years. In the pages which follow, you will find stories on Preacher Moss pulled a 44 vote lead over the winners and profiles on the runners-up. A complete awards scoreboard can be found on page N*gger, Wetb*ck, Ch*nk (NWC). 39. We’d like to thank all the students and direcAlmost 80 votes separated David Coleman from tors who participated in this year’s awards. www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
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Jason Levasseur has proven himself to be one of the most time honored and dedicated college market performers. While he may not be playing stadiums yet, what he does do is provide the very best show and overall experience to his audiences and hosts wherever he goes. Maybe that’s why he is again Campus Activities Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Award winner for Best Small Venue Artist. This is the fifth time Jason has been here and while he does have a smattering of awards and second place finishes in other categories, he shows once again his dominance in this particular category. “It’s still flattering and this is my comeback year really, since I didn’t get the Best Small Venue Award last year.” The category really does suit Jason and puts him in a class of nominees that he felt were appropriate. “I am happy to see those names on the ballot, because they are all really good and to be compared to some of those folks is great. I definitely feel like it is a good category for me to be in. It’d be silly if I were compared to say, an inflatable.” Jason is a guy who loves to play. The glamour isn’t what interests him. If he is on the road in between dates, he’ll squeeze in a show for his fans, whether it’s a discounted date for a college who’s in the middle of two other shows or a high school gig in an auditorium for a room full of itchy teenagers. None of it matters to this guy, he just loves to play. “I am still having just as much fun as when I won my first award,” he says, “and even just as much when I started. The awards are just great and I think it is important to continue to stay in there. Even being nominated I feel flattered, not jaded. This week I played two high schools and I don’t feel jaded about that. They were tough. One of them was a school of 3,000 students, so I had to do three kid’s lunchtime shows just to hit them all. This is not an audience made up of Jason Levasseur fans. I had to not only win over the audience; I had to fight to stay alive. These 15 to 17 year-old kids don’t want to listen to me, they want to talk to their friends; but I still had a blast. You just have to put on a little thicker skin. Jason literally plays for audiences across the country of all ages, 1-100. A hefty portion of these shows are performed on college campuses, so it might be easier than you think to get him to your school. BOOK IT! For more information on bringing 2009 Best Small Venue Artist Award winner to your campus, contact Bass/Schuler Entertainment at (773) 481-2600. To see Jason’s full artist’s page complete with bio and contact info, video and co-op info, check out our website at www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com and sign up. Schools use is completely free!
Sean McConnell doesn’t feel he’s done anything different to deserve what he considers a prestigious honor. “I was really shocked and honored that it happened. It’s one of those things I don’t really think about as a goal throughout the year. ‘Oh, what do I need to do to win this award?’ I just go around, play shows and do what I love to do; it just so happened this year the readers of the magazine have given me this award. I was taken aback by it but very excited and happy to be recognized.” One qualifying characteristic of past award winners is that simply playing a great show isn’t always all it takes. The personal connection and attitude of the artist can go a long way toward building loyalty in the market. “Many times it is a matter of the people you are with from the school. I enjoy, when possible, showing up at the venue and hanging out. When you are out on the road so much, the more meaningful social interaction you can get, the better.” Sean also has a successful songwriting career with Warner Chappell that is blossoming. Last year he had songs recorded by Brad Paisley and Tim McGraw. “The Tim McGraw song has been recorded and I think is slated to release this year. The Brad Paisley song was released last year, but now we have a bunch of brand new cuts on the horizon.” But if you think Sean’s style of songwriting might be confined to the country genre, perhaps the six tracks he’s provided Meatloaf will dissuade those notions. “ It was crazy to hang out with him because he was surprisingly really nice. Guys like that kind of have a license to be a little bit conceited and distant; he was anything but. It was awesome to work alongside him. He decided to record four songs that I already had written and two more that he gave me some idea of what he was looking for when I composed them.” Sean is grateful again for his award from the readers of Campus Activities Magazine. “All of a sudden, now and then I look up and things are happening. That’s very rewarding. Knowing that I write songs and play music for a living still isn’t lost on me. I feel very blessed to be able to do that. I’m not jaded at all, it’s still a huge thrill for me.” BOOK IT! For more information on Sean McConnell contact Quantum Talent at (843) 839-1668, or for a virtual link, log on to our website at www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
Five Times August, a name with a reputation as one of the most important commodities in the music industry’s new business model for up and coming artists is the completely unsigned 24 year-old Dallas, Texas native Brad Skistimas. After selling over 100,000 digital downloads without a record label, having every single song from his last album placed on various popular television programs, he became the first unsigned act sold in Wal-Mart stores nationwide.
Their comedy-infused blend of pop, jazz, gospel, and rock brings spontaneous bursts of laughter and applause throughout the show. High-energy performances feature freshlyarranged swing standards and pop/rock covers, to signature pieces such as Ode To Krispy Kreme, Queens Bohemian Rhapsody, and their own version of The Wizard Of Oz. Enjoy contagious energy and spirit as they share great music and harmony. For more information, contact Nancy at The Auburn Moon Agency at (302) 235-2802
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Like Jason Mraz, Jeff was on tour in Europe at the time our awards results were tallied. Because of publication deadlines, we didn’t feel we could get a complete interview that would do Jeff’s talent justice. Here you will find some bits and pieces on Jeff’s rise to fame and some of the characters he has in his family. But never fear, we are planning a complete feature story on Jeff in the fall that will bring you up-to-date on what’s going in his career and a behind-the-scenes look at the puppets that come to life in his world. There are many sides to the comedic genius of Jeff Dunham, who has risen in recent years to become a genuine entertainment phenomenon with an international 360-degree reach that includes record-breaking television specials, staggering DVD sales of 4 million (and rapidly counting), 300 million views on You Tube, a current tour expected to gross $45 million, his own merchandise company that enjoys brisk sales of nearly 50 Dunham items, and a publishing deal that will see the publication of his first book in 2009. Ever-increasing legions of devoted and highly active fans savor Dunham’s concert appearances, TV shows, DVDs, CD and You Tube clips over and over and fervently spread the word on an entertainer who is not just a favorite with but beloved by his followers.
Michael Palascak (PAL-a-sack) draws from his lifelong experiences of living at home with his parents, dorm life, and frequent trips to the local Dunkin’Donuts. His likeable, innocent persona allows audiences to really appreciate the simple humor in their own lives. Michael has performed at clubs and colleges all around the country including the World Famous Improv and trained at The Second City in Chicago. For more info: Bass/Schuler Entertainment (773) 481-2600. 14, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE, April 2009
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It’s all because Jeff Dunham is not just one of the funniest humans on the planet but the ringleader of a cast of comedic characters of his own creation like Walter the grumpy retiree; the beer-swilling, NASCAR loving and resolutely redneck Bubba J; the furry and manic Peanut; Jose Jalapeno, the spicy pepper from south of the border; and the bumbling skeletal Achmed the Dead Terrorist. Taking his cues from the stuff of everyday life, people he and we all know and the world around us, Dunham invests his suitcase posse of sidekicks with such believable and lovable personality as they banter, quip and interact that audiences frequently forget that the characters are crafted by Dunham’s own hand and comedic brilliance. Concert dates on his continuing tour of theaters and arenas with 7,000 to 10,000 capacities quickly sell out as well as generate the sort of audience response and excite-
ment more often found at superstar rock shows and earn rave media reviews night after night. In 2008 Dunham sold out headlining major venue shows at the prestigious and star-studded Comedy Festival in Las Vegas and the Just For Laughs festival in Toronto, and in 2009 he makes his first performing visit to Europe and embarks on his first full tour of Canada.
It all started in the comedy clubs that Dunham relentlessly toured for years, renewing a lost art that he has taken to new levels of finesse and technique with hilarious results. Frequent guest appearances on “The Tonight Show” and “Late Night with David Letterman” as well as a host of other TV programs also primed the pump. But what has been instrumental in launching Dunham to record new levels of comedy success over the last two years has been the strong bond he has forged with his fans, who not just eagerly await and consume his latest multimedia offerings but avidly tout them to family, friends as well as the world at large on the Internet. BOOK IT! For more information on bringing Jeff Dunham to your next major event, contact Creative Artists Agency at (310) 288-4545. For virtual links, log on to www. campusactivitiesmagazine.com
The Dating Doctor, David Coleman is no stranger to Speaker of the Year. “I was just kind of shocked that I got called up again this year. It’s just hard to believe that I could keep doing this for so long and to have people keep enjoying it. My audiences seem to get larger and more involved and I do my best to stay current and cutting edge in my delivery and content to honor them in return.” David has won Speaker of The Year from Campus Activities Magazine a total of NINE times now. “It is mind boggling,” he says laughing. This year David was nominated in multiple categories and runner-up for Male Performer second only to our Entertainer of The Year, Justin Kredible. “To be named Runner Up to Justin was a real surprise. With Justin being the monster he is in the market, I’ll take my second place in that category quite happily.” David’s unique presentation makes it fall into a class of its own and its structure certainly puts it in line with the entertainment value of mystifying performances. “My show is a multi-media experience and even though the audiences are learning, it is a lot of fun. When I first started out in campus entertainment, I had several ‘heroes and role models’ like Barry Drake, Tom DeLuca, Craig Karges and Buzz Sutherland. To have won 12 total awards (9 from CA Mag and 3 from NACA) and to even be casually considered along with any of these incredible performers is a wonderful honor.” Audiences the country over are familiar with David’s idea of the “fat penguin.” “I teach people to be fat penguins and break the ice. I talk in my show about the ‘Hmm!’ factor. It’s the exclamation of just how hot or right a person may be for you. I tell people if they are going to meet their ‘Hmm!’ they have to be fat penguins.” In the past year, a highlight of David’s career has been his work with the military . “I have spoken on bases and installations across America, Italy and Germany to our troops and their families. They are hard working, driven, tremendous role models for all of us. My dream...goal...desire is to speak to every single one of our military personnel on the planet and help them feel connected to home. BOOK IT! For more information on bringing 2009’s Best Speaker of The Year to your campus, contact Brooke A. Sims at Coleman Productions at (866) 328-3762, or for a virtual link, log on to our website at www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
C. L. Lindsay III is a recognized expert in the field of student rights and educational law. He is the founder and executive director of the Coalition for Student & Academic Rights (CO-STAR), which works with a national network of volunteer attorneys to offer free advice and advocacy to college students and professors. C.L. is the author of the nationally syndicated column “Ask CO-Star” and is regularly quoted in both national media and regional publications. He graduated from Denison University and received a law degree from the University of Michigan. C.L. lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. For more information, contact Bass/Schuler Entertainment at (773) 481-2600. 16, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE, April 2009
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Erin Weed brings an especially unique set of skills and background to what she does. Teaching violence prevention and control, awareness and self-defense, what Erin delivers is equal parts tragedy and inspiration.
Michael Dubois and Chris Chelko have been performing professionally in the college market since before they graduated in 2003 and have been practicing their trade for countless years before that. Their unique expertise and flair is a testament to that. What’s cool about this show is that it’s a variety act unlike anything else out there right now. When Mike and Chris originally set out with theAdult Circus idea, they knew they wanted it to be a throwback to the Vaudevillian heyday of performance art.
She moved to New York City after college in Illinois with the dream of becoming a television producer. “After about nine months of doing that and loving it, I got the news that my best friend has been murdered on a college campus. That changed everything about how I looked at the world and how I felt about it.” After the funeral, Erin and her friends began having discussions on personal safety. “It was just a talk about the fears we carry around on a daily basis; the anxieties we have and the crazy little safety rituals every women has. I started to realize these women were walking around feeling so helpless when we are going to college to get the message that we can do anything we want in this world. Despite this, we are in some degree of a constant state of fear.”
What results is a show not just of magic, but juggling, comedy, barefoot glass walking, fire eating and all the other wonderful forgotten art forms of yesteryear, all in one complete show performed for you by two guys who have put in unbelievable amounts of time and practice to be able to pull this stuff off. “The idea behind our show was that we wanted to present something to the college market that was different than anything else. The Adult Circus is now a show that combines magic, juggling, the circus arts, telepathy and comedy,” says Chris Chelko. “Of course all of the variety makes it very interesting for the crowd and we have specifically tailored the show for college audiences.”
Erin’s life as normal became somewhat unmanageable. “I got fired from my job. After that happened, I think I realized this was like my Oprah ‘Aha’ moment. This was so bad, something good had to come of it.”
Chris and Mike continue to try and develop the show to be better and a lot of times that entails putting in certain acts and features of the show you won’t see other places. The reason for this is generally that no one else can even perform one of them, let alone a show full of these varied feats. Each act you see this amazing team do may have been in the works years before its debut. “We are trying to build into the show a lot more of the circus themed feats of skill. We really want to make it a technical show, something everyone can see and understand the years of practice it takes to be able to do these things, such as the slack rope routine Mike has been working on.
This is when Erin took control. “The self defense thing came about because I was feeling so afraid. I was never a ‘scared’ person in general. After looking into that open casket and seeing how real this was, I knew I had to learn to defend myself in order to get my confidence back.” Erin jumped on Google and found a week-long self defense program at an FBI training facility. “I ended up training with some of the best fighters in the world. That pretty much kicked it off, ever since then I have been training and literally within six months of my friend’s murder I was speaking full time to college students.” Erin has since been trained by a veritable alphabet soup of impressive organizations. “ I have been doing this non-stop for seven years and it is actually really special that this happened to me this year because I am pregnant with our first baby. I want this message to just grow until we are at a point where no girl graduates high school without knowing how to defend herself; that no woman leaves college and moves into her own first apartment with the constant fear of not knowing how to protect herself.” BOOK IT! For more information on bringing Erin Weed to speak to your students, contact Bass/Schuler Entertainment at (773) 481-2600.
“For me, the most difficult trick I do is one I just added where I jump rope… while bouncing a ball on my head,” Mike says. “I have spent a ton of time working on that and trying to perfect it. The slack rope routine is actually not even in the show yet. We like to put things in the show that require real technical skill and stay away from the fluff. But when audiences do get to see it, they’ll be blown away.” BOOK IT! For more information on ringing the Adult Circus to your campus, contact GP Entertainment at (866) 812-8248. For virtual links, log on to our website at www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
Natalie has lived in Nashville all her life and has made a living in the entertainment industry since she was five years old. As a child performer in the Opryland Kid's Club she performed on such programs as the Oprah Winfrey Show, Nashville Now and Crook & Chase. She even performed solo on the Grand Ole Opry. Although rooted in country you can hear her diverse taste in music prevalent in her writing. Her music has started to take shape in some songs as a throwback to old school soul and blues a la Dusty Springfield and Bonnie Raitt. In 2007, Natalie was invited to perform for the President and media at the White House Correspondents Dinner (broadcasted to the world on television).
Daniel Martin is becoming one of the most in-demand entertainers in the country. Daniel’s show is interactive, visual, and is unlike anything you have seen! His high energy and original performances have captivated the attention of countless audiences, campuses and Fortune 500 companies. Utilizing astonishing sleight of hand, interactive mind reading and innovative illusion, audiences are left mesmerized. For more information, contact Bass/Schuler Entertainment at (773) 481-2600.
BOOK IT! Contact Ari Nisman at DEGY Entertainment (732) 544-8000. 18, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE, April 2009
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Due to a tight Reader’s Choice Awards timeline and having to get this magazine to you before school gets out, we were unable to secure an interview with Jason by deadline, as he (and Best Comedy Performer Jeff Dunham) were in Europe headed for Australia during our window. Not to fret however, because Campus Activities Magazine always comes through with the exclusive interview for our readers, so look for a feature length story where we chat with Jason coming this
fall. For now, here’s a little bio he had seen his major label debut, “Waiting for My Rocket info to keep you sated. to Come” explode off the sucEven the most incredible of cess of such hits as “Remedy (I journeys starts with a single Won’t Worry),” “You & I Both” “Curbside Prophet.” step. For Jason Mraz, his life-al- and tering journey began with a sin- Shortly thereafter, he returned gle word: No. No touring, no with his Grammy-nominated, recording, no work for a year: “I critically acclaimed “Mr. A-Z,” said, I want to go to the grocery which continued his chart sucwith “Wordplay.” store again. I want to do my cess own laundry. I want to tend to a Throughout, his reputation as a tremendous live act soared. garden. I want to raise a cat.” But when he took a well-earned Mraz came to the decision after break, something unexpected a remarkable four years where happened: He rediscovered
Third Eye Blind is comprised of Stephan Jenkins – Vocals, guitar;Arion Salazar – Bass, vocals; Tony Fredianelli – Guitar, vocals; Brad Hargreaves - Drums. Third Eye Blind is a band thathasalwaysfoundinspirationinauthenticityandthatisanessentialplacefortheirmusic. The band spent the mid 90s coming together, falling apart and then coming together again. But success was in the cards and their newest CD proves just that. 20, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE, April 2009
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Highlights include first single, “I’m Yours,” a warm breeze of a song about finally giving into love and life’s possibilities set to a lilting island tempo. A demo of the song leaked out into the world a few years ago and has developed a cult following. “I didn’t realize how powerful it was until we went to Sweden last summer and 6,000 The result is “We Sing. We Dance. people sang every word,” Mraz We Steal Things.” his most self- says. “I’d never been to Sweden assured effort to date. In true in my life. I thought, it’s already Mraz style, the 12 tunes are got a life of its own from the wrapped in clever, observant demo, let’s give people a great lyrics and strong, engaging pop version of it. I feel like we finally melodies, but this time they are got it right on this album.” inspired “by these moments of self realization, self empower- Another highlight is “Lucky,” a ment and self improvement. I was simple, endearing duet with new happy to be able to write an platinum singer-songwriter Colalbum at the same time I was bie Caillat. “I got word that she was a fan and wanted to work tocoming back to earth.” himself. After a few months, “I suddenly woke up and real songs started coming out of me,” Mraz recalls. “Songs that I didn’t plan on writing. But that just became a reflection of how I felt and the mood that I was in and these awakenings that I was having,” he says.
gether, so I immediately demanded her phone number,” Mraz says with a laugh. He sent her segments of a love song that she and her guitarist Timothy Fagan completed. Jason Mraz is Campus Activities Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Award winner for Best Major Performer of 2009. Keep an eye on our issues early in the fall season to find out his thoughts about you voting him into this award. BOOK IT! For more information on bringing Jason Mraz to your next major event, contact Paradigm Entertainment at (212) 897-6400. For virtual links, campusactivitiesmagazine.com
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is bigger than himself and about much more than his fulfilling a desire to perform. “The ‘End of Racism’is a project that is more about the people than myself. As Preacher Moss, I am simply the messenger of the tour, which has kind of taken on a life of its own. It has overshadowed me as a performer, which is why I like to kind of make the distinction between Preacher Moss and the ‘End of Racism’ program itself. Preach also has success with “Allah Made Me Funny”, a tour he does with a few other Muslim comic friends. Despite his own personal success in a variey of venues, he still understands what the entertainment industry and more precisely, the campus activities market really wants and needs. “Very few times do you really have projects that are mandates of the people. The ‘End of Racism’ just like ‘Allah Made Me Funny’ follows a mandate which says ‘You can’t save the people if you are not willing to serve the people. And, you can’t lead the people if you don’t love the people.’”
Everyone seems to love the karaoke experience and if they don’t, it is only because they haven’t tried it yet. But consider the materials you have at any typical bar with karaoke. You have a pre-recorded track, a little screen with a bouncing ball for you to attempt to follow and a lot of inebriated people cheering (or jeering) you on. What kind of experience could karaoke turn into in an ideal world? If you could pump everything up to a higheroctane level of performance, what would be the result? The sound, the atmosphere, the company, everything could be suited to your specific and particular needs, built around your schedule with everything just the way you want it. The sound would be better than anything you hear in a bar and the energy would be absolutely through the roof. People, the day has come. Introducing the newest and best evolution and revolution in an art that many thought had run its course. Live Band Karaoke, a concept that will certainly be the trend for generations of karaoke-ers to come. No more recordings impersonally playing through the song as if you weren’t there. No, real live musicians back every singer during a Live Band Karaoke event and now thanks to a brilliant program and Bass/Schuler Entertainment, it is the newest sensation to take the college market by storm. The operation has inflated in seven short years (four in the college market) to include three full bands touring, the two primary bands being four pieces each with a back-up three piece. Each band has hundreds songs to offer on their list, available to every person who attends the event. Hundreds of songs, but according to John Miller, mastermind behind the concept, every day they work at adding more. “It is always growing. We keep adding new songs all the time.” Live Band Karaoke brings lyric sheets with them for each song, shunning the old teleprompter method in favor of hard copies where people can see all the lyrics at onceand adapt to the swinging tempo of live music-something an automated teleprompter could never do. Over the last couple of years, this act has proven itself to be a popular one, winning Campus Activities Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Award for Best Novelty/Game of 2009. The act has been nominated before, but this is the first time for a win. John Miller comments. “We are really excited. It will give us a lot more exposure and I think we have really only begun to tap into the college market. We have played many colleges, but of course there are thousands out there. This is an opportunity for that to happen and we are truly grateful to the readers of Campus Activities Magazine.” BOOK IT! For more information on bringing Live Band Karaoke to you next event, contact Bass/Schuler Entertainment at (773) 481-2600 or for a virtual link, log on to our website at www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
Preacher Moss isn’t like any other performer you have seen, or likely will. He is a stand-up comic, a speaker and most of all, a teacher. As a selfdeveloped leader in tackling racial issues on campus, Preach picked up much notoriety and acclaim among campus programmers with his tours the “End of Racism” and “Allah Made Me Funny.” He has consulted in racial and social matters for numerous groups and is often en-
Theirgoalistobeknownasthebestatwhattheydo;byofferingexcellentservice, superior events, and making sure that you know that they need you more than you need them. This year they added a new survey feature into the ThinkFast software. This allows you to anonymously collect information from the participants during the game on various topics, including their interest in your scheduled programs, to their beliefs on drug and alcohol issues at your college.
www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
While Preach may be a talented entertainer, storyteller and stand-up comic, he feels what he does
BOOK IT: For more information contact Bass/Schuler Entertainment at (773) 481-2600.
Rafael, Miles and Allan rock the stage with their true-life stories to tackle one of the most challenging issues of our time – race - with humor and authenticity. Seen at over 100 campuses in just the past 2 years, N*W*C continues to thrill audiences from coast to coast. As they travel on the college and performing arts circuit, the group also teaches workshops for all ages as part of their educational outreach program.
For more information contact TJohnE at (877) 295-5559.
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listed by celebrities like George Lopez, Damon Wayans, Darrell Hammond and Dave Chappelle for both professional matters and general positive life advice and friendship. He is a leader in the Muslim Community and has a positive essence wherever he goes.
Being both an African America and Muslim, the end of racism is something he spends a lot of time with. “Being an African-American citizen of the world, you kind of grow up with that on your list as an agenda. It’s not just this long process of the ‘blame game’ either, it’s just the country, times and world in which we live. We have to live our lives to make this a better place. It just so happens, that the end of racism is something that is personal to me. I am Black and American; I could have been white and overweight and my issue might have been with how people with weight issues are treated. It is about consequently understanding that life is not about feeling this sense of urgency over what’s next, but being able to identify what’s really important and where the real problems are.”
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Roanoke College has a unique structure for their activities on campus, but based on this year’s Reader’s Choice Award for Campus of The Year, it is an exciting and effective one. Roanoke is a fairly small private liberal arts college of about 2,000 students. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, it actually resides in Salem, VA as opposed to Roanoke itself, though the city is not far. The second oldest Lutheran college in the United States, it was founded by a Gettysburg College graduate in the 1840’s. Perhaps one reason why the board works so well at Roanoke is the experience and continuity of having a
very involved long-time director in place to keep things running. Mark Petersen has been the Director of Student Activities (among other titles) at Roanoke for 27 years and not that he’s going for a record, but he has no intention of slowing down anytime soon. “With a son in high school, there’s no end on the horizon until I get him through college (laughs).” Mark is actually the director of the campus center, known as the Colket Center. Think of this as sort of the hub of everything at Roanoke that’s fun. “Student activities is just one of the hats I wear,” Mark says. Despite his being responsible for more than just the Campus Activities Board, Mark understands the need
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for strong leadership in that area regardless of how busy he might be. One unfortunate circumstance that hinders many CAB’s across the country is the high turnover of people in director’s and advisor’s positions, leaving it completely up to students. While this can build strong leadership in students who are able to handle it, another result is a discontinuity among boards from year to year. “I think student activities many times is not necessarily viewed as a terminal position or the top of the ladder, if you will. People do it for a few years and move up and out, but I had an epiphany many years ago that I no longer desired to be a Dean of Students. I like doing what I’m doing.” Maybe that’s why now, they call www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
Mark the Dean of Fun at Roanoke. “I enjoy that title, just for laughs. A past president of CAB coined that term and it stuck, so I use it. The problem is, most people don’t realize just how much work goes into making all the fun.” Roanoke’s system may not work for every school and certainly many would be challenged to even try it, as different as it is from most setups. “I would venture to say a majority of schools are different, or at least none that I know of that are our size and nature are similar to ours. Bear in mind we are totally undergraduate and a liberal arts college with no graduate assistance or programs. We are at about 70% residency now and our Board of Trustees has just issued a mandate www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
that we return to 75%. So we are not a suitcase school.” Mark says this distinction is an important one when it is viewed in conjunction with the mission of the activities board. “As a residential liberal arts college, we see it as being very important to provide entertainment, activities and recreation as an integral part of the curriculum.” Part of what makes the structure here unique is the packaging of all of the concepts as one. “Intramurals and recreation both report to me, in addition to CAB. Most other schools I would think intramurals and recreation report to athletics, but here it is part of our overall co-curricular program that
falls under me.” So just how busy is Mark? He at least gets the chance to attend his favorite programs and activities he helps in bringing to campus, right? “(Laughs) Let me just give you some facts and figures,” he says. “We have three weeks of classes to go and, as of last night, we just did our 781st event of the year. In the next three weeks, we’ll probably do about 70 more.” Now for the breakdown, as obviously these can’t all be live entertainment performances. “OK, first, we intentionally hold our entertainment for weekends. Sunday through Thursday are school nights and during those times we ask various campus organizations, pro-
April 2009, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE, 27
like to see or participate in and nearly 10% of the entire student body shows up. “What is neat is that the average attendance is over 200. Some nights are better than others; it could be as low as 40 or 50 or as much as into the high hundreds pushing 1000. It depends on the nature of the program and the student organizations involved with the program.” Saturday nights belong to the Campus Activities Board. “About three or four years ago we moved the focus of this group from doing entertainment at any given time at any place, to really concentrate on bringing quality campus entertainment on the weekends. They have the primary responsibility to do their programming on Saturdays. For example, last Saturday they did what we call Club ‘Noke, where the snack car area is turned into a
club scene complete with DJ, lights and dancing. “Next Saturday, CAB won’t do anything at night, but will put together a tailgate party for the campus and our men’s lacrosse game. CAB really runs anything on Saturdays from major concerts down to the club scenes.” Mark is part of the old school when it comes to promoting events, finding traditional means work the best. “Another work group here in the campus center is our marketing team, which supports all the other entities in the Colket Center, including CAB. A lot of what works is posters but we are moving into the electronic age. I wish I could say that we were there, but not yet. Tomorrow I am actually supposed to receive a new television server that will provide us with some digital tel-
evision technology as an information station. It really won’t be up and running until next fall, but it is an exciting development. As of now though, believe it or not, our most effective means of advertising is our posters in bathrooms in our campus center. Everyone sees them sooner or later.” Roanoke provides such a wide variety of events for students to enjoy it is easy to see why they were able to get the participation necessary in the Reader’s Choice Awards to pull out the win for 2009 Best Campus. Congratulations to them and good luck to all of you other schools out there for next year! For more information on the campus activities at Roanoke College, contact them at (540) 372-2252. CA
ROANOKE CAMPUS ACTIVITIES BOARD
gramming groups and even faculty and staff to focus on educational, intellectual, spiritual and overall enriching programs. If we are going to show a movie during the weeknight, it is usually involved with an academic line of thought through one of those departments.”
The weekends are when things really get hopping with the fun and entertainment. Every Friday night, a group known as "RC After Dark" hosts a late night programming series. “This goes on every Friday night of the school year and involves free food, movies, live entertainment, and novelty items, usually
something tangible that students can take away.” This type of late night program isn’t outside of the norm, but the atmosphere and attendance are impressive. Setup almost like a carnival atmosphere, students are able to pick and choose which event they’d
Central Michigan University as it has come to be known was established in Mount Pleasant, Michigan in the spring of 1892. Officially the Student Activities Board began the fall of 1928. Today the Central Michigan Program Board is well known as one of the strongest programming groups on campus, providing a wide range of entertainment, large and small. Committees include: Cinema, Concerts, Comedy, Lectures, Daytime/Special, and Cultural.
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Now at an even handful of awards, the readers of Campus Activities Magazine have, for the fifth time, named Bass/Schuler Entertainment as Agency of The Year in our Reader’s Choice Awards. We talked with Chris Schuler. 30, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE, April 2009
“I think Scott and I were generally excited and surprised that we won for a second year in a row now. I think a huge part of it has to do with the number of our artists that were nominated and won awards alongside us.” www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
Perhaps one reason good things have come back around to Bass/Schuler throughout their fairly short existence (about 10 years total now) is that they haven’t tried to force it. They haven’t been www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
grabbing at every straw of recognition and self-importance we so often see those in the entertainment industry (and not just artists) do. “As I have said in the past, our agency is really just a facilitaApril 2009, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE, 31
tor for these schools to get the artists they want to campus. If you can make that as trouble free for them as you can, generally they will have a positive view of the agency and the agents they are working with. That has been our goal and motivation throughout this company’s history.” Bass/Schuler has grown over the years, including a roster that has expanded without becoming lumbering or cumbersome along with some talented new staff in the office. “I think the staff, for us, has probably been the key to our success. This market is one where there is a very fine line between profit and not making it. In this climate, sometimes staff and other ‘luxuries’ are sacrificed. We’ve seen the value in investing in the company structure from the beginning.” What this specifically entails are people within an agency not having to wear so many hats. “An agent should be an agent,” Chris says. “They should be on the phones, talking to the schools and being able to be there for them. They shouldn’t have to allocate half of their day to pushing paperwork, because what happens is that things get convoluted and mistakes are made. Despite this being the age of multitasking, when you try to do a lot of things, you might not do them as well. Kristina Jurcevic, Scott Bass and I are agents. We always jokingly say that we’re just the dumb agents. We know the value of having a staff to keep track of things.”
The staff includes a total of 7, including a pair of full time office managers who facilitate all of the contracts, in Rachel Wolfson and Anna Ippolito. “Anna is new at this, she’s only been with us a few months, but we knew we wanted to have two core people who were very understanding of what needs to be done on a daily basis. I mean, we are over 3,000 shows a year, so that is a lot of pieces of paper and correspondence for them to deal with. They do a great job.” Another feature of the agency that keeps them not only plugged into the market but accessible to the students in it is their long-standing internship program. “We always have two interns as a part of the program that we have been doing for ten years. We had an intern the first week we were an agency, because we saw the value in working with young, exciting students and young people. It also has the added benefit of giving us a fresh look at what is going on in the trends. The students don’t get any older; Scott and I do. Our opinions of what we think is good can be a lot different than even when we were kids, so we hold incredible value in having young students as interns in the office and they are primarily the barometer for what comes in. They are our A&R, they go through and mete out what they think is cool. That makes me much more apt to listen to what a 22 yearold college student thinks is cool instead of what some 41 year-old guy likes (laughs).”
Part of Bass/Schuler’s ability to stay keen and afloat is their insight into the value of diversification. Collegeonly agencies certainly have their place, but many rosters out there hold performers who could be doing more work. That means more resources for everyone, which helps the artists and agency thrive. This in turn allows the agency to run an operation like Bass/Schuler that, while higher in overhead, also can offer services and time a one-man show sometimes can’t. “Initially when we started, we really wanted to be a strong college agency. But, we knew that in order to do that, we had to have a diversified roster. When we began, we wanted to make sure we could be a one-stop shop for anyone on the programming board, not just one or two chairs. It didn’t make sense to do a great job for a concert chair and then a good word-of-mouth go to the comedy chair and then not be able to work with that student. We chose to be able to be able to cover a little bit of comedy, speakers, music, novelty and performing arts so that as our reputation with any particular school grew, more and more members of those CABs could make use of our roster.” Many of these top quality performers do dates in a variety of markets and some don’t compete with each other. You won’t see Chris Carter and Fred Winters or Daniel Martin fighting it out over who gets the next show at X University. “When we sign a new artist, they understand they are a part of a family of
CAMPUSPEAK has won the Campus Activities Reader’s Choice Award for Best Agency three of the last four years. With a full-time staff of seven, a roster of 40+ speakers, a facilitator team of 50 Higher Ed. Pros, CAMPUSPEAK is a higher education consulting company. Founded by two campus speakers, T.J. Sullivan and David Stollman, CAMPUSPEAK has developed a reputation for attention to customer satisfaction. For more info on the agency & their artists: (303) 745-5545 32, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE, April 2009
www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
Left to Right: Chris Schuler, Kristina Jurcevic, Scott Bass.
artists. When an act goes through campus, they understand that they are not just representing themselves; they are representing the agency and the other acts on the roster. If Jason Levasseur goes to campus and they really love him, they are more likely to call back and see what else we have to offer, be it music or anything else.” It’s not just the agents keeping all of these things in line either. When Chris mentioned the artists being a family, he meant through the personal connections they have in addition to their professional relationships. “Many times, we encourage the roster to know who else is on the roster. Jason Levasseur could be on a campus and they might mention ‘Hey, we really need a hypnotist.’ Jason can tell them to check out Fred. I think that shows to the students that the artists themselves are happy with not only the www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
agency representing them but other artists they are associated with. It has been helpful to have these acts like Jason, who we consider to be our ambassador of goodwill. He is going to come on campus and we know they will love him and when they are done with the show they almost always have to call us.” In speaking with Chris, it is clear he is equally proud (if not more so) of the accolades Bass/Schuler’s acts have garnered as he is of their Agency of The Year awards. “Our roster and especially the ones who have won these awards set a very high standard that our entire roster has to live up to. They raise the bar for everyone and I think that is why when people call us, they don’t say “This or that act is great’ they say ‘Your roster is great.’ We’re very proud of that and hope to continue to bring the college market the best entertainment it has to offer.”
Congratulations to Bass/Schuler on their fifth total and second consecutive Reader’s Choice Award for Agency of The Year. Their presence not only in the magazine but also at industry events personifies their commitment to the market and doing great business. Time and time again they have been a consistent and reliable source for the best entertainment in the market and it’s clear the reader’s of Campus Activities Magazine agree. BOOK IT! For more information on the bevy of great acts Bass/Schuler represents, give them a call at (773) 481-2600. For a complete listing of their artists (including bio, video and booking info), visit their agency listing at our new online campus agency and artist database at campusactivitiesmagazine.com. Sign up is easy and schools always use it free! CA
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For an incredible and unprecedented third year in a row, Justin Kredible has been again voted Entertainer of The Year in Campus Activities Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Awards. Competition was stiff this year, as all of the nominees are incredible presences in the campus market unto themselves. With over 10,000 individual votes in this category, it was also one of the most active in the awards. Justin won by an impressive margin over Mike Super, who is no stranger to the accolade
himself, gracing the cover of this publication in the 2003 Reader’s Choice Awards. Surprisingly Dane Cook came in with a third place finish just behind Mike, perhaps explainable by the first and second place winner’s incredible continuous personal connection within the campus market. There is little doubt that Justin has done an outstanding job building those connections over the few short years he has been in the market. At only 28, he’s won the coveted Entertainer of The Year title for
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over half of the years he’s been in the market. It is clear that he understands every aspect of being an all around great entertainer. Incredible talent and rapport, meticulous attention to detail and the desire and capability to really listen make him the total package. Justin is one of those guys who can just make you feel like he really cares about what you are saying and reacts to it; and people react to him. “I love what I do so much and I love the people I get to meet. The audiences that come out make me feel like I have such a cool community of magic www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
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fans I am creating. I like to cultivate that community and make sure they come and see me when I am back in town. I love it when people make a trip to come see the show when I am in their area. I just think it is important to keep in touch with your supporters and build a sort of community database of love, you know what I mean?” Long before Justin’s community began compiling into an email list that would make him a force to be reckoned with in our awards process, he was building it around his true and pure purpose. “We have this unique position as entertainers. Colleges hire us to come out and entertain their crowds, but the way I look at it is that I really want to make the most of the time I
have in front of people. I don’t want it to be simply a flash in the pan or blip on their radar. Every show I do I go into it excited to perform for people I have never performed for and have the opportunity to add them as new fans and friends for life. It is amazing to have people who dig what you do and support you and keep coming back again and again. I guess from the beginning my idea was that I never wanted to lose touch with the people who have see me perform and if they like what I do I want to make it easy for them to keep up with me. I like that long relationship, instead of just taking it one show at a time.” Regular newsletters to his email list keep subscribers informed of the in-Kredible happenings of the day, as well as making a handy forum to rally
support in the awards. Justin has been doing this long enough that his show has evolved far beyond mere tricks and figuring out ways to fool the audience. It has elevated to something of a higher art, not just the ability to be entertaining in a moment- but to be an entertainer. In fact to encompass the whole meaning of entertainment, one has to look much deeper into the intricacies of any given moment of any show. “These days, I am trying to make my show a little more than just a magic show. I am trying to put a more personality and positive messages into it; to have people walk away with more than just a night of entertainment, with something more to chew on. I think it’s important that I keep the line of
communication open beyond that point, because it’s about being a positive influence; here and now, but also later.” Every time we talk to Justin it seems like he has a slew of exciting new updates in what seems to be his fast-tracked rollercoaster career. Continuing his long-standing regular appearances on the “Rachael Ray” program, Justin has also toured with Jason Mraz and has big tour plans this summer and into the rest of the year. “It has been an amazing year since we talked last time, so much stuff has happened, life-changing both career-wise and personally. Shortly after winning last year’s award, I went on the Music, Magic and Makepeace” tour with Jason Mraz, Bushwalla and the Makepeace Brothers. It was amazing; it was like going on tour with some of your best friends, which was a dream come true. The Makepeace Brothers and Bushwalla opened the show for Jason and I kind of hosted the whole thing to make it one seamless night of entertainment with magic between the acts. I got to perform with the Makepeace Brothers and do magic with Bushwalla.”
laborate often, neither one’s success will change that, but Justin does have thoughts about Jason’s incredible success of late. “If nothing else, it is just so inspiring. There is nothing better than watching people who you know, care about and are friends with succeed- massively. Knowing that
kind of success makes it seem just that more tangible for the rest of us as well. When you personally know someone who has worked their way to their dream, it is inspiring. For Jason Mraz, he is so cool and grounded and has such a great mindset about everything. He is so generous about
Justin even got to make Jason Mraz magically appear on stage every night but, more than just the chance to play the dates, Justin saw the opportunity to learn from his fellow performers. “This tour really opened up my eyes to creating this sense of community even further, on stage and on the road. Jason is great at making his show more than just a music show and incorporates positive messages in what he does. He encourages people to practice gratitude and generosity in their lives. He promotes the idea of being one as a community and saying thanks for the world and being grateful for everything we have.” Justin’s fortunes in being involved with Jason may just seem “Lucky” but he doesn’t look at it as a coattails situation. He and Jason have been friends for a while and col36, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE, April 2009
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giving back to his fans and it is just great seeing someone who is so well intentioned succeed.” It may seem odd that Justin was able to so widely sweep all of his categories while GP Entertainment wasn’t able to squeeze out the Agency of The Year Award against Bass/Schuler. While a good part of this probably is accounted for by the masses of fans Justin attracts not all being involved directly with the booking process per se, therefore not knowing anyone on the booking side, Justin says there’s another factor to account for in this circumstance. “GP has been so very selfless about the entire thing, they just love to see their roster succeed. They have been so good to me over the years and have been my only agents in the college market from the very beginning. They kind of believed in me before anyone else did and they ‘got it’ without me having to go over the moon to impress them. We were
always on the same page and they’re brothers now; they are just happy that I am doing well and successful.” Justin's upcoming guest appearance on Disney's "Suite Life On Deck" and his own DVD release, "Street Kred" are a testament to that success. Justin says the class of nominees in the field for Entertainer of The Year this time makes his win even more special than it being a hat trick. “Dane Cook is one of my comedy idols and I consider that a big part of my show. When I was in college I just loved Dane, he was hilarious. I would practically drive off the road laughing at him. “Mike Super is kind of one of my idols from when I first entered the college market. I mean, he was the guy and he was the guy for a reason, because he was effing good. He is really great at what he does. I have always looked up to him and aspired to that level. To be in the same category with those two
2009 RUNNER-UP: MALE ENTERTAINER DAVID COLEMAN
2009 RUNNER-UP: NOVELTY ARTIST DANIEL MARTIN
guys was really special.” Justin’s incredible run in the college market has really only just begun. This year, the volume of votes we received paled the numbers from every other year in comparison. Each category was actively contested, but perhaps none more so than Entertainer of The Year. We wish all of the hopefuls in next year’s awards the best of luck and we’ll see if anyone can uncrown the current king of Campus Activities Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Awards! BOOK IT! To bring three-time consecutive Entertainer of The Year winner Justin Kredible to your campus, contact GP Entertainment at (866) 812-8248. For virtual links and an online interactively viewable version of this magazine and past issues (coming soon), log on to our website at www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
2009 RUNNER-UP: ENT. OF THE YEAR MIKE SUPER
SMALL VENUE 5x August
718
S. McConnell
932
Michael Kent
596
Chapter 6
717
J. LeVasseur
926
Florez
296
Ellery
716
M. Allison
690
J. Campbell
677
Gabriel Medina 624
38, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE, April 2009
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M. Palascak
525
Dan Martin
718
A. McHale
416
Jay Black
354
Michael Kent
659
Erin Weed
917
Jeff Dunham
1477
E. Upshaw
540
N. Stovall
453
L. Koplitz
119
J. Zavant
175
L. Koplitz
223
A. McHale
273
Adult Circus
719
Jen Kober
362
2748
2811
2371
BEST MALE
MAJOR PERF.
BEST DIVERSITY
BEST SPEAKER
NOVELTY LIVE
D. Coleman
639
Emerson Drive 477
Preach Moss
674
C.L. Lindsay
656
Dan Martin
612
3rd Eye Blind
634
M. Glowacki
424
D. Coleman
735
W. Hoffman
277
Jason Mraz
1750
J. Pettit
341
E. Pasqua
394
F. Winters
317
F. Caliendo
208
NWC
630
E. Upshaw
579
Black Violin
224
M. Buteau
223
M. Glowacki
286
3293
NOVELTY/GAME
Mike was unanimously voted by Uri Geller, CrissAngel and theAmerican Public as the #1 mystifier in the world. NBC searched the globe for the 10 best mystifiers and over 5 weekstheAmericanpublicvotedontheirfavoriteentertainer.Withelectricperformances onliveNetworkTV,thatreachedoutandenchanted the public, Mike Super was chosen astheBESToftheBESTandgiventhe title of THE PHENOMENON. SUPER NATURAL PRODUCTIONS INFO: 724-745-9000
BEST FEMALE
3312
4527
Daniel Martin is becoming one of the most in-demand entertainers in the country. Daniel’s show is interactive, visual, and is unlike anything you have seen! His high energy and original performances have captivated the attention of countless audiences, campuses and Fortune 500 companies.Utilizingastonishingsleightofhand, interactivemindreadingandinnovativeillusion, audiences are left mesmerized. INFO: BASS/SCHULER ENT. 773-481-2600
RISING STAR
3580
Justin Kredible 2682
Doctor” and “America’s Real-Life Hitch," has been honored as Speaker of the Year 11-Times! His programs resonate long after he leaves campus and his advice is featured on radio, television and in print media such as Us, People and The USA Today. David has been described as “the closest there is in the college market to a sure thing!” Get your cure from INFO: COLEMAN PRODUCTIONS 866-328-3762
BEST COMEDY
BEST MUSIC
2292
BEST CAMPUS Marshall Univ
311
ThinkFast
531
Boston Univ
685
Tune-In
270
Central Mich
734
Travelin Max
241
Ohio State
690
L.B. Karaoke
612
Roanoke Col
919
1993
3339
Dan Martin
Justin Kredible 2457
2650
BEST AGENCY
Show-Off
374
Adult Circus
478
W. Hoffman
217
4185
ENT OF YEAR
TCA
423
Daniel Martin
572
Bass/Schuler
707
Dane Cook
1122
CAMPUSPEAK 639
W. Hoffman
166
GP Entertain.
Justin Kredible 2402
413
Coleman Prod 410 2592
659
Mike Super
1412
5674
TOTAL VOTES CAST: 45,367 www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
April 2009, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE, 39
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N O V E L T Y
/
AGENCY COOPERATION
L I V E
Niagara University, Niagara Falls NY Bill Newton, 2/28/09
Norwalk Community College, Norwalk CT Michelle Brinch, 3/31/09
Show transitions were choppy. They seemed very tired & attitude was a bit on the dead side from doing 4 shows in 2 days.
4
4
4
3
-
5
-
Great show filled with juggling, magic, mindreading and even some comedy too!
5
5
4
5
5
5
-
Chris & Mike were a joy to work with. They were loved by the students. Great entertainers, easy set-up! Perfect for our college.
5
5
5
5
-
5
4
BIRTHDAY CHRONICLES Kaleidoscope Entertainment
University of Akron, Akron OH Steve Pagios, 3/7/09 CHRISTIAN & KATALINA Kramer Entertainment
Husson University, Bangor ME Greg Fortica, 3/17/09 CHRISTOPHER CARTER Bass/Schuler Entertainment
Lewis University, Romeoville, IL Melanie Sanberg, 1/24/09
University of Alaska/Kenai Peninsula College Dave Atcheson, 3/13/09
Great addition to Sibs Weekend. This cool event let audience know a bunch of events that happened on their birthdays.
Awesome performance.
5
4
5
4
5
5
5
5
5
-
5
5
5
5
Chris was fantastic and everyone loved his show. The “teasers” he does before the show makes students excited about coming.
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
Great show! Standing Ovation.
5
5
5
5
-
5
5
42, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE, April 2009
ROAD CREW/ MGMT
AGENCY COOPERATION
PROMO
5
5
5
-
5
5
Carthage College, Kenosha WI Nina Caliguiri, 1/16/09
Craig is great to work with and very friendly. Really enjoyed working with him.
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
Alleghany College of Maryland, Cumberland MD Jerry Rice, 3/12/09
5th year in a row Craig has packed our theatre- the only program to do so each year. Simply amazing. Total command of the audience.
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
The students loved the performance and Craig was an absolute joy to work with.
4
5
5
5
5
5
5
Albion College, Albion MI Jennifer Schreer, 3/21/09
Not as polished as I had hoped. Attendance was low but not because of Rob. Little Sibs weekend cancelled because of large Greek event.
2
3
4
5
-
4
1
University of Akron, Akron OH Steve Pagios, 1/21/09
A fantastic hit. Brought our largest crowd for Hall Fest. He was creative, easy to understand. Hypnosis that left the crowd wanting more.
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
University of Akron, Akron OH Steve Pagios, 1/21/09
A great addition to our Sibs Weekend. Her playful, fun personality made her a crowd favorite. Skilled in face paint and balloon art.
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
Kankakee Community College, Kankakee, IL Sarah Zunde, 3/3/09
Frederick always puts on a great show. He is hilarious.
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
Frederick always puts on an outstanding show. I’ve been working with him for years and I enjoy his professionalism & respect.
-
5
5
5
-
5
5
Frederick is a fantastic performer- after 12 years of having him, he continues to perform a great show and draw a huge crowd.
5
4
5
5
5
4
4
4
5
5
5
5
5
5
Frederick was great and the students loved him.
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
Great show for students.
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
Fred was fantastic & super friendly. The weather was scary on the way here, he persevered and made it on time. Great guy!
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
Bentley University, Waltham MA Jim Morris, 2/21/09
Adams State College, Alamosa CO Jeni Carter, 3/26/09
SAILIESH Metropolitan Management
SPARKLES THE CLOWN Kaleidoscope Entertainment
ADULT CIRCUS GP Entertainment
Seton Hill University, Greensburg PA, Pamela Weldon, Kristin Logan 2/27/09
4
ROB RASNER GP Entertainment
PROMO
ROAD CREW/ MGMT
COOPERATION/ATTITUDE
ARTIST'S ABILITY
ORIGINALITY
INDIVIDUALPERFORMANCE BOX SCORES
RELATIONSHIP TO AUDIENCE
If you want to know how good an act might be that you plan on booking, just ask another campus where they have played. Here are reports from our readers on recent playdates. No report may be submitted older than ninety (90) days at the time of our deadline for the issue. If you would like to report on a performance, complete a form on our website at campusactivitiesmagazine.com, use a form in this issue or request one at (803) 712-1429. Submit online at campusactivitiesmagazine.com, by mail or fax. All forms online must have complete verifiable information. Mailed and fax forms must be signed. Agents and/or acts have the right to respond to negative reports. No reports will be accepted from agencies.All reports must be submitted by the school where the date was played.
COOPERATION/ATTITUDE
CRAIG KARGES Karges Productions
RELATIONSHIP TO AUDIENCE
THE RATING SYSTEM: 5= EXCELLENT 4= VERY GOOD 3= AVERAGE 2= FAIR 1= POOR
ARTIST'S ABILITY
Dunwoody College, Minneapolis MN Emilie Nimmo, 3/19/09
ORIGINALITY
INDIVIDUALPERFORMANCE BOX SCORES
www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
FREDERICK WINTERS Bass/Schuler Entertainment
Lakeland College, Sheboygan WI Kaye Martin, 3/3/09 Joliet Junior College, Joliet IL Pam Dilday, 3/4/09
Indiana University East, Richmond, IN Rebeckah Snoddy, 3/5/09
University of Illinois/Chicago, Chicago, IL Joe Timson, 3/12/09 Lamar Community College, Lamar CO Anthony Laton, 3/23/09
Laramie County Community College, Cheyenne WY Kala Enevoldsen, 3/24/09
DISCOVER MORE ARTIST REPORTS ONLINE AT campusactivitiesmagazine.com JOIN THE CAMPUS NETWORK FREE! Sign up To Find Artists, Agencies and Routing. See Photos, Bios and Videos. File Artist Reports. Connect with Artists You Are Considering Booking Through Direct Email Links with Agents. www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
April 2009, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE,43
Amy Schumer
Dwayne Perkins
Michelle Buteau
Alexandra McHale
Dan Ahdoot
Comedy Central Presents
Live At Gotham
Tonight Show
Premium Blend
Comedy Central’s Reality Bites Back
Mike Estime
Kyle Grooms
Sklar Brothers
Andrew Kennedy
Baron Vaughn
Everybody Hates Chris
Chappelle Show
Grey’s Anatomy
Comedy Central Presents
Live At Gotham
Sabrina Jalees
Dan Naturman
Sheng Wang
Matt Kirshen
Eddie Ifft
Comedy Now
Last Comic Standing
Live At Gotham
Last Comic Standing
Comedy Central Presents
J. Chris Newberg
Steve Hofstetter
Hasan Minhaj
Brian Brushwood
Nate Staniforth
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Student Body Shots
NBC’s Stand Up For Diversity
The Tonight Show w/ Jay Leno
Spellbinding Magic