Former EOTY Winner, Natalie Stovall Wins Best Female Act
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The stunning Natalie is no stranger to the CAM Awards process and she proves she is just as hot as ever.
Veteran Entertainer, Christopher Carter Takes Best Male Award 16
Christopher is a legend capturing a whole host of awards from readers over the years. His appeal seems to be timeless with schools.
Eastern New Mexico University Take Top Campus Honors 24 The Associated Students Activities Board at ENMU pulled out all the stops to out-distance two legendary rivals.
Bass/Schuler Entertainment Wins Best Campus Agency 29
Seven top agency awards in 15 years is a record never accomplished until now. In the 22-year history of these awards, no one has come close.
MICHAEL KENT TAKES THE BIG PRIZE 28
In a race that was much too close to call at various stages during the competition this year, Michael Kent took the Top Spot.
IT’S ALL INSIDE
From the Publisher Spanky Real Life 2014 RCA Winners
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Artist Reports 32 CAM and Your Campus 31 Dream Date 33,35,C3
RANDOM THOUGHTS & OTHER MINDLESS DRIBBLE
Experiencing The Grammys
I have never been a big fan of television awards shows. Mainly because there seems to be a different one every single week, so they really don’t seem that special. This year we have been bombarded with The Golden Globes, The CMA Awards, The ACM Awards, The SAG Awards, Critic’s Choice Awards, Screen Actor’s Guild Awards, The People’s Choice Awards, The Billboard Awards, The MTV Awards and of course, The Oscars, Emmy’s and The Grammys. It is an endless string of competition and glitz, where the production value of the awards presentation appears to be more important than who wins or the talent. Okay, so you get it. Most of these awards are so long and totally uninteresting that I generally go to USA or A&E to be better entertained by a re-run of “Law & Order SVU” or “NCIS.” But this year, I took a chance on the Grammys and I was pleasantly
Hunter Hays
PHOTO: GRAMMY.COM
surprised. I enjoyed the whole damned thing. Music is something that touches all our lives and it was great to see an awards process that made the effort to merge all generations of music in a professional and enjoyable way. I got to experience a few artists that I had only heard in Sirius/XM but never got an upfront a personal look at their talent. Of course the production value was spectacular but that is an integral part of this business. The trapeze skills of Pink while performing were overthe-top. And one of our winners here in the campus market, Macklemore & Lewis were well rewarded with Best New Artists But I had never heard of country artists Kacey Musgraves and Hunter Hays, but Hays’ performance was awe-inspiring and Kacey won Best Country Album for “Same Trailer, Different Park.”
Even though I have never really been a fan of this type of music, The Grammy’s opened my eyes to Daft Punk who took Record of the Year with “Get Lucky” and album of the Year “Random Access Memories.” Song of the Year was “Royals’ by Lorde beating out my choice, “Just Give Me A Reason” sung by Pink with Nate Ruess (fun!). Best Pop Duo was “Get Lucky” sung by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers. And for those of you Rock fans, Best Rock Performance was “Radioactive” from Imagine Dragons and the Best Rock Song was “Cut Me Some Slack,” a collaboration of Dave Grohl, Paul McCartney, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear. Best Solo Country Solo Performance went to a Carolina guy, Darius Rucker with “Waggon Wheel.” We were treated to Sir Paul and Ringo from the Beatles. Neil Young and a special tribute with Willy Nelson and Merle Haggard. And this is just a small sampling of the talent on Grammy Night. Both on and off-stage, more than 80 awards were given in virtually every possible category. To find out more about one of the best nights for American Music go to grammy.com
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Adventures In Cohabitation have to worry about my dog stabbing me because I quit watching Animal Planet.
I first discovered the challenges of cohabitation when I went to college and was assigned a total stranger as a dormmate. We could not have been more different. He was the star of a championship football team, while I was the star of a really crappy blues band. He spent an hour each day blow-drying his feather-cut hair into perfection, while I spent a second tying mine back into a ponytail. We had totally different taste in clothes, music, and women, but by the end of the semester I believe we both had learned something from each other, if nothing else, respect. Although I got along with him, I found dorm life (i.e., public showers) did not agree with me, so I got my family doctor to write a note stating I needed a special diet and could no longer live in the dorm (I am not suggesting any readers follow my deceptive example).
By Steven Kent McFarlin (AKA Spanky)
(NOTE: In the following tales the names have been omitted to protect the guilty.)
I know I am not an easy person to live with. I know because sometimes I hate my boss...and I am self-employed. I know because I am aware of my many idiosyncrasies that I try to hide from others; for example, if I am picking up a newspaper or magazine from a stack, I will always grab the second one, because someone might have already thumbed through the one on top and a “used” publication is just gross. I suspect that everyone has their own set of peculiar preferences. I once dated a girl that would become unhinged if she saw someone eat a cookie or hamburger upside down (the flat side on top).
Another one of my eccentricities is an extreme aversion to other’s body parts that are not still attached; seeing someone’s hair on my bar of soap or stepping barefoot on their toenail clipping makes me freak-the-f-out! I can love someone from head to toe as long as all the parts of their head and toe remain connected (which is why I never visit leper colonies). It is for this reason my current roommate is my all time favorite, a Boston Terrier that does not shed or clip its toes.
It is not easy to live with a creature as complicated as a human. In fact, it can be downright dangerous; a Google search for “murder over TV remote” yields 3,640,000 hits. This is yet another reason I have not had a two-legged roommate in years, sure they don’t need to be walked, but I never
My two best friends and I pooled our funds and rented a duplex apartment. Unfortunately by the time we paid the first and last months rent we had no money leftover for our utility deposits, so we spent the first few weeks basically camping out...indoors. Eventually we got so desperate we resorted to a life of crime, stealing electricity by running an extension cord from our neighbor’s front porch light into our living room, powering our TV, stereo, and lamp. Soon after we found their hot water heater drain and ran a hose through our toilet window so we could take much needed baths. Just as soldiers in foxholes tend to get along, we had very little fighting between us since we were too busy battling poverty.
My next set of roommates was a different story. I should probably explain that I am a bit of a neatnik. I make my bed every morning, even when I am in hotels that provide maids for that chore. I believe having order in my home life allows me to be wild in my creative life, but my new roommates did not share my philosophy. They, like many men I’ve met since, lived liked bears. This is best illustrated by noting that one had a pet rabbit he did not keep in a cage because his room was such a mess he could not find where the creature was pooping. This was not a normal rabbit. It had been given to my roommate by a lab that had used the animal to test psychopharmaceutical drugs, as a result it was more of a cross between a bunny and a Pit Bull. We became accustomed to its agro behavior, however when our landlord paid an unexpected visit and the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog (nod to Python fans) chased her around the room, we received an eviction notice the following morning. My next experiment in cohabitation was my first with the opposite sex. My girlfriend and I decided
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since we spent most every night together we could save money by sharing a place. This got me disowned by my religious parents who deemed the arrangement as “living in sin.” When I look back on the arrangement, I deem it as the smartest thing I ever did. Not to offend anyone’s religious beliefs, but the one eternal truth I would bet my life on is: You never really know someone until you live with them!
Throughout our courtship, my girlfriend had hidden her kitchen skills (or lack thereof) by ordering food from restaurants, and placing it in her pans before I would arrive for dinner. She would then serve it up as if she had prepared the meal. But this practice was impossible once we moved in together and her culinary handicaps soon became evident. She once asked me for my recipe for quiche. I instructed her not to try to make a piecrust, but just buy one pre-made from the store. She returned from the market with a Graham Cracker piecrust. On another occasion, she asked for the recipe for French toast. I entered the kitchen to see that rather than dip the bread in the batter, she had placed the bread in the skillet and poured the batter on top, creating what appeared to be a huge pancake with squares in it. At a party we hosted, I kept hearing strange drumming sounds emanating from the kitchen. After a search I found they were originating from the oven. She was baking chicken wings in Tupperware, and the chicken was falling through the melting plastic and hitting the bottom of the oven with a metallic thud. Near the end of our cohabitation I noticed a large pot of spaghetti sauce boiling like lava. Next to it was an empty jar of Ragu. When I mentioned to her that all you have to do with Ragu is warm it up, she replied, “I know, but I forgot to brown the meat before I put it in.” She was cooking the meat by boiling it in the sauce!
Although our experiment with living together failed quickly (for reasons other than cooking) we parted on friendly terms. I know that had I yielded to my parent’s demands we marry before we shack up, I would now be divorced or dead from botulism or salmonella. This would probably be okay with her, since as I stated earlier, I am not an easy person to live with. As I overheard an elderly woman tell her husband, “If I’d killed you when I first wanted to I’d be out of prison by now.” Steven Kent McFarlin (AKA “Spanky”) has been described by the press as a “campus entertainment icon.” He offers two great events at one great low price, and has been voted “Campus Comic of the Year” (LaffGuru.com) and the “Campus Performer of the Year” (TalkingAboutMyGeneration.com). His credits include over fifty TV appearances, including: Showtime, Good Morning America, and The Late Show. He is represented by GP Entertainment.
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BY ELAINE PASQUA
The Skinny on Soda
Are you starting your day off with a can of soda? Do you keep track of how much you consume in a day, in a week? Almost half of all Americans drink at least one can of soda per day, yet it has no nutritional value. Soda is nothing but sugar water and it leads to many health problems. For 13 years I worked as dental hygienist, so I would like to start off with its effects on the teeth. A 12 ounce can of soda contains between 9 and 13 teaspoons of sugar. Darker sodas like Coke and Pepsi fall in the 9 to 10 teaspoon range while sweeter sodas such as orange contain 13! Sugar may not be listed as an ingredient; it comes in the form of high-fructose corn syrup, a sweetener which is second on the list. I am just talking about a 12 ounce can; imagine the amount of sugar in a super-sized drink!
Sugar is acidic. When someone eats or drinks anything containing sugar, the PH of the saliva drops from neutral to acid. It remains acidic until 20 minutes after the person consumes it. So if you take a half hour to drink a can of soda, the teeth are sitting in an acid bath for a total of 50 minutes. That acid eats through the enamel and causes tooth decay, leading to those dreaded cavities. It is important to take care of your teeth. Besides contributing to your appearance, your teeth are the first in line of a complex digestive system. If the food is not chewed well, it is more difficult to digest and absorb the optimal levels of nutrients into the body.
Dentists refer to the high cavity rate of their patients who drink a lot of Mountain Dew as “Mountain Dew Mouth� because of its excessive sugar level. Now there is a concern as to what it does to the mind. One ingredient brominated vegetable oil, or BVO prevents separation of the fla-
voring. When consumed in large quantities, it is known to cause memory loss and nerve disorders. BVO can build up in body fat, and it is suspected of causing behavioral problems, infertility, and lesions on heart muscles. Soda also decalcifies your bones. The carbonation in soda irritates the stomach lining. The
body responds by pulling out its own antacid, calcium, which is directly drawn from the blood. The blood then needs to replenish its supply to maintain brain and muscular function by pulling the calcium from the bones. The darker sodas contain phosphoric acid which also draws calcium from the bones.
Esophageal cancer is on the rise in this country. The stomach contains acid which dissolves tissue. The cells lining the stomach are much different than the ones in the esophagus. The carbonation in soda triggers belching. This forces the stomach acids into the esophagus, leading to irritation and mutations which create lesions in the lower section. These lesions can eventually turn into esophageal cancer.
Soda contributes to a buildup of fat around your liver and skeletal muscles. People who drank one soda every day for 6 months experienced a 123% increase in liver fat. The buildup of fat in the liver can lead to insulin resistance and diabetes. Insulin regulates the amount of sugar in the blood. Within 20 minutes of ingesting soda
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insulin levels in the body skyrocket. The blood pressure rises because the liver deposits more sugar in the bloodstream. One soda a day contributes to a 20% increase in heart attacks over a 22 year period. Women who drank soda every day compared to those who drank other beverages experience high levels of triglycerides, (the fat in our blood) leading to an 11 percent increase in cholesterol. Many believe that if they drank diet soda they would be spared of the weight gain. A study from the University of Texas monitored 475 adults for 10 years. Those who drank diet soda had a 70 percent increase in waist circumference compared to those who did not drink any soda. The people who drank more than two diet sodas a day saw a 500 percent increase in waist size! A separate study found it was the aspartame that raised blood glucose levels and caused the weight gain. When the liver encounters too much sugar the excess is converted to body fat.
Water quenches the thirst and hydrates the body more effectively than soda. Fruit juices can contain higher amounts of sugar than water but they contain nutrients and are far healthier. Sometimes I feel like a broken record, but I often say you are what you eat, or in this case, what you drink.
Questions on college life? Email me at elaine@elainepasqua.com www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
Welcome To The 22nd Annual Reader’s Choice Awards. The magazine staff is privileged to bring you the only truly National Competition involving the largest number of campuses nationwide. Overall 4,000+ institutions (colleges and universities) had the opportunity to decide the very best of the CAMPUS MARKET in thirteen individual categories. Every year in the October edition of Campus Activities Magazine, we open the process for campuses to nominate their favorite artists. Nominations are taken only on our website. The Top 5 nominees in each category make the final ballot which appears in the January edition. Winners from the previous year are ineligible for consideration in the same category they won the year previously. Voting commenced with the announcement of the nominees in January and ended March 1. The winners follow......
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Skyler is a new addition to the Reader’s Choice Awards and a fairly fresh face in the Campus Activities market. He’s a singer songwriter, available solo or in several other configurations depending on a school’s venue space and audience size.
“There are so few white male singer/songwriters it might be kind of hard for me to explain the concept,” he says jokingly. “I am from Boston but grew up in Maine. I started attending NACA conferences about 2 years ago and have really fallen in love with the college market.”
Typically performing as a trio, the band includes Skyler on vocals and acoustic guitar as well as an electric fiddle player and bass. “We play a bit of pop music with some of our favorite country and rock songs thrown in. We play a lot of the hot songs on the charts the students want to hear and a lot of original music as well.”
Skyler was pretty much cut from the musician’s cloth. “I fell in love with music when I was three years old,” he says. “My mom would drive around in the car with me, playing old Beatles records that she had transferred onto tape cassette. By the time I was in kindergarten I was trying
to get bands together, my own version of The Beatles. By third grade I was auditioning people for my own boy band because I wanted to be like N’Sync (laughs). I had the bug. I just had to do it.”
That bug is something that has stayed with Skyler into adulthood. Finding the college market was certainly a blessing for him. “I am super happy to be here playing all of these exciting shows for campus audiences.” BE Colleges, 877-404-3836 x228 ian@be-colleges.com.
RUNNER UP: BEN SEIDMAN
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The Black/Jew Dialogues have found a humorous and enlightening way to deal with tough issues, as is evidenced by their long standing history in the campus market and their recent expansion in adding two new cast members.
Ron Jones and Larry Jay Tish are the founders of the program and have recently added Adobuere Ebiama and Simon Pringle-Wallace to the fold. “The Black/Jew Dialogues is a two person multimedia comedy show that uses sketches, video and games to talk about racism, cultural differences, bigotry and other hilarious, lighthearted topics,” Ron jokes. The show was written as a theater show by Ron and Larry several years ago. “The more we did the show the more colleges there were that started asking us to bring it to them. We stum-
bled into becoming a diversity program. That wasn’t our original objective. We just wanted to do a funny stage show and it grew into something much more.”
Over the last couple of years they realized it would be ideal to infuse the perspectives of young people into the show. “Last year we held auditions and brought in two young actors, Adobuere and Simon,” Larry says. “We re-wrote the show to reflect a narrative that spoke to their generation as well as ours.”
The presentation is greatly enhanced by the multimedia aspect. “It just broadens the scope of the theatrical message, gets people’s attention and keeps them involved. We have video, interactive video, and a game show where the audience can win prizes.”
This is a show that could be very heavy if not approached in the right way and BJD solved that problem. “If it’s not funny, it doesn’t work,” Simon says. “Comedy is a great equalizer across gender, race, religion, culture and generation.”
Adobuere elaborates, “I think it becomes a conversation with the audience at that point. That is the important thing. It is initially a conversation between the two people on stage, but once the audience sees the comedy and starts to get more comfortable it becomes a dialogue with the entire room rather than them passively sitting there watching a presentation.” Bass/Schuler Entertainment: (773) 481-2600, info@bass-schuler.com
RUNNER UP: GINA BRILLON
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Gary Johnson is a solo acoustic singer that has a unique slant on his show and one that’s perfect for the college market. Many acts like him take requests, but Gary does it in such a way that almost guarantees not only the youth market will latch onto it, but that many more requests come in during his show than when people have to yell out what they want to hear in front of a crowd. “The first real experience I had in the college market, I was in a place where I couldn’t do my typical show where I use a looping station and vocal effects or technology. My agent just suggested I go off of my song library and get students to text me during the show for song requests. That concept was born there and really grew legs, because it is the signature of my performance now.” The fun of the show is not only the novelty of using their phones to text requests, but that Gary will try basically anything that is thrown at him. “The first text request that I ever had was a real test to see if I was going to sink or swim. Someone asked for ‘Barbie Girl’ (laughs). The girl who requested said ‘I tell you what. If you can play that for me right now, I will book you on the spot.’ I just owned it and played the song, as much as I really might not have wanted to at the time (laughs), but people really seemed to enjoy it and I realized we might be on to something.”
It has become the reason schools continue requesting him and he is rarely stumped. He can regularly be seen playing everything from Bon Jovi and Journey to The Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys. “I realized that because students were choosing the songs, it was really easy for them to be engaged. They don’t have to be embarrassed about an unusual request because I am the only one who knows the requests and some of them are pretty funny and pretty bold because of it. For more info: GP Entertainment (866) 812-8248 rich@gpentertainment.com
RUNNER UP: JASON LEVASSEUR
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After winning 2010 & 2013’s Best Diversity Artist, and having now been named the 2014 Speaker of the year, Matt Glowacki continues to make his unique impact on the diversity conversation at colleges and universities around the country. Whether it is through highlighting the hidden messages behind some of the most popular television programs of the day in his event, “Diversity According to Family Guy & South Park,” or sharing his ideas about finding fulfillment and enjoyment in life through conducting his “Doing Happiness” symposiums, Matt is always able to draw on the education and the experience he has gleaned from being born without legs. He teaches through the use of personal stories and insights from his life to relate and connect with his audiences. Sharing personal moments and building commonality allow him to connect larger ideas and make lasting impacts on the people he speaks with. Most commonly seen on campus with his black polo shirt and a huge welcoming smile, Matt’s openness about life and willingness to engage with anyone about anything keeps campuses asking for him again. Some of the best conversations occur with him during the question and answer time or even after the event is over. When the students line up to share their stories or take time to ask the question that is the most important to them, but possibly too personal to be addressed in front of the entire audience.
Matt is no stranger to being recognized with awards from many different organizations, associations, and groups, but winning “Campus Activities Magazine’s Speaker of the Year” award this year is truly an honor for him because of the process involved in being nominated and finally winning the award. Matt wants to acknowledge and thank CAM for having actual open voting electing the winners. It really gives the readers and the people in the market the say in who receives the recognition in the categories. For more information contact Coleman Productions at 866-328-3762 or brooke@colemanproductions.com
RUNNER UP: SEX SIGNALS
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It’s been two years since we saw Natalie Stovall as Entertainer of The Year, and she’s back as Best Female Performer.
Natalie Stovall and The Drive are one of the hottest acts on campus, and with their blend of classic and contemporary covers combined with great original music, it’s not hard to see why. “Much of our show has derived from the fact that we have been on the road for 8+ years playing 200 shows a year. We are in front of crowds who don’t know who we are, so much of our show came from putting together a performance that would span
across the many demographics.” We are a country act at heart, but we all have many different influences. I have always personally leaned a little bit more on the Rock N’ Roll side of things and so I think it is fun to play a broader spectrum than just straight up country music. We have a very exciting up tempo show and we like to keep the energy up, the crowd rocking and having fun.”
Covers include Metallica, Michael Jackson, Journey, Beyonce, The White Stripes and others. “When we play ‘The Devil Went Down To Georgia’, the devil’s
part is‘Enter Sandman’ by Metallica. We have a medley called Fiddlepallooza that starts with Led Zeppelin and AC/DC and finishes up with Lynyrd Skynyrd.”
“The college market has been so good to us. It’s where we got our start and we wouldn’t be a band if it weren’t for this market. It has been such a blessing for us and we don’t ever intend on forgetting that and want to continue to give great shows to these audiences. Degy Booking, Jeff Hyman: 217-359-4243, jeff@degy.com
RUNNER UP: SAVANNAH OUTEN
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Christopher Carter is no stranger to the Reader’s Choice Awards, pulling out many wins in the past, including the coveted Entertainer of The Year Award. This year, he has been selected once again as one of the best in the campus market, winning the popular vote for Best Male Performer of 2014.
“In terms of the surprise of winning an Award, that has sort of worn off after so many years of being successful in the RCA system, but I have to tell you it was a bit of a thrill to win again this year. It was pretty exciting to know I am still relevant and able to run at the head of the pack in a market with so many young, up-and-coming entertainers. They may relate to the campus audiences more purely in terms of age, but clearly I have been able to maintain a great relationship with this market and those who attend the campus shows.” When it comes to where you want to put the value of your entertainment dollar, sometimes there is something to be said for experience over something else just because it’s new and the flavor of the week. “I have been in the campus business for a long time and I love this market. Having this sort of longevity really validates things and feels like I am still on people’s radar. That is very cool.”
Don’t get the impression that Chris has to blow the dust off his sleeves every time he heads out to a show. While he has been performing for a long time, he still has many years to go of giving great performances for the college audiences, and his mind-bending mentalism show is one that staggers audiences with the best of them. “My show has no trappings of a magic show anymore. I used to do some more magical ‘tricks’ but that is all gone now because there are so many young guys out there now who are doing more standard magic shows. Everything you see me perform appears to be of or in the mind entirely. It is all about influencing people’s behavior, reading their thoughts and the power of our own brains.” Lightbulbs light up in volunteers’ hands (your bulbs not his), predictions are made and minds are read. It’s a unique and exciting show every campus should consider. Bass/Schuler Entertainment, (773) 481-2600, info@bass-schuler.com
RUNNER UP: SAILESH
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Sammy Obeid is a hot new commodity in the campus market pulling down a major win with the Fastest Rising Star Award for 2014. “I am honored, first of all, especially since it’s a competition that didn’t seem that easy to win. Many times when entertainers are nominated for online voting competitions there are so many ways to fraud the system. This was a real competition where people have to use a .edu address and can only be affiliated with colleges. That really made it seem legitimate and a much more meaningful win,” he says.
He’s gained notoriety with his project
“1,000 Days of Comedy” where he notably performed 1,000 consecutive days of comedy without missing a single day!
Sammy has quite a background in higher education and performs a highbrow sort of comedy that intelligent audiences on campus seem to appreciate more than the comedy club crowd. “I am a math major and very analytical. Sometimes folks have to think a little bit, but I still like to think that my comedy is broad based. But I do like to play at the top of people’s intelligence. I do a lot of word play, math and language
analysis and I talk about some cultural humor. I also share fun facts in my set.”
I always had a knack for public speaking, which I started doing in high school. I graduated and went to a community college where I did speech and debate competitively. Someone saw me do a speech and told me I should try out for a comedy competition. I did very well and never looked back, so the campus market seemed like a perfect for me as a performer.” KP Comedy, Gina Kirkland: (866) 769-9037, gina@kpcomedy.com
RUNNER UP: ERIC MINA
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From the 2014 GRAMMY AWARDS Photo: Kevork Djansezian Ben Haggerty (born June 19, 1983) is known by his stage name Macklemore and formerly Professor Macklemore. He made a name for himself as an American rapper. Since 2003, he has collaborated with producer, Ryan Lewis.
Macklemore and Lewis's single "Thrift Shop" reached number 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in 2013. It was the first time since 1994 that a song reached number 1 on the Hot 100 chart without the support of a major record label. Their sec-
ond single, "Can't Hold Us" also peaked at #1 of the Hot 100 Chart, making Macklemore and Lewis the first duo in the chart's history to have their first two singles both reach number 1.
Macklemore was fourteen when he started writing lyrics.When he started to rap, Macklemore listened to "a lot of East Coast underground hip hop", with Freestyle Fellowship, Aceyalone, Living Legends, Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, and Talib Kweli being big influences on him. Inter-
ested in reaching a younger generation through his music, he was a part of a program focusing on education and cultural identity called "Gateways for Incarcerated Youth" where he facilitated music workshops. He earned a bachelors degree from The Evergreen State College in 2009. The pair were nominated for seven Grammy awards at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards this year, winning four. Info: theagencygroup.com
RUNNER UP: PHILLIP PHILLIPS
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In the past, the RCAs have honored the novelty/games field by single attractions. This strategy was troublesome because so many great attractions are offered by multiple companies. This year, we decided to change things up a bit and focus on the people bringing you those attractions and their dedication to great service.
Endeavor Entertainment is the first ever winner of the National Novelty Agency of The Year Award. For many years they have been bringing great live performers to the field, but have also separated themselves as one of the top novelty providers for campuses.
The team includes Virgil Dombroski, Monica Everdyke and Sue Evans. The company has been in business for 10 years and has a staff that fluctuates seasonally from 6 to 12 employees. They works in a variety of markets but their primary focus is campuses. “We are a college and university company for the majority of our revenue,” Virgil says. “But during the summer we do many corporate picnics and other functions.”
“We also work with many of the big mega churches and towns and recreation departments,” Sue says. The company offers a variety of novel-
ties and live entertainers, but the real meat of what you get with Endeavor is the personal service. This is evidenced by the fact that a school in New Mexico demanded their services all the way from central New York, rather than hiring someone closer. “I think most people in business know it’s really the relationships you have,” Monica says, “and that is a huge priority for us. All of our clients become family and when it comes down to it we know this business is all about how you treat people and how well you take care of them.” Endeavor Entertainment, (315) 484-7445, monica@endeavorentertainment.com
RUNNER UP: NEW YORK PARTY WORKS
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chrisjones (one word) is the hot new hypnotist on the tip of everyone's tongue. This is clearly marked by this big win for him this year for the Best Variety Performer of 2014 among a field of extremely dignified nominees, including the former Entertainer of The Year Mike Super. In the few of short years he has been in the market, chrisjones has performed at almost 300 schools, with a rebooking rate to be proud of. He credits much of this success not only to hard work and the tutelage of his mentor Frederick Winters, but also in being with one of the top agencies in the market.
“I got with Bass/Schuler Entertainment just after I had finished grad school and was working full time at a university as a residence hall director. They saw my material and said ‘Okay, you’re pretty good. If you’re really good, we will keep you and if not, and we don’t sign contracts, you will be done (laughs). I took that as a sign I was in, quit my job later that month and still hadn’t performed a show. I moved all my stuff back to my dad’s house – that was three years ago. It’s crazy, I am back in Chicago on Friday at the place I did my very first show and I can’t believe how far I’ve come in so short a time. It really has come full circle.”
Performing around 75 shows his first year, 90 in his second, this third year he
is on par to hit well over 100. They have all been very successful, according to his rebooking rate. “68 schools have rebooked me three times in three years, which is pretty darn cool.”
He is incredibly grateful to have received this award, especially among the field he was nominated amongst. “When I heard Mike Super was in the competition, I just said ‘All right, I give up. A friend was nominated as well and I messaged him and said ‘Hey, let’s keep our friendship and just see what happens’ and he agreed completely. I respect him as a performer deeply, we were at IHOP eating together when we found out we were nominated for this category. I think this Award could have gone any way for any of the artists nominated, they are all fantastic and I am incredibly grateful this one swung my way.” Bass/Schuler Entertainment: (773) 481-2600, info@bass-schuler.com
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Some might consider this Award a step down for Mission: IMPROVable, since last year they carried the Entertainer Of The Year Award and our April 2013 cover, but since we don’t allow any artist to win the same category two years consecutively, the Award this year for Best Comedy Performance shows that MI is still in the running and at the top of their game. It’s a four man improvisation troupe that can come to school and make each show unique and one of a kind for your students. Aaron Krebs is a founder and brainchild of the organization.
“The show is an interactive comedy show that is very infectiously fun. We use a lot of audience participation and crowd work. It works almost as icebreaking to a degree, when we talk to students and really get them to open up and get to know not only the guys on stage, but each other as well. The show itself is a series of improv games, some of the classics that many people do and some of them are those that we created or crafted to fit our particular chemistry for the campus market.” Many improv troupes have come and gone in the campus market but MI has somehow figured out how to remain
consistent, relevant and at the top of the request list for campuses across the country. “I think what sets our show apart is that we spend a lot of time on selecting the right performers who fit our personal philosophy of the show. When you watch the show, it’s not like watching a performance. It’s like seeing four friends goof on each other and with the audience and the audience feels like they are a part of it. I think that is a huge element of our success.” Info: Bass/Schuler Entertainment: (773) 481-2600, info@bass-schuler.com
RUNNER UP: JEN KOBER
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It’s no secret that we have a few of campuses who are incredibly active with Campus Activities Magazine, always seeming to show up in the Awards and turning in consistently high numbers of Artist Report Cards®. So, we found it as a bit of an upset when Eastern New Mexico University was able to pull out the Award for Best Campus Program for 2014 when the likes of Winthrop University and The University Of Akron were nominated, but it’s clear this western school has a great, quality program that the artists and agents in the campus market found worthy of voting for as the winner of this Award. Draco Miller is the Director of Campus Life at ENMU and tells us a little bit about the campus and its programming. “The school has 5800 students, which includes graduate and undergrads. The majority of the programming we do is aimed at the undergrad population, but it’s open to and attended by all students. But probably 98% of the students who regularly attend are undergrads.”
There is a large on campus population. “We have over 3,000 on campus, which includes folks in the dorms or in the immediate area around the small town of Portales, where the campus is located. We are about 3.5 hours south of Albuquerque, the largest city in our state, and an hour and ten minutes from Lubbock, Texas. There are over 115,000 people in that city which includes several clubs and bars, but generally we don’t seem to have to fight the night life for
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student attention with our events, because we are very careful about how we schedule our programming.”
The Associated Student Activities Board is very crafty about not competing with either sporting events, or weekend draws. “We strategically place our programming during the week. Hardly ever do we program on Friday, Saturday or Sunday because many times students will leave campus during those times. On Monday nights, the only programming we do are free movie nights. Tuesdays through Thursdays have all of our other programming, from comedians to hypnotists, music and novelties.” The school does set up what they refer to as “swag stations” on the weekends, where the ASAB goes out to support their athletic events with novelty programming. “We may bring in a zip line or other novelty, game or set up takeaway novelties for the students. Face and body painting, signage, noise makers, photo booths and those sort of things work well in those settings.”
The ASAB is an active board, programming steadily throughout both semesters. “We will average 80 events a year. Of those 40 per semester, we do six movie nights, nine live entertainment events and the rest in various novelty, speaking or other types of events.” The board is divided into four distinct departments. “Entertainment, music, special
events and membership are our four departments. Entertainment is in charge of anything that is nonmusical and non-novelty, like comedians, hypnotists, magicians, jugglers, contortionists and other variety acts. Music is self-explanatory of course, special events is sort of a catch-all. We do a lot of novelties and games, party or club nights, casino nights, inflatables, etc. Membership doesn’t really plan events per se, except for philanthropic programs, but they take care of our members and host members-only parties and events.” Comedy is king on the ENMU campus. “The biggest draw we have are comedians by far. Music brings in ten events a semester as well, anything from acoustic and a cappella to full rock and pop bands.”
Each of the departments also employs techniques to stretch their budget for more programming. “ dThey also each have what we call ‘Eastern Homegrown Events.’ Music does many of those like karaoke and open mic nights and we do a play off of ‘America’s Got Talent’ we call ‘Eastern’s Got Talent.’ It is a huge talent show where we give out prize money.” The ASAB is a large and active board with nearly 40 members, and are clearly doing something right, being voted this year’s Best Campus Program. Draco Miller: (575) 562-2108 Draco.Miller@enmu.edu
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Bass/Schuler Entertainment has been the unprecedented king of the Agency of The Year Award, winning what is now seven years out of their 15 in business. That’s a pretty stellar batting average (keeping in mind that no one nominee can win the same Award two consecutive years).
Scott Bass and Chris Schuler are the partners that started the company, and since the former stays locked in his dungeon selling acts like a madman, the latter tends to be the public face of the company and gives Campus Activities Magazine an interview with some insights on their success. The agency stared in 1999, with just Scott and Chris. “We were both with another agency at the time and decided to strike out on our own. I can’t believe it has been so long, but it has. It’s kind of like a marriage looking back on it (laughs). We hit the ground running with a strong and well-balanced roster and many of those acts are still with us today. Guys like Christopher Carter, Jason Levasseur and Frederick Winters have been with us since the beginning.”
It has always been BSE’s focus to be able to provide their services across the full spectrum of campus programming. “Our goal has always been to be a full service agency that could cover the full aspect of what a programming board would want to bring to their campus. It seemed to make the most sense for Scott and I to give each programming board every opportunity to have a chance to work with us. We didn’t want to exclude any type of entertainment, so we searched that out and feel that we have secured the strongest roster we could that could cover all aspects of a school’s schedule.”
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Just because BSE has secured their position as one of the top tier agencies in the market doesn’t mean they are kicking back and taking it easy. “We are not resting on our laurels by any means,” Chris says. “We still work hard every day at our office to not only take care of our artists but also the schools who trust us to book shows for their students. It means a lot to Scott and I that being an agent is more of a vocation than a profession for us both. We have this great opportunity to work closely with artists that have a passion and a desire to do what they do and it is invigorating to be around people who love what they do.”
That passion for being the best and providing the best possible products and service to the campus market has made them a natural selection to rise to the top. “Most jobs that people might have aren’t around folks like that, who care so deeply about what they do and the people they do it for and it’s great to be part of that energy and keep that going. To help acts succeed and programming boards host successful events is part of what Scott and I and the rest of the team at Bass/Schuler work towards every day.”
They have not gotten caught in the trap of infinite capitalistic expansion, maintaining an office and staff size that is just right to remain the well-oiled machine that keeps contracts going out and clients happy on a daily basis. “Our office has stayed small to make sure that we can maintain what we do and we don’t expand too much in a way that might cause a loss of quality in what we are presenting or our level of service. We want to be the best college agency that we can possibly be. The campus market is not just one facet of what we do; it IS what we do.” Bass/Schuler Entertainment: (773) 481-2600, info@bass-schuler.com
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This is a big, BIG win for Michael Kent this year, finally pulling down the Entertainer Of The Year Award after two previous hardfought battles in 2012 and 2013 where he was a very close runner-up. The self-billed “Comedian, Magician, Smart@$$” has become one of the most respected and in-demand entertainers in the campus market and this win proves it.
He couldn’t be happier about the win. “I couldn’t be happier.” See? Told ya. “I was shocked to hear the news and obviously extremely excited. It has been a long time coming and I am very thankful for everyone who came through with the votes and supported me through all three years of going after this Award.”
The tag line he uses works pretty well to describe his show in just those three words. “I started with magic when I was a kid, that was my hobby and passion and where my interest in the stage and performing initially came from. Comedy was always something I loved on the side that I loved watching, but it wasn’t something I was mature enough to incorporate into my magic yet. I had the normal magic icons I looked up to as a kid like David Copperfield and Penn & Teller (which I still do), but I really looked up to the guys like David Letterman and Bill Murray. I feel like now those are the people who influenced me even more without me even realizing it at the time. It was much later in life that I realized Bill Murray in particular was such a big influence on my comedy.”
A decade and a half after the magic bug bit him that he realized his passion for comedy ran just as deep. “I was in college and I started doing standup at open mic nights. It wasn’t much later after that that I realized I should be combining the comedy and magic for a show that could really hit hard on audiences and be my own.” www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
The first problem Michael saw with this was the amount of competition. “There were (and are) tons of guys doing comedy magic shows. When I started choosing what material was going to go in my show and excluding the material that didn’t fit, I realized that the stuff that I really enjoyed performing were the things that sort of made me a smartass: the material that made me come across that way. There is that saying that ‘nobody likes a smartass’ and I have always viewed that as sort of a challenge (laughs). I wanted to be a likable smartass, and I think it is okay to be a smartass when you are doing it with your friends. It obviously doesn’t work well with your parents, teachers or boss, but those people aren’t in my audiences. The students I perform for quickly become my friends and I think the way I come across as a smartass endears me to them somewhat, rather than alienating them, because they are all in on the joke. That is how I want my show to feel. We are just a big room full of friends and I can razz on you and you can razz on me and it’s all totally okay. So ‘Comic, Magician, Smart@$$’ became my tagline. It went on all my poster and ads and marketing materials and really became my unique brand in this market.” Michael says the realization of finding a brand – a label that truly fit him – has not confined him into a box, but in fact opened him up to being able to really hone in on a show that is uniform, cohesive and conducive to his brand. “It is nice now, because I can look at every little piece of material in my head that I am thinking about putting in my show and figure out if it meets one of those three criteria. Is it comedy? Is it magic? Is it smartass? If it’s at least two of those things, then I know it fits in with my show and personality. I think you see many magicians who’s shows seem disconnected, disjointed or not true to their form because they have a hard time figuring out what really fits seamlessly into their CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE®, APRIL 2014, 29
set with their personality.” Think of how David Blaine’s street magic has a uniformity. Not all of his effects are the same, but they all have a common thread of the sort of creepy and supernatural about them. You won’t see him with white tigers, just like you wouldn’t see Siegfried & Roy push a needle through their eye, or Criss Angel pull a rabbit out of a hat and turn it into a bouquet of flowers.
It’s not all goofy comedy. Most shows need some contrast to have more impact. Not contrast for contrast’s sake, but contrast for the sake of a more powerful performance. “Not everything in my show has to meet all three of those criteria. There are moments in my show when I want to be real with the audience. I want them to get to know me and sometimes it’s difficult to get that through being a smartass 100% of the time. Sometimes I want to just feel like we are just hanging out and having a more serious moment. There is a thing I do in my act with a balloon where I pop it and put it back together. In that part of my act I want it to be real and more focused because that is an illusion I created myself. I now sell it to other magicians to perform in their shows. So when I present it, I say, ‘here is something that I really care about and spent tons of time creating and developing and is an example of how my career allows me to be creative.’ I really appreciate that and I want the audience to understand that; if I treat it as just another gag, the feeling doesn’t come across.”
so they will just cut out the word ‘smartass’ (laughs). That becomes a neat sort of litmus test, because I know when I show up to campus and see that word redacted from the poster that I need to steer toward a cleaner show. My show is not ‘blue’ or inappropriate by any means, but sometimes it is nice to know which direction to steer in order to keep the audience and the programming boards happy. I would call my show edgy, not dirty at all, but I can obviously cater it one way or the other based on request.”
We all live and work in a market with a wide demographic when it comes to the types of schools we work with. Each entertainer would be well-advised to keep this in mind and Michael is no exception. He’s learned that adaptation and flexibility go a long way when it comes to pleasing schools that may be more on the conservative side. “Every show I do, I send posters to the schools. The ones I have preprinted for them have my tagline ‘Comic, Magician, Smart@$$’ on them. For those schools who are very conservative and can’t use the word ‘smartass’ on a poster, I offer one that just says ‘Comedian and Magician’ for download on my website. It is the same poster, but they have to print them. So I give them the original poster for free and often a school will still want to use them,
Michael is a versatile performer that can (and does) perform for a wide variety of audiences, but clearly the campus market is a huge priority for him. We want to know why. “I really, REALLY enjoy it. When I go and do a show at a corporate event, I have a great time. When I perform on a cruise ship, I have a great time. But when I perform at a college show, I feel like I am hanging out with my friends, doing magic. That is really what I want my job to be. I want my job to be so comfortable that it doesn’t feel like I am going to work and when I perform at colleges, that is exactly how it feels. It doesn’t feel like work to me. That is really important in late October when I have been on the road for three months doing shows in small towns across America I have never been to and don’t know anyone in and I haven’t slept for days. To get there and do the show and feel like I am just having a good time doing what I love and hanging out with a fun crowd is very important. I hope to be able to do it for a long time to come.” For Bookings: Fresh Variety, Laura Gilman at (603)518-5783 info@freshvariety.com
RUNNER UP: ADAM GRABOWSKI
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How You Can Benefit From Campus Activities Magazine®
Campus Activities Magazine® is the most widely distributed publication in the world for colleges and universities that program activities. It reached 4000+ buyers and over 200 agencies mostly in the United States and Canada. While it is privately owned, it is supported by a National Board of Advisors that includes programming directors from schools in various parts of the country as well as agencies who make the college market a major focus of what they do. The magazine takes the board’s recommendations very seriously and in 23 years of existence, has never decided against any recommendation.
YOUR SUBSCRIPTION: Each campus receives one copy of the publication free of charge. Be sure your information is updated as changes are made in your staff. Additional copies are available at only $12 per year for students and staff. We will accept a purchase order for subscriptions for 10 or more. For 1-9 subscriptions, we will accept any major credit card. CHANGING YOUR INFORMATION: If you need to change any information regarding your free or paid subscription, email us at biz@cameopublishing.com with the changes you request. You will receive a confirmation email within two (2) business days.
ONLINE EDITION: campusactivitiesmagazine.com is available free of charge to all campuses, agents and artists. It not only includes the most current issue of the publication but you have access to materials including videos from all our sponsors with direct links to their websites. There is also an easy to navigate flip book edition of the current magazine that you can view full screen.
REPRINTS: Reprints are available on most magazine content from 2003 to the present. Reprint prices vary by the number of pages of the story or ad. Minimum quantity is 50 and maximum is 5,000. All prices are plus shipping. For an estimate, contact us at biz@cameopublishing.com. ADVISOR’S EDITION: Each year a special publication is developed over the summer with the aim of helping schools know a little more about the acts they are booking. The Advisors Edition has a complete archive of Artist Report Cards alphabetically by genre in playdate order for one complete year prior to publishing date. In addition, this year’s edition will have a catalog of all campus agencies with acts they represent.
HAVE A REQUEST?: Some of the best ideas for stories come from the schools that read our magazine. Do you have a hot act you have discovered or a show you feel other schools will be interested in or a topic you feel needs to be discussed? Tell us about it. We appreciate your feed back. Email kirby@cameopublishing.com. Contact us at (800) 728-2950 or any member of our national advisory board (listed in The Advisor’s Edition or our website).
ARTIST REPORT CARDS: We didn’t invent the reporting system but we have refined it and we encourage schools to participate and artists to request to be reviewed. Not only do you get to see the most up-to-date reports in our magazine, but we devote part of our Annual Advisor’s Edition each summer to archiving for you all the reports from the previous year so you can get a first hand knowledge of acts you may be considering for the upcoming season.
EXTRA COPIES: Sometimes schools artists and agencies will request extra copies should they be featured or a specific article appeals to them. These are available at our cost ($2.90 each) plus shipping. For quantities greater than ten (10), orders should be placed prior to printing to ensure your order can be filled. Only a limited number of copies are available after an issue is printed and when they are gone, they are unavailable.
BACK ISSUES: We do maintain a limited number of back issues that can be available on request. Many back issues are available on our website at campusactivitiesmagazine.com. Some popular editions are going to be out of print. To send us a request for a back issue, email us at biz@cameopublishing.com. www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
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YOUR GUIDE TO AMERICA’S BEST ARTIST RATINGS THE RATING SYSTEM: 5= EXCELLENT 4= VERY GOOD 3= AVERAGE 2= FAIR 1= POOR
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 current reports from our readers. All ratings here had complete verifiable information and were signed by the reviewer. All reports must have been submitted by the school where the date was played. These reports are comprised of reports electronically submitted on our web site. Reports MAY NOT be submitted by the artist or their agency. ALL REPORTS MUST BE SUBMITTED ON OUR WEBSITE AT: http://www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com/arc/ THERE IS A DIRECT LINK TO THE REPORT FORM ON THE HOME PAGE. HERE ARE THE CATEGORIES FOR THE RATINGS FOUND AFTER THE BUYER’S NAME AND PLAY DATE: (1) ORIGINALITY; (2) ARTIST’S ABILITY; (3) RELATIONSHIP TO THE AUDIENCE; (4) COOPERATION / ATTITUDE; (5) ROAD CREW / MANAGEMENT; (6) AGENCY COOPERATION; (7) PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS PROVIDED. Campus Reports listed in RED indicate the buyer reported a perfect score in all categories that applied to their campus performance for that artist or event. ATTENDANCE (When Available) AND THE LOCATION ON CAMPUS WILL FOLLOW THE PERFORMANCE DATE. THESE RATINGS REPRESENT ACTUAL SHOWS REPORTED BETWEEN OCTOBER 1 AND OCTOBER 25, 2013 sssss INDICATES A PERFECT SCORE FROM FIVE (5) OR MORE SCHOOLS WITH NO SCORE LESS THAN A 5
COMEDY
AARON KOMINOS-SMITH Norman Magic (NMP, Inc)
Georgia Regents University, Augusta, GA 02/26/14 150+ Lee Auditorium, Health Sciences Campus 5555555 Aaron is such a nice guy! I enjoyed meeting him and having him at our school! I would say he's the most laid-back comedian I have ever met. Loves what he does and cares about his audience! Tyler Schumann, Live Entertainment Assistant Director, Jaguar Production Crew ADAM GRABOWSKI Auburn Moon Agency
Indiana University-South Bend, South Bend, IN 01/23/14 100 University Grill 5555-55 Despite blizzard conditions for most of his drive here, Adam arrived EARLY and excited! His contact before and after the show have shown how dedicated he is to maintaining a relationship with the institution. We had Seniors telling us that Adam Grabowski was the best performer we've ever brought in. Adam interacts with the crowd before, during and after his show in such a way that everyone felt a part of the experience. In fact, a month later I still see students wearing his merchandise and referencing his jokes. He really made a great impression and we are definitely looking to book him again as soon as we can! Nicole Micolichek, Residence Coordinator CHLOE HILLIARD Summit Comedy, Inc.
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, MA 02/23/14 25 Sullivan Lounge 4445554 Anthony Olivares, Student Activities Council Comedy Stop chair
COLLIN MOULTON Summit Comedy, Inc.
Brevard College, Brevard, NC 02/19/14 60 Dunham 5555-44 Collin Moulton was super funny and very easy to work with! Alessandra Tavoloni, Director of Student Engagement
Maryville College, Maryville, TN 02/20/14 80+ Isaac's Cafe 5545-5Collin Moulton was excellent! He mixed well with the crowd and brought MC a much needed laugh! Alison Fox, Student Activities Coordniator
King's College, Wilkes-Barre, PA 02/25/14 60 Connerton's Cafe 5555-5Collin was awesome! The student leaders really enjoyed working with him and the students at the show stayed to get photos with him and talk with him. His material was original and clean and we will most likely bring him back in the future. Sean Cryan, Director of Campus Activities
ERIC O'SHEA Summit Comedy, Inc.
Lesley University, Cambridge, MA 01/31/14 51 marran 3455--Allie, Entertainment programmer JEFFREY JAY Summit Comedy, Inc.
Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY 02/19/14 60+ Cafe 5555555 Jeffrey Jay put on a wonderful show, and he caught the crowds attention with his clever and educational rhetoric. He is a pleasure to work with. Michael Bueti, Comedian Chairperson
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JESSI CAMPBELL Summit Comedy, Inc.
Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT 01/29/14 100+ Alumni Hall 5555555 OMG I love Jessi Campbell soooo much! She was super funny everybody loved her. She took pictures with our club and she even stopped by our meeting before the show. She was so nice love her so much. Definitely a great person to bring to your school. Shay Collins, VP of Programming Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO 02/24/14 25+ The Vallecito Room 445555Jessi was great for our campus. She was funny and our students really enjoyed her material. She has the perfect balance of being edgy without having to be crude. Elizabeth Roberts, Union Programming Coordinator MATTHEW BROUSSARD Kirkland Productions
Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT 02/04/14 100 Semesters 4444444 He was a very nice guy. He stood behind and talked with the students and also stayed a little longer to talk to the members of CAN. He was very down to earth and everybody loved him. Shay Collins, VP of Programming MISSION IMPROVABLE Bass/Schuler Entertainment
University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO 01/21/14 90+ School Campus 5555-55 Mission IMPROVable is a great group to work with. They were very energetic and did a great job getting the audience involved. Carrie Calovich, Comedy Coordinator University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 01/30/14 1200 UIC Forum 5555555
Mission IMPROVable was great to work with! Our students loved their performance! Sladjana Grbic, Assistant Program Director
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Saint Mary of the Woods, IN 01/31/14 100+ Prospective Student Overnight 5555555 I have seen MI multiple times, and they never fail to exceed my expectations! Excellent, as always. Margy Frazier, President, Student Activities Committee Concordia University-Wisconsin, Mequon, WI 02/11/14 100 Auditorium 5454444 We have had Mission IMPROVable several times on campus and without a doubt always awesome!! I enjoy having them come on campus and it seems the students do as well because it is a very well attended event every time. Julie Sperstad, Coordinator of Student Events and Education Marist High School, Chicago 02/28/14 75+ Marist High School Theatre 5555555 Maggie McEldowney, Director of Student Activities OLIVIA HAREWOOD Artists West Entertainment
Cornell College, Mount Vernon, IA 01/31/14 100 Commons 5555555 Hayden Howard, Comedy Chair PREACHER MOSS Bass/Schuler Entertainment
University of Akron Main Campus, Akron, OH 02/06/14 411 E.J. Thomas Hall 555555Preacher Moss is hilarious with an educational twist! He was part of our Rethinking Race series and really brought a fun dynamic to bringing awareness to a lot of very important topics with our students. Holly K. Pilcavage, GA-RHPB
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ROB LITTLE Summit Comedy, Inc.
University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Platteville, WI 02/01/14 600 College Student Center 4555-5Alexa Sieling, Event Producer
Doane College-Crete, Crete, NE 02/20/14 85+ Coffee House 5555-4Awesome! We couldn't get him off the stage! His interaction with the audience was phenomenal. Students actually loved getting picked on.... ha. Amy L. Schmitt, Director of Student Involvement SAMMY OBEID Kirkland Productions
Salt Lake Community College, Salt Lake City, UT 02/13/14 100+ Student Event Center 2332-44 To be completely honest, the Sammy Obeid performance did not go as well as we had hoped. The original material that he had prepared was good, but he spent about half of his performance time doing some improv work with suggestions from the audience. For the most part this was not funny. To me and many of my activities board it made Sammy appear that he wasn’t prepared for the performance. Those of us who saw Sammy at NACA Mid-America were very sad that this performance did not go as well as we had expected and told others that it should have gone. I also heard that at dinner with our students he was not really interacting and when he was some of my students found him rude. He seemed more concerned to run lines for his upcoming audition that he was engaging with our students. Brandi Mair, Coordinator Peninsula College, Port Angeles, WA 02/21/14 100 Peninsula College & 7 Cedars Casino 5545-44 Sammy Obeid is one of the best comedians we've ever had! He performed two shows for us and both were outstanding. He's a rising star. Book him while you can! Rick Ross, Dir. of Student Programs THE MUSLIMS ARE COMING! Kirkland Productions
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 02/11/14 120+ USC School of Cinematic Arts Screening Room 5555-55 Dane Martens, Director, USC Spectrum TIM YOUNG Summit Comedy, Inc.
Wright State University-Main Campus, Dayton, OH 01/31/14 100 120 MedSci 2213-43 Artist arrived late. Did not connect with audience and seemed to want to get away as soon as possible. Students in attendance were not impressed, and some material was offensive (topic of drugs and drinking).
MUSIC
Kate Page, Community Director DAN HENIG Metropolis Management & Entertainment Group
Auburn University, Auburn University, AL 01/16/14 35 Auburn University Student Center 5555555 Mike Rapay, UPC Advisor
COMING THIS SUMMER CAM’S 2014/15 ADVISOR’S EDITION
With A Complete Agency Section And A Catalog of Artist Reports
VARIETY CHRISJONES Bass/Schuler Entertainment
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, WI 01/30/14 650+ Cartwright Center 5555-55 Chrisjones is fantastic! He's not afraid to get out and meet students before the show which gets them excited for what's to come. He is personable, his smile is infectious and he loves what's happening on stage as much as the audience does. You can tell he is truly passionate about entertaining! You will get a unique show each time with his performances. PLUS, people will want him back! I have community members contacting me asking me to bring him back before the end of the semester if possible! He's a riot and a half to have on any campus! Andrea Higgins, CAB Advisor CHRISTOPHER CARTER Bass/Schuler Entertainment
Waldorf College, Forest City, IA 02/19/14 100+ Atrium 5555555 Christopher Carter was amazing! He was able to arrive to our campus early to do teasers in our cafeteria. The students were amazed and the show was incredible. He interacted with the audience well and held their attention the whole time. We will definitely have him back at Waldorf! Anjaih Clemons, Director of Student Activities & Orientation Inver Hills Community College, Inver Grove Heights, MN 02/19/14 100 Green Room 5555-55 He did great. His show was engaging and he was able to pull a lot of our students into the show. He packed our Green Room. It was the most highly attended event this year!! Mike Opoku, Associate Director of Student Life CRAIG KARGES Karges Productions
University of Portland, Portland, OR 02/22/14 200+ Chiles Center Arena 5555--5 Craig was great to work with, both before and the day of the show. He was professional, courteous, and enthusiastic. Our students and other guests loved his performance and were engaged from the moment he walked on the stage. We've had Craig to campus numerous times, and he has been well-received every time. Megan Jung, Assistant Director of Student Activities DANIEL MARTIN Bass/Schuler Entertainment
Emporia State University, Emporia, KS 02/19/14 200+ Web Hall 5555555 He was a blast. ESU LOVED it, there was a great turnout, unique tricks, mind blowing stunts. Loved it all. Jackie Morris, UAC VE Chair
Lake Region State College, Devils Lake, ND 02/25/14 200 Robert FawcettvAuditoriuj 5555-55 Daniel Martin knows how to react with the audience. Down to earth friendly guy. Would recommend him to any campus. His show would have you laughing for hours. Glenn Crowe, Technician
University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 02/28/14 250+ Loading Dock 5555-55 We love Daniel Martin! He brings in our largest crowds every year and students love him! One of the best performers we bring to campus. Kristina LeMire, Chair
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ERIC MINA COMEDY HYPNOTIST GP ENTERTAINMENT
University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, Dartmouth, MA 02/08/14 300+ main auditorium 5555555 Truly One Of The Best Hypnotist we have. Funny, clever, and very engaging. Fillette Lovaincy, SAIL Events Team Coordinator
Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA 02/25/14 70+ Lower Wismer 5555--5 Artist was really cooperative and both fun and easy to work with. It was a pleasure having him on our campus and we would love to have him back soon. Abi Wood, Vice President Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA 02/25/14 70+ lower wismer 5555-55 Artist was really cooperative and both fun and easy to work with. It was a pleasure having him on our campus and we would love to have him back soon. Abi Wood, vice president
University of Minnesota-Crookston, Crookston, MN 03/05/14 200+ Kihile 4555-55 He was great and easy to work with! Our students LOVED the show and laughed the whole time! Alexmai Addo, Day Time Coordinator
students along with their families loved him. He was extremely interactive and brought a ton of people up on stage to be part of the show! Holly K. Pilcavage, GA-RHPB MICHAEL KENT Fresh Variety
Tiffin University, Tiffin, OH 02/06/14 100 Osceola Theatre 4555--5 Glad to have him here! He is always welcome back! Campus Activities Board, Group NORMAN NG Norman Magic Productions
University of South Florida-St. Petersburg Campus, St. Petersburg, FL 01/28/14 80 USC Ballrooms 5555554 Norman's show was awesome! The 4 hour teaser really got people excited for the event! Great performance by Norman overall! Darren Lasso, Director of Stage Acts Suffolk University, Boston, MA 02/07/14 70+ C Walsh Theater 5545455 Vy Ha, Vice President of Asian American Association SPIDEY GP Entertainment
FREDERICK WINTERS Bass/Schuler Entertainment
Tiffin University, Tiffin, OH 02/25/14 56 Osceola Theatre 555554Carissa Catalano, Chairperson
JOE SHOWERS, COMEDY JUGGLER Endeavor Entertainment Inc.
BALLOONS BY LESTER & BODY ART BY SUSAN Everything But The Mime
GAMES
Alverno College, Milwaukee, WI 02/05/14 1+ Conference Center 55555-5 Students loved the performance and the experience! Daysi Perez, Student Event Chair
University of Akron Main Campus, Akron, OH 03/01/14 765 EJ Thomas Hall 555555Joe Showers was fantastic! He was a roving juggler at our Sibs Saturday event and the students and their families loved every second. He even taught some of the kids how to juggle! Holly K. Pilcavage, GA-RHPB JOSH MCVICAR COMEDY MAGIC AND HYPNOSIS On That Note
Saginaw Valley State University, University Center, MI 02/22/14 260 Student Activities Room 4555554 Cody Newland, Student Event Coordinator MAD CHAD TAYLOR Bass/Schuler Entertainment
Bradley University, Peoria, IL 02/22/14 240 Student Center Ballroom 5555-55 Sojourner White, ACBU Special Events Coordinator MARK TOLAND Mark Toland
Ottawa University-Ottawa, Ottawa, KS 02/20/14 35+ Mowbray Union 4555555 Mark did a great job, we would love to have him back in the fall. Sydnee Krueger, Student Activities Coordinator MAT FRANCO Mat Franco
University of Akron Main Campus, Akron, OH 03/01/14 428 E.J. Thomas Hall 555555Mat Franco is hilarious and so talented! He was our main stage act for our Sibs Saturday and the
University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 02/14/14 350 Student Activities Center 5555555 The students loved Susan and her body art! She did a wonderful job and was amazing to work with! Her station had a line throughout our whole event. She worked carefully on each student paying close attention to detail and making sure they were satisfied with her artwork. Truly a joy to work with! Maritza Torres, Assistant Director of Student Activities Auburn University, Auburn University, AL 02/21/14 1000 Auburn Student Center 5555555 Mike Rapay, UPC Coordinator Auburn University, Auburn University, AL 02/21/14 1000 Auburn Student Center 5555555 Mike Rapay, UPC Coordinator
Pasco-Hernando Community College-East, Dade City, FL 03/05/14 100 Pasco-Hernando State College 5555555 Lester and Susan are hands down the best. They show up early and are extremely self sufficient. They are awesome with the students, faculty, and staff. Ahmy S. Arca, Coordinator of Student Activities BEAR CREATIONS Kirkland Productions
University of Akron Main Campus, Akron, OH 02/20/14 259 Robertson's Dining Hall 555555We order kangaroos since that is our mascot and the students absolutely love coming to this event to take their very own little mascot home. We had the "Smile" t-shirts for the kangaroos too, so the students could dress them up! It was a hit! Holly K. Pilcavage, GA-RHPB
www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com
BIG CHAIR PHOTOS Endeavor Entertainment Inc. University of Akron Main Campus, Akron, OH 03/01/14 765 E.J. Thomas Hall 555555Big Chair Photos are a student favorite here at UA! We had them at our Sibs Saturday event and it was great. Students and their families were climbing up onto the chair to take fun, silly photos to always remember the day! Holly K. Pilcavage, GA-RHPB BONGO BALL MANIA CEP Incorporated
Wells College, Aurora, NY 01/25/14 150 Gym 5555555 Bongo Ball Mania was great! Our students loved it and had a wonderful time! The crew, Jesus and Seth were wonderful with the students and great to work with. We've had many requests to bring it back and most likely will! Hailey Ur ibe, Assistant Director of Student Activities CARICATURE ARTISTS Party Animals
University of Akron Main Campus, Akron, OH 03/01/14 765 E.J. Thomas Hall 555555The caricature artists are so friendly and great at what they do! They add backgrounds or word bubbles to make each caricature unique and fun! Holly K. Pilcavage, GA-RHPB CARNIVAL GAMES Party Animals
University of Akron Main Campus, Akron, OH 03/01/14 765 E.J. Thomas Hall 555555The carnival games are extremely easy to set up. They are a huge plus to our Kids Karnival during our Sibs Saturday events. The students and their siblings get to play the games, win tickets, and pick out prizes! Holly K. Pilcavage, GA-RHPB CUSTOM AIR BRUSH HATS AND T-SHIRTS Everything But The Mime
New River Community College, Dublin, VA 02/28/14 200+ Lounge/ Mall Food Court 5555555 We had to reschedule this event because of
snow, but everything from the contract negotiations to final check went very well. This is an excellent Agency with which to work, and all their events are excellent quality, unique and greatly received by college audiences. I worked primarily with Carol Studer and she is a wonderful professional agent. Bruce Courville was the artist and he was excellent to work with as well. He set up in a short time, arrived well in advance to do so, and he took his time serving each student very well. His craft is very unique and the rings he stamped by hand were beautiful and of excellent quality material. I highly recommend this event to all college student activities programs. This event could not have gone any better for us from start to finish. It is wonderful! Dr. Benjamin Kramer, Activities Counselor PARTY PIX GREEN SCREEN PartyPix Photo Experience
University of Akron Main Campus, Akron, OH 03/01/14 765 E.J. Thomas Hall 555555The green screen is always a hit! Quick and fun for the students. They are always able to have backgrounds that fit the themes of our events! Holly K. Pilcavage, GA-RHPB PHOTO BOOTH PartyPix Photo Experience
University of Akron Main Campus, Akron, OH 03/01/14 765 E.J. Thomas Hall 555555Easy setup! Easy to work with! Students can print out as many copies as they want so it doesn't matter how many people they try to fit into each photo. It's a great take-away from events! Holly K. Pilcavage, GA-RHPB PHOTO DOG TAGS Kirkland Productions
North Dakota State UniversityMain Campus, Fargo, ND 02/04/14 90+ North Dakota State Universtiy Memorial Union 455555There was a little confusion on how the text on the dog tags were going to be printed ). However, students were still satisfied! Ben Tang, Campus Attractions Vice President SILHOUETTES BY KATHRYN Everything But The Mime Auburn University, Auburn University, AL
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02/21/14 1000+ Auburn Student Center 5555555 Mike Rapay, UPC Coordinator SPARKLES THE CLOWN AND BIRTHDAY CHRONICLES Kaleidoscope Entertainment, Inc.
University of Akron Main Campus, Akron, OH 03/01/14 765 E.J. Thomas Hall 555555We just had Sparkles the Clown and What's in a name? for our Sibs Saturday event! The students and their sibs loved getting their faces painted, got balloon animals, and were able to find out what their name means! They are always a pleasure to work with! Holly K. Pilcavage, GA-RHPB SPIN ART SHUTTER SHADES Bobby K Entertainment
Wells College, Aurora, NY 01/25/14 150 Gym -555555 Bobby K is one of the best agencies to work with in the Central NY area! Kate and crew that came to do the spin art shades were so easy to work with. They got on well with the students and were very accommodating! Hailey Uribe, Assistant Director of Student Activities STAMP-A-RING Everything But The Mime
Quincy College, Quincy, MA 02/19/14 200 Quincy Campus 5555-5This is a great program that the students absolutely loved. The rings were a hit with the students. Bruce wasn't even out of the building and the students were asking when I would be bringing him back!!! Kathi Schaeffer, Director of Student Development Auburn University, Auburn University, AL 02/21/14 1000+ Auburn Student Center 5555555 Mike Rapay, UPC Coordinator
SPEAKERS ELAINE PASQUA Pasqua Productions, Inc.
Pennsylvania State University-Abington, Abington, PA 01/30/14 48 sexual assault 4555--5 Elaine is an outstanding presenter who demonstrates superior command of her subject matter and an exceptional ability to engage college students. She is a passionate teacher who shows respect for a diverse audience and an ability to talk about difficult subjects with knowledge, sensitivity, empathy and with appropriate humor. I have hosted this speaker multiple times and have had consistently good feedback from students. I will continue to host Elaine Pasqua for ongoing student programs and plan to hire her for staff development training. Donna Monk, Campus Nurse FAGBUG E2 Live!
Clinton Community College, Plattsburgh, NY 03/03/14 80+ Stafford Technology Theater 5555-55 Everything went swimmingly! No complaints. Courtney E Willey, Equality Alliance President SEX SIGNALS Catharsis Productions
Partnership Against Domestic Violence, Atlanta, GA 02/08/14 180 Primerica HQ 5555-54 Samantha Macedo, Teen Advocate TROY STENDE Kirkland Productions
Tarrant County College District, Fort Worth, TX 02/28/14 100 Trinity River Campus 5555-55 Troy was amazing. People were laughing, crying, hugging, standing and applauding. He really touched the audience! Stevie Blakely, Coordinator Lisa Gruszka, Associate Director
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