International Performing Artists Association Announce 2010 Achievement Winners

The International Performing Artists Association has announced the winners of the 2010 International Performing Artists Award.

These are the first annual achievement awards presented by the IPAA. The International Performing Artists Association is a consortium of professional entertainers recognized as luminaries in their field. Their mission is to honor outstanding achievement in the genre of performing arts and further the careers of exceptional artists.

"There are numerous award shows that honor movies, music and theatre, but none acknowledge the true live performer whose dedication to their craft far exceeds the recognition they deserve", says one of the IPAA board members.

The IPA Awards are given out annually and categories are open to all professional entertainers worldwide. Entertainment fields include but are not limited to: Comedians, Comedy Teams, Jugglers, Impressionists, Ventriloquist and other Variety Artists, Improv Groups, Performance Artists, Musicians, Musical Acts, DJ's, Singers, Videographers and more.

This years recipients were selected from a vast body of eligible talent to be the most deserving of recognition in their field. "These artists are the working class of entertainers. They may not be household names but deliver solid audience pleasing performances on a regular basis. With the right promotion, they could be superstars", adds another founder of the IPAA. "Our goal is to increase awareness of these extraordinary talents to help further advance their career".

The first annual awards were given out in a small private ceremony in Las Vegas, NV. Candidates for next year's awards are already being considered and will be announced March 2011. Submissions for the 2011 IPAA awards are already under way and will be considered up until 11:59PM on 12/31/2010.

Plans for a televised award ceremony from Las Vegas with live performances of the winners are currently under way. This year's awards are as follows:

The Gershwin Innovation Award: Excellence in musical innovation. Breaking boundaries and merging of media styles into a unique art form. 2010 Winner - Tiesto.

Tisto OON (Dutch pronunciation: [tisto]; born Tijs Michiel Verwest on January 17, 1969) is a Dutch musician, DJ and record producer of electronic dance music. Although he has used many aliases in the past, he is best known for his work as DJ Tisto. On his latest productions, however, he has dropped the "DJ" label and is now known simply as "Tisto", an alias which is a twist of his childhood nickname. In 1997 he founded the label Black Hole Recordings with Arny Bink, where he released the Magik and In Search of Sunrise CD series. In 1999 and 2000 he collaborated with Ferry Corsten to create Gouryella. His 2000 remix of Delerium's "Silence" featuring Sarah McLachlan exposed him to more mainstream audiences. In 2001 he released his first solo album In My Memory which gave him several major hits that launched his career.

He was named "World's No.1 DJ" 3 consecutive times by DJ Magazine from 2002 through 2004. Just after releasing his second studio album Just Be in 2004, at the Summer Olympics he performed live at the opening ceremony in Athens, Greece, becoming the first DJ to play live on stage at an Olympics Games. Tracks he made especially for the Olympics were mixed together and released as the mix compilation Parade of the Athletes later that year. He was appointed Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau in 2004 by Queen Beatrix. He was chosen as the official ambassador for the Dance4Life foundation in May 2006, and released the song "Dance4Life" with Maxi Jazz to help spread the awareness of HIV/AIDS.

In April 2007 Tisto launched both his radio show Tisto's Club Life on Radio 538 in the Netherlands and released his third studio album titled Elements of Life. The album reached number one on the Dutch album chart as well on "Billboard Top Electronic Albums" in the U.S. and received a nomination for a Grammy Award in 2008. Tisto released his fourth studio album called Kaleidoscope in October 2009. In 2008 and 2009, Tisto was elected to the International Dance Music Awards (IDMA) at the Winter Music Conference in Miami as the best global DJ.

The Chaplain Award: Outstanding individual performer. 2010 Winner - Ricky Gervais.

Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator Stephen Merchant. Besides writing and directing the shows, Gervais played the lead roles of David Brent in The Office and Andy Millman in Extras. Gervais has starred in a number of Hollywood films, assuming leading roles in Ghost Town and The Invention of Lying.

Gervais has performed on three sell-out stand-up comedy tours, written the best-selling Flanimals book series and starred with Merchant and Karl Pilkington in the most downloaded podcast of all time, The Ricky Gervais Show. He has accumulated a multitude of awards and honours, including seven BAFTA Awards, four British Comedy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, two Emmy Awards and the 2006 Rose d'Or, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.

The Johnny Carson Award: Best emerging talent. Recognized as an exceptional talent in their field and someone to watch out for. 2010 Winner - Russell Peters.

Peters began performing in Toronto, Ontario in 1989. He has since also performed in the United States, UK, Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Denmark, South Africa, the Caribbean, Vietnam, New Zealand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sweden, India, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, and Trinidad among other places. He has been nominated for four Gemini Awards, the Canadian television awards.

He has also been nominated for Best Male Comic at the Canadian Comedy Awards.[citation needed] Peters has been featured at such shows as Montreal's Just for Laughs (Juste Pour Rire) Comedy Festival, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, and the Edinburgh Festival. He hosted the Canada Day Comedy Festival 2006. His comedy special Russell Peters: Outsourced, aired on Comedy Central on August 16, 2006. The DVD version features his uncensored performance. The DVD has been popular, especially in Canada, selling over 100,000 copies. Outsourced remained on the National DVD Chart over one and a half years after release. Peters' DVD/CD combo Russell Peters: Red, White, and Brown was recorded on February 2, 2008 at The WAMU Theatre at Madison Square Garden.

Peters and his brother self-produced and financed Red, White and Brown. Peters also currently produces and stars on the radio situation comedy series, Monsoon House, on CBC Radio One. Between June 2008 and June 2009, Peters earned $10 million, making him one of the highest-paid comedians during that twelve-month period.

The Frank Capra Award: Groundbreaker in visual and/or new media. Videographers and/or visuals artists. 2010 Winner - Judd Apatow.

Apatow began performing stand-up comedy at age 17, during his senior year of high school. In the September 1985 issue of Laugh Factory Magazine, he is listed as an Associate Editor. After graduating from high school in 1985, he moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in the screenwriting program at University of Southern California.

While at USC he organized and hosted a number of on-campus "Comedy Night" events featuring headliners such as Saturday Night Live performer Kevin Nealon. Apatow introduced the acts at these events with short standup routines of his own. He also began volunteering at Comic Relief and introducing comedians at the Improv. Apatow dropped out of USC after two years and moved into an apartment with comedian Adam Sandler, whom he met at the Improv. He also continued performing standup comedy; and he admits that although his act was well-written, he was unable to develop his own unique comedic personality.

After finding little success as a performer himself, Apatow began writing jokes for others including up-and-coming star Roseanne Barr. He appeared on HBO's 15th Annual Young Comedians Special in 1992. In 1990, Apatow met Ben Stiller outside of an Elvis Costello show, and they became friends. In 1992, Apatow produced The Ben Stiller Show for Fox. Although the show was critically acclaimed and earned Apatow and the rest of the writing staff an Emmy Award, Fox canceled the show in 1993. In 1994, Apatow served as consulting producer and staff writer for the animated comedy The Critic, starring Jon Lovitz.

Apatow's manager, Jimmy Miller, introduced him to comedian Garry Shandling, who hired Apatow as a writer and producer for The Larry Sanders Show in 1993. Apatow worked on the show for five years until the show's end in 1998. Apatow credits Garry Shandling as his mentor for influencing him to write comedy that is more character-driven. Apatow earned six Emmy nominations for his work on Larry Sanders. Apatow was hired to re-write the script for the movie The Cable Guy, which was released in 1996. He expected the film to be a huge success, but it ultimately had a mediocre box office success and poor reviews. It was during the shooting of the film, however, that Apatow met his wife, actress Leslie Mann.

Apatow's next script was entitled Making Amends and had Owen Wilson attached as a man in Alcoholics Anonymous who decides to apologize to everyone he has ever hurt. However, the film was never made. Apatow did an uncredited rewrite of the 1998 Adam Sandler comedy The Wedding Singer. From 1999 to 2002, he produced the short-lived television series Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared.

Both shows received critical acclaim but were canceled after a season because of low ratings; USA Today media critic Susan Wloszczyna called the shows "two of the most acclaimed TV series to ever last only one season". He additionally wrote and produced 3 TV pilots that were never aired: "North Hollywood", "Sick in the Head" and "Life on Parole" (with Brent Forrester). Apatow has screened and introduced them at "The Other Network", a festival of un-aired TV pilots produced by Un-Cabaret. He has previously vowed to include a penis in every one of his movies.

The Martin & Lewis Award: Excellence in combined arts and personalities. Groups, ensembles or teams. 2010 Winner - John Joseph & Johnny B.

John Joseph is without a doubt one of the hottest stand up comics working today. Recently finishing a decade touring with Julio Iglesias, performing to sold out crowds from Radio City Music Hall to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and hundreds of theatres in between.

John Joseph has now taken over the Headline status and teamed with multi -talented Keyboard player Johnny B. Together they add another dimension of comedy seldom seen these days. Comedy with an attitude. John and Johnny tour with a show titled "A One Man Show Wit' 2 Guys."

Two Musicians that dreamt of rock stardom and got a bag of rocks instead. The road to stardom was bypassed for the road to family and responsibility and bills and leaky faucets. Joseph and Johnny b combine their sarcastic and cynical approach to life in an unbelievably hilarious evening of comedy combined with years of musical background with John on guitar and Johnny B on Keyboards. Crowds can expect to have every nerve and every emotion uncovered. "A One Man Show Wit' 2 Guys." Maybe you don't know these guys... but you will.


The Bob Hope Humanitarian Award: Humanitarian arts award recognizing tireless dedication to making the world a better place through performing arts. 2010 Winner - Don Barnhart.

Don Barnhart is fast becoming one of the top comedians working today. He is an accomplished actor, certified hypnotist, published author and filmmaker with numerous television and film credits and is a favorite headliner at the top comedy clubs across the country.

Don combines well written, topical material and delivers it with a fast paced, high energy and animated improvisational flair that keeps audiences of all ages howling with laughter and coming back for more. Audiences say that Barnhart reminds them of a young George Carlin with the energy and characters of Robin Williams making Don funny on so many different levels.

Barnhart is one of the only headlining comedians that also does a comedy hypnosis show. Don can be booked either as a comedy headliner, comedy hypnotist or combination of both shows for your venue. Don recently wrote, directed and starred in the indie thriller, "China Dolls" and can be heard regularly on The Bob and Tom Show and XM/Sirius Satellite Radio.

He is a veteran performer for The USO and Comics On Duty and has been entertaining the troops around the world for the last seventeen years. Barnhart continues to produce shows and perform for the military several times a year.



The W.C. Fields Award: Excellence in Physical Comedy, technical skills and originality. 2010 Winner - Jeff Taveggia. Juggling & Other Bad Habits. He's tirelessly toured the world for the last 22 yrs with is high-energy, funny and unique take on juggling, delighting audiences at every turn. Weather whizzing around the stage on razor scooter while juggling or playing ping-pong with nine paddles at once, it's always a mesmerizing display of incomparable dexterity. Jeff Taveggia has amazed crowds around the world with his zany sense of humor and raging love for the art of juggling. Unique props, quick wit, and awesome skill, combine for true world class, entertainment. Jeff has appeared on "The Late Show with David Letterman" toured with the Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey circus, as well as being featured at countless corporate events & on the worlds finest cruise lines. "He is something" - David Letterman. In addition Jeff is also a recognized authority on the great W.C. Fields. His multi-media presentation "The life and times of W.C. Fields" confirms his place as the first recipient of this award.

George Burns Lifetime Achievement Award: Overall contribution or excellence in live performance. 2010 Winner - Carol Burnett.

The hour-long Carol Burnett Show, which debuted in 1967, garnered 23 Emmy Awards and won or was nominated for multiple Emmy Awards every season it was on the air. Its ensemble cast included Tim Conway (who was a guest player until the 9th season), Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner, and the teenaged Vicki Lawrence (who was cast partly because she looked like a young Burnett).

The network did not want her to do a variety show because they believed only men could be successful at variety but Burnett's contract required that they give her one season of whatever kind of show she wanted to make. She chose to carry on the tradition of past variety show successes and the rest is history. Burnett became known for her acting and talent, and for ending each show by tugging her ear, which was a message to the grandmother who had raised her to let her know that she was doing well and that she loved her.

A true variety show in its simplest of forms, The Carol Burnett Show struck a chord with viewers through parodies of films ("Went With the Wind"), television ("As the Stomach Turns") and commercials. Burnett and team struck gold with the original skit "The Family", which eventually was spun off into its own television show called Mama's Family, starring Vicki Lawrence.

More information on the awards and the submission process are available on the IPAA website: www.internationalperformingartists.com