The Gristy is an award Twist & Shout gives each year to a balloon artist that demonstrates the values of the late David Grist. He was a mentor, friend, talented artist, and teacher from England. The core values he had were Inspiration, Innovation, Friendship, and Joy towards all his fellow artists. The award has been presented in the past to:

2005 - Ralph Dewey

2006 - Balloon HQ (Larry Moss, Mark Balzer and Sheena Beaverson)

2007 - John Holmes

2008 - Tom Myers

2009 - Royal Sorell

2010 - Buster Balloon Caldwell

2011 - "Stretch" Clendennen

2012 - Ken Stillman

2013 - Robbie Furman

2014 - Guido Verhoeff

2015 - Debbie Stevens

2016 - Alberto Nava

2017 -Guido Verhoeff

2018 - Graham Lee

2019 - Kathy Galloway Landess

2020 - Andrea Noel

2021 - Covid - virtual - none given

2022 - Covid - virtual - none given

2023 - Todd Neufeld

2024 - Dave Brenn

2025 - Patty Sorell - Award Speech

Top Twister is the highest combined scores in Small, Medium & Large Sculptures.

2000 Peabody/Boston - Mark Verge

2001 TJam Austin, Texas - Todd Neufeld

2002 Peabody/Boston - Mark Verge

2003 TJam, Austin, Texas - Patrick Brown

2004 Peabody/Boston - Debbie Stevens

2005 Austin, Texas - Rie Hosokai

2006 St. Louis Missouri - Vicky Kimble

2007 Nashville, Tennessee - Fabrizio Bolzoni

2008 Burlington, Massachusetts - Satomi Kinoshita

2009 Cerritos, California - Jack Mattson

2010 Chicago, Illinois - Daniel Herron

2011 Burlington, Massachusetts - Rob Balchunas

2012 Phoenix, Arizona - Nancy Dalton

2013 St. Louis, Missouri - Dennis Scott

2014 Rochester, New York - Jason Secoda

2015 Las Vegas, Nevada - Dustin Queary

2016 Austin, Texas - Andrea Noel

2017 Kissimmee, Florida - Derek Wong

2018 Las Vegas, Nevada - Eric Weinstein

2019 Chicago, Illinois - Sam Cremeens

2020 Louisville, Kentucky - Stephanie Gintz Morace

2021 Pandemic

2022 Pandemic

2023 Los Angeles, CA - Marie Dadow

2024 Chicago, Illinois - Kristal Yee

2025 Atlanta, Georgia - Anthony Lena

2026 Las Vegas, Nevada - Jeff D’Ambrosio

Top Entertainer was added in 2024. It is the highest combined scores from all 5 speed competitions.

2024 Chicago, Illinois - Kristal Yee

2025 Atlanta, Georgia - Stephanie Morace

2026 Las Vegas, Nevada - Darren Saari