Evening star., 1934-12-04
Troupers
Glimpses of Stage Folk
in Washington.

THREE discontented young men of
Boston a few years ago put their
heads together and naturally found
they had a vocal trio. consisting OF a
lad who plays the piano and sings
tenor, two who are baritones. In the
order named, these gentlemen were
Dave Grant, Gordon Graham and
Bunny Coughlin. known in the current
patois of the land as The Funny
boners," radio comics and singers. and
at the moment featured act on
LoeW'S Fox stage.
Behind each of the melody boys
lies history tinged with the economic
uncertainty and vocational misgivings
of the late unlamented '20s, in which
most young men were too busy selling
bonds to work or think about the
future. Together they have rescued
themselves from the disasters of 1929
and 1880 by turning to the amusement
field, where salvation lies for any one
capable of ribbing the fancy of long
laughlesS world.
Dave Grant, a native Of Newton
Mass, studied at Massachusetts, In
stitute of Technology, was rather bored
by everything except the musical clubs,
and thereupon hied himself to the
New England Conservatory of Music.
He had been the leader of fairly sue
cessful college dance band during his
init" days, and in 1929 he ventured
on vaudeville tour with the orchestra
In that year in Duluth the juggernaut
caught him and rolled his enterprise
fiat as a pancake. He was stranded
and broke, managed to get home by
walking along the road with sign on
his back reading, May I ride, please,
Boston?"
He did contrive to save a vocal trio
out of the wreck of his orchestra, but
for while he paid little attention to
1t. concentrating on the stock and
bond business. BY the end of 1929.
there was plenty of spare time on the
hands of bond statesmen. Dave pulled
the trio into shape and landed it a
spot on a local station. Bunny
Coughlin was second man in the
group, and they worked with an in
constant and variable third. When
Gordon Graham joined them, the unit
crystallized
Nj oiAnill A4dQ SIduudlcU 1IOIIl DdTU-
mouth, where he was leader of the
glee club, in year it won the ma
tional college championship; sung in
show called THE Dagger and the
Rose" which scarcely lasted long
enough for the rose to blossom, and
been dramatic critic of the Utica Dis
patch. He passed his spare time in
that city as an actor in local theater
groups and as critic seriously con-
templated the latent talents of the
young actor, Gordon Graham. When
his literary career suddenly folded up
on him, he returned to Boston and
began haunting newspaper Offices
Between haunts he worked as singing
m. c. in night club, stayed around
about year and then knit his funny
bone in with the other lads afore-
mentioned
Bunny Coughlin came from Boston,
was fired from his first job for singing
in the office and later had the pleas
ure of collecting pay checks from the
same business, giving good money to
support the "Funnyboners" on a COM
mercial radio program. Bunny plays
the violin, saxophone, clarinet and
banjo, and after his forced retirement
from the world of commerce, toured
Europe with an American orchestra.
He paused in Sweden to give grooming
lessons to the Swedes (which might
we'll have precipitated a diplomatic
incident, but didn't, returned to this
country and opened sales agency for
trick curtains. 1t was a great indus
try for month. Next he met Dave
Grant and Joined the orchestra that
boiled down to the trio-and there
you have the "F'unnyboners." Or
rather, the Fox has them.
r. B. p, Jr.