Bryants’ Minstrels

“Bryants find ‘Shoo, Fly’ such a very strong attraction that Dan Bryant and Dave Reed have only to announce their appearance in it to crowd the house, consequently but little change is necessary in the rest of the programme.”

“The Patrons of Bryants’ Minstrels are treated with some excellent ballad and comic singing, and the funny men crack jokes at one another in a lively manner. On the 18th there were fifteen performers in the first part, one less than the usual number, J. G. Russell having been taken sick just as the performance was about to commence. Monroe Dempster, Dwyer, Brandisi and Grier, sang some ballads in a pleasing manner, while Dan Bryant, with his song of ‘Little Brown Jug,’ and Unsworth’s song of ‘Swate Castle Garden’ kept the audience in the best of humor. In the olio Eugene sang in character the song of ‘Coming from the Matinee,’ and, for an encore, gave ‘Dashing White Sergeant.’ Dan Bryant and Griffin did ‘The Gendarmes’ and Dave Reed gave an excellent imitation of a snare drum with the bones. Unsworth opened his discourse with a history of the Suez Canal, and his remarks kept the audience screaming with laughter. The act of ‘The Three o’clock Train,’ performed by Griffin and Reed, is very amusing. Unsworth’s banjo solo did not take very well. ‘Shoo Fly,’ by Dave Reed and Dan Bryant, keeps the bills and has proved a big hit. The laughable sketch of ‘New York by Gaslight’ closed an excellent entertainment. The hall was crowded every night during the past week.”