Victor Borge Jan 3 1909 to Dec 23 2000
His humor using the Piano and classical music was well known and loved.
This lens pays tribute to Victor Borge and shares the humor and magic of his music. Enjoy.
Life and Times......
Borge escaped Denmark during the Nazi occuption of Denmark in World War II and escaped to Sweden, and managed to escape to Finland.
Victor traveled to America on the USS American Legion, the last passenger ship that made it out of Europe prior to the war, and arrived August 28, 1940. He had 20 dollars, three of which went to the customs fee.
He returned to Denmark only once during the occupation to visit his dying Mother. He managed to do this by disguising himself as a sailor.
When Victor arrived in America, he didn't one word of English. However, he did learn English by watching movies and soon adapted his jokes to the American audience.
1941 he took the name of Victor Borge and started on Rudy Vallee's radio show. Not long after this, he was soon hired by Bing Crosby for his Kraft Music Hall.
Borges claim to fame was the humor he used when playing classical music. Anyone who has seen a Victor Borge routine will not soon forget it.
Amongst his routines is the recitation of a story using "Inflationary Language". Borge will increment numbers embedded in words, whether they are visible or not ("once upon a time" becomes "twice upon a time", "wonderful" becomes "twoderful", "forehead" becomes "fivehead", etc).
Borge was renowned for his comedic ability. It was not unusual, during a particularly energetic piece of music, for him to fall off his Piano stool.
Another great routine was when Borge would place his music on the piano and begin playing. A puzzled look would come to his face, and after a few minutes he would pause and turn the music around. He would then begin playing again and a piece of well known classical music would resound. At this point, Victor would flash a victorious grin at the audience.
My own personal favorite was when he would be playing a particularly serious piece of classical music and then break out in Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or similar.
A truly talented musician who is sadly missed.
Which Is Your Favorite YouTube Vid?
Victor Borge On YouTube
Victor Borgs Music & Videos
Leave Your Comments
What Do You Think Of Victor Borge?
I_Love_Puppies wrote...
Vair Vair funny! I love Victor Borge and his work. 5*s
lwhitelaw wrote...
At first I didn't know who Victor Borge was when I opened this lens but then as I said his name again, I remember him from way back - I guess when I saw the clip with Dean Martin - it clicked - I remember seeing him on those variety shows back in the 70's!
Not-Pop wrote...
Victor Borge was a fantastic entertainer. Thanks for putting together such a great lens!
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