Victor Borge (1909- 2000)
One of my all-time favourite performers was Victor Borge, an extraordinarily talented musician. Born Børge Rosenbaum in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1909, it was apparent at the age of two that he would be a prodigy. He gave his first piano recital when he was eight and was awarded a full scholarship at the Royal Danish Academy of Music when he was nine years old.
He performed as a classical pianist for several years and then began what was to become his signature career blending comedy and music. In 1940, the Germans invaded Denmark while he was performing in neutral Sweden. He travelled on to Finland and boarded the last ship to sail from that country to the USA. He returned once to Denmark during the occupation, disguised as a sailor, to visit his dying mother. That was a courageous journey to undertake, as he had publicly recounted jokes to the detriment of the Germans. Had he been intercepted, it is likely he would not have survived.
He became known variously as the Clown Prince of Denmark, the Great Dane and the Unmelancholy Dane.
When he arrived in the USA, he spoke no English and learnt it by watching films. This makes it all the more remarkable that he was able to joke in English and engage in word play.
Two of his most amusing routines were ‘Phonetic Punctuation’ and ‘Inflationary Language.’ In the first, sound effects illustrated the different punctuation marks, like question marks and full stops and inverted commas. The second routine took numbers or homophones and inflated them by one. In this way, today became threeday, once upon a time was twice upon a time and so on and so fifth.
Victor Borge continued to perform into his old age, appearing 60 times when he was 90.
The available recordings are quite long and not of exceptionally good quality, but I hope this one and this one will give a flavour of the man. Obviously, some will appreciate his humour, while others will be completely indifferent.
Watching him always makes me laugh – such talent, such humanity.
