History Creator / VictorBorge

Victor Borge was a man who combined two very distinctive forms of entertainment--classical piano music and StandUpComedy--into one amazing whole. He himself was an exceptionally talented pianist, but rolled along with general comedy and making fun of his own craft. He had his own show in the 50's and 60's, ''The Victor Borge Show'', that was largely a musical showcase but also demonstrate his deft comedic tone.

He was born in Denmark and kept a thick accent his entire life, he became an American citizen just before WorldWarII as his wife was American (he also once publically denounced Hitler and it was simply safer for him and his family on the other side of the world - that and the fact that he was Jewish). He remained active in performing his entire life, including many shows in his home country of Denmark. He passed away in 2000 at the age of 91, but people are still rediscovering his routines today.

* MartialArtsAndCrafts: The only way to explain [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyArTMtgT1w&feature=related his rendition of Hungarian Rhapsody #2]] with a fellow pianist. This was faithfully recreated on ''TheMuppetShow'' where he did the same thing with Rowlf, which is difficult enough with two humans.

** And of course, was the guest star of an episode of ''TheMuppetShow''

* BrawnHilda: One routine of Victor's describes an operatic singer who "not only fills part of the soprano, she overflows it".

* ThrowItIn: During one performance, a friend and Violinist asked Borge to perform a piece (Monti's Czardas) together on the spot. Borge was familiar with the the piece but had ''never played it''. He ended up improvising his part and his friend went along with it, ending up [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvUbrbFdJ8g with this]].

He was born in Denmark and kept a thick accent his entire life, he became an American citizen just before WorldWarII as his wife was American (he also once publically denounced Hitler and it was simply safer for him and his family on the other side of the world). He remained active in performing his entire life, including many shows in his home country of Denmark. He passed away in 2000 at the age of 91, but people are still rediscovering his routines today.

* BrawnHilda: One routine of Victor's describes an operatic singer with highly exaggerated girth.
--> "Her measurements are 36-24-36, and her other arm is just as heavy. She stands about four feet tall... lying down."

** He also referred to Debussy's "Claire de Lune" as "Clear the Saloon".

* TakeThat: Victor was certainly no fan of contemporary composted Music/DmitriShostakovich. Whenever the time came to perform Shostakovich, Victor would play random notes in a brash, chaotic manner.

[[quoteright:280:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/victor_borge_3861.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:280:And now, I present to you the Second Hungarian Rhapsody by [[Music/FranzLiszt Fliszt]].]]

* {{Malaproper}}: He introduced the 'Cara Nome' aria from ''Theatre/{{Rigoletto}}'' as "the 'Cacamame' aria from ''Rigor Mortis'', by... by.. by all means. That is, by Guisseppe Verdi. Joe Green to you."

He was born in Denmark and kept a thick accent his entire life, he became an American citizen just before WorldWarII as his wife was American (he also once publically denounced Hitler and it was simply safer for him and his family on the other side of the world). He remained active in performing his entire life, including many shows in his home country of Denmark. He passed away in 2000 at the age of 91, but people are still rediscovering his routines today. [[NeedsMoreLove You should too]].

** He also performed Phonetic Punctuation on ''TheElectricCompany'' to illustrate punctuation marks.

* ThrowItIn: During one performance, a friend and Violinist asked Borge to perform a piece together on the spot. Borge was familiar with the the piece but had never played it. He ended up improvising his part and his friend went along with it, ending up [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvUbrbFdJ8g with this]].

* ViewersAreGeniuses If you don't know much about music, he's funny. If you ''do'', he's ''hilarious!''

He was born in Denmark and kept a thick accent his entire life, he became an American citizen just before WWII as his wife was American (he also once publically denounced Hitler and it was simply safer for him and his family on the other side of the world). He remained active in performing his entire life, including many shows in his home country of Denmark. He passed away in 2000 at the age of 91, but people are still rediscovering his routines today. [[NeedsMoreLove You should too]].

* {{Malaproper}}: He introduced the 'Cara nome' aria from ''Rigoletto'' as "the 'Cacamame' aria from ''Rigor Mortis'', by... by.. by all means. That is, by Guisseppe Verdi. Joe Green to you."

* {{Malaproper}}: He introduced the 'Cara nome' aria from ''Rigoletto'' as "the 'Cacamame' aria from ''Rigor Mortis'', by Guisseppe Verdi. Joe Green to you."