History Creator / VictorBorge

-->"A smile is the shortest distance between two people."

* SuperOCD: In one bit he was trying to play "Camptown Races" but felt something was wrong with the piano. He got up from his bench and moved the entire piano about a foot and started playing the song correctly in a lower octave.
** Moving the piano over was a recurring gag for him.

->"A smile is the shortest distance between two people."

Børge Rosenbaum (3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000), a.k.a. Victor Borge, was a Danish 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.

-->"A smile is the shortest distance between two people."

--> "She is very cute, his wife. She's typically Danish and (so is) her family. These strong-looking people, you know, pot-bellied and wispy-mustached. Even the men look funny in that family."

--> "Her measurements are 36-24-36, and her other arm is just as heavy. She stands about 4 1/2 feet tall--lying down."

--> "Watch out, Bob, he is an officer." "Yes, he's two, but I'm two three!"

--> '''Victor:''' And now, a little Shostakovich. ''[[{{Beat}} (confused pause)]]'' Just a moment!

--> '''Victor:''' We're gonna wait 'til he gets sober.

--->'''Victor''': (Upon being told) Oh God...! (He stumbles around on the stage for several seconds to regain himelf) All right, for those of you who are staying...Miss Mulvey will now play the Cockamamie Aria from the opera Rigor Mortis, by... by... by all means. Who wrote that?\\
'''Marylyn''': Giuseppe Verdi.\\
'''Victor''': Why? (Marylyn glares at him) Er, Why ''yes'', yes he did. Giuseppe Verdi. Joe Green to you! Hey, it's your language, I'm just trying to use it!

--> "As you know, Mozart was only from here (bottom of the ribcage) up. Mozart was what we call a bust."

* FanNickname: "The Clown Prince of Denmark", "The Great Dane"

* ThrowItIn: During one performance (a concert in honour of his 80th birthday), violinist and friend Anton Kontra 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 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux3lMeFaA7s with this]].

* ThrowItIn: During one performance (a concert in honour of his 80th birthday), violinist and friend Anton Kontra 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 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvUbrbFdJ8g with this]].

* RunningGag: sneaking "Happy Birthday" into various songs. Once did this as a full routine where he played it in the style of various composers.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: "Why are there ''three'' pedals on this grand piano? [[BiggerIsBetterInBed Who do they think I am?]]"

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: "Why are there ''three'' pedals on this grand piano? [[BiggusDickus Who do they think I am]]?"

** Borge would tell the audience he was about to play a song by "Flist". When one of his guests would explain that the author's name was [[Music/FranzLiszt F. Liszt]], he would respond, "'F. Liszt', young man, is 'Flist'!"

* BrawnHilda: In describing [[Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart Mozart]]'s ''Theatre/TheMagicFlute'', Victor describes an operatic singer who "not only fills part of the soprano, she ''overflows'' it".

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: As Victor describes the event of ''The Magic Flute'', a tenor appears in a small forest, represented by two giant trees. After the tenor performs his song in the first scene, he hides behind one of the trees, never to be seen or heard from for the rest of the sketch.

* BilingualBonus: "Guiseppe Verdi. Joe Green to you." "Guiseppe" is the Italian for of the name "Joseph" and "Verdi" is Italian for "green."

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

** Evidently he was not overly fond of the "Caro Nome" from ''Theatre/{{Rigoletto}}'', or at least pretended not to be when he performed it with Marilyn Mulvey.

'''Marilyn''': Giuseppe Verde.\\
'''Victor''': Why? (Marilyn glares at him) Er, Why ''yes'', yes he did. Giuseppe Verde. Joe Green to you! Hey, it's your language, I'm just trying to use it!

* GenreBusting

He was born Børge Rosenbaum in Denmark, and kept a thick accent his entire life. He became an American citizen just before UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, as his wife was American (he also once publicly 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.

'''Victor Borge''' (1909–2000) 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.

** Evidently he was not overly fond of the "Caro Nome" from ''Theater/{{Rigoletto}}'', or at least pretended not to be when he performed it with Marilyn Mulvey.

* SpecialGuest: Victor Borge has interacted with many performers, including a ''Musical'' Phonetic Punctuation piece with DeanMartin.

--->'''Victor''': For those of you who are staying...Miss Mulvey will now play the Cockamamie Aria from Rigor Mortis, by... by... by all means. Who wrote that?\\

'''Victor''': Why? (Marilyn glares at him) Er, Why ''yes'', yes he did. Giuseppe Verde. Joe Green to you!

He was born Børge Rosenbaum 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 publicly 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.

Among his most famous routines include "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF4qii8S3gw Phonetic Punctuation]]," his battle with a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVIHyfvPceo soprano]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WvfoFTSk3c&feature=related soloist]] (where he was [[BerserkButton very particular about her not touching his piano]]), working [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajg7FlPv0HU Happy Birthday]] into other works, and entire sections where he would [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rczpLa8wuhA turn familiar jingles]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZaLo0JfT6E on their head]].

--->'''Victor''': For those of you who are staying...Miss Mulvey will now play the Cockamamie Aria from Rigor Mortis, by...by...by all means. Who wrote that?\\

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

He was born Børge Rosenbaum 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.

--->'''Victor''': For those of you who are staying...Miss Mulvey will now play the Cacameme Aria from Rigor Mortis, by...by...by all means. Who wrote that?\\

'''Victor''': Why? (Marilyn glares at him) Er, Why ''yes'', yes he did. Giuseppe Verde. Joe Green to you!