Of Music and Humor
Dave Carter ·
Sep 23, 2011 at 7:12pm
The weekend is upon us, so perhaps a small diversion is in order. For those who like good music and good humor, no greater virtuoso can be found than Victor Borge. His DVDs and video clips are just about everywhere, but here is one that is perhaps not as widely circulated. This is from a performance in his native Denmark. The subtitles are in English, but the humor itself is universal. I'm only amazed that the young lady was able to maintain her composure at all.
- Comment (20)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (2)
Comments :
Jul '10
Re: Of Music and Humor
Very funny man! I used to love watching his audible punctuation routine.
Dec '10
Re: Of Music and Humor
Thanks, Dave. We're within a few days of the 20th anniversary of my dad's death and Victor Borge was his favorite comedian. This brings back some great memories of happy times.
Mar '11
Re: Of Music and Humor
Victor Borge was a genius. He opened one show by saying "I rarely do requests...unless someone asks."
Re: Of Music and Humor
Another classic line was when he observed that the principle difference between a violin and a viola is that it takes a viola longer to burn.
Re: Of Music and Humor
Your Dad had superb tastes. I'm glad this brought some smiles.
Oct '10
Re: Of Music and Humor
Humor, style and class blended well. Thanks for providing an opportunity for an old face to smile. Not much of that on the menu these days. Thanks again for the reminder.
Jun '10
Re: Of Music and Humor
Mickey Katz - Sixteen Tons of latkes!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z66tF_UiQc
Oct '10
Re: Of Music and Humor
Takes me back to my teen years, when I saw Borge on Broadway. And I specifically remember his punctuation piece. Truly gifted artist and hilariously funny comedian, all wrapped into one.
Jun '10
Re: Of Music and Humor
Victor Borge & Dean Martin - Musical Phonetic Punctuation
Jun '10
Re: Of Music and Humor
I had the good fortune to see Victor Borge in concert in the mid-70's. During the concert he stopped and told the audience that he had gotten a lot of flack for not playing a piece seriously and all the way through. Tonight, he said, would be an exception and he would play Claire de Lune all the way through. There was a noticeable gasp of excitement. It was one of the most beautiful renditions I ever heard. The audience was enraptured and halfway through it he fell off the piano bench onto the floor with a tremendous crash.
People were laughing so hard tears were streaming down their faces. I think it took the audience 15 or more minutes to compose itself again before Borge could continue. What a gift and monumental talent that man had. What pure joy he brought to the world. There will never be another like him.
Thanks, Dave for conjuring up the memory of a great evening.
Re: Of Music and Humor
Sheer genius. You know you're in the presence of a comic mastermind when you're laughing, and you don't really know why. Thanks, Dave, for a perfect clip.
Sep '11
Re: Of Music and Humor
Dave Carter, Dear,
Don't know how you do it, but your posts reach right to the heart of the matter. Thank you for noting how important it is to realize and remember the genius of the Dane.
Mired as we seem to be in the pomposity, corruption and contempt that oozes out from the oligarchy, it is really important to understand how easy it is to float aloft on laughter.
Regards from the
Poor Banished Children of Eve
Mar '11
Re: Of Music and Humor
Don't forget the time LBJ picked him up by the ears and pronounced him a Great Dane.
Jul '11
Re: Of Music and Humor
Thanks Dave - what a great way to start the morning. I had the pleasure of seeing Victor Borge several times, once at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. After some time into the show a couple entered late. But they had seats near the front and Borge stopped everything, smiled at them, and looked at his watch. "Did you travel far to get here?" he asked. "We came from St. Paul" was the reply. "Oh... I came from Copenhagen and got here on time!" A funny man, but he expected respect!
Aug '10
Re: Of Music and Humor
Dave Carter
Another classic line was when he observed that the principle difference between a violin and a viola is that it takes a viola longer to burn. · Sep 23 at 8:16pm
And that reminds me of the definition of a string quartet: 1 good violinist, 1 bad violinist, 1 former violinist, and someone who hates violinists.
Dec '10
Re: Of Music and Humor
I'll bet she is ticklish which, in my book, is always a good sign.
Nov '10
Re: Of Music and Humor
Dave, I also learned of Victor Borge from my father. I had been thinking about him (my father) off and on all day as it would have been his 91st birthday today. Hoping that he is at peace, seeing similarities to him in my son. Thinking about goofy mannerisms of his that I inherited. Generally nice thoughts but your post of this clip added some memories of laughter and delight. Thanks very much.
May '11
Re: Of Music and Humor
Fantastic, I grew up watching the Great Dane and my whole family laughing to his amazing comedy!
Domo!
Mar '11
Re: Of Music and Humor
Thanks, Dave. I hadn't thought of him for far too long, and this was a most welcome reminder!
Dec '10
Re: Of Music and Humor
There was bit in a related video that is absolutely priceless.
The gal that's singing belts out a rather loud note and blows Victor clean off his bench. The body language is hilarious by itself, but then he responds to the "danger" by opening the top of said bench and deploying a set of seat belts.
Even the diva couldn't hold it together at that point.
I was laughing so hard that I was literally about to fall out of my desk chair.