Borge was a Danish immigrant escaping when the Nazis occupied the country & ending up in the US. He taught himself English by listening to the radio, etc. & used language as a platform for humor for the rest of his life. "It's your language, I'm just trying to use it", he often said. These little jokes were a constant feature of his comedic work; he could get away with it because the audience understood this, & also because he could turn right around & play the living heck outta Tchaikovsky.
Was ready to go out for the evening,when this act appeared on the tv....1962/3.... with no video or modern gizmos I realised if I didn’t see this,I would never get another chance! Stayed in and enjoyed his music and humour,been a fan ever since! Still watching, lol
I remember seeing this as a child. Sooooooooooooooo funny!! What a genius he was. In his later life, he toured and came to my city. The auditorium was only about half full. He looked around and said, 'if I had known there would be so few of you, we could have done this in my hotel room' and brought the house down with laughter. I still miss him.
I saw Victor Borge live in Galveston on his 90th birthday tour. He did a variation of this routine only the story he told was different. He dreamed he went to heaven and each composer gave him their masterpiece. I remember it took me a while to realize that Happy Birthday was so cleverly hidden in each piece. I laughed so hard at that performance it hurt. Never before or since have I encountered anything or anyone that funny.
This is from Borge's short-lived TV show. Unfortunately, much of the audience in the studio wasn't musically savvy and didn't understand most of the jokes. Borge had much better success (over 75 years worth) in concert, where most of the audience was familiar with the composers and music and thus better understood and appreciated the parodies.
@@peace-now i did know about music - a thirst for all i could learn from as early as possible - my Grandmother took me to see him in concert in Ottawa when i was young - we met - very very nice man - talked to me for a while and signed my album
@@alysmarcus7747 Great story. It is a lesson to all young children that these meetings are important. It connects us through the ages. As an exampled, my dad was taught by a nun who actually knew and spoke to Bernadette!
It is rare that a person comes along and displays such a talent and takes what he knows and loves and makes something unique. I cannot think of another performer that used something and turned it in such a craft , such and art to entertain. there are so many wonderful artists, singers , bands etc but what Victor Borge did was truly magical and unique. a delight and joy to watch him perform. He had true talent.
He reminds me a little of Austrian composer and comedian Georg Kreisler who could also play the piano beautifully. He made amazing but morbid dark humorous songs and was way ahead of his time.
@@user-tp8gv3or1j We love Dudley Moore. He is a master at the piano and so very CUTE. You will also love this Absolutely fantastic! Nicole Pesce, 2011. Comedienne pianist. How to play Happy Birthday like Beethoven Chopin Mozart Bach Liszt... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OaZveHbxAYs.html Happy Saint Patrick's Day. Erin go Bragh 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪 🥰🇯🇲🏴🕊️🔥✝️
I'm 76 and enjoyed watching him on TV as a child. I most remember when a dog came on stage while he was playing and peed on the piano leg. Still seems funny to me. He was a musical genius!
I can not believe, but there are people who have never heard of him! I once shared a video of his on FB and a friend asked "he is quite good! Relative of yours?"
His ingenuity sure is a treasure. Have not seen a comedian that can actually play the piano and on top of it, can improvise from different known composers style. Love the mozart variation.
Brilliant. He offers entertainment to those who know the artists and to those who don't with the worlswide familiar tune of, "Happy Birthday." It's not often you see such incredible classically trained talent reach a general audience
There isn't a Bach one, just a joke about Johann Strauss. Because of the old recording quality and the fact that he says Sebastian in between Johann and Strauss as a joke, it sounds like he might mean Bach.
This to me is where RU-vid is great! When I was growing up I would see him on PBS specials for the most part but he was always with gray hair. Now I get to see mr. Borga at his prime.
Always a favorite of my mother and me. She could play the piano, too, and once made a living by demonstrating sheet music in a department store back when that was a thing.
Its almost frightening how high of a virtuoso caliber this man was actually on. Incredible. If you are one also seriously pursuing the instrument you would really understand.
thanks for this...am sending to my little sister for her birthday...i was her twinkletoes and she my accompanist and we loved borge. so funny i fell off my chair. ma
What a genius! Extremely musical and knowledgable for a comedian. Wonderful improvisation of the birthday song and the works of Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Brahmas, Wagner, Beethoven, Strauss, Mozart, Irving Berlin, and Shostakovich. I enjoy Beethoven and Shostakovich the best! (Guess he did not really like Wagner)
+Xue Li He was a child prodigy and concert pianist before he turned to comedy. He said he was too nervous on stage to continue as a strictly serious musician.
A few weeks ago I came upon a YT video of a woman pianist playing in Arizona, doing basically this same thing. I should have know Borge did it first. Though she put a spin on the end of her version that was really quite delightful.
@@karenpeterson2698 We've been enjoying her today. She is top class. 2011. Comedienne pianist. How to play Happy Birthday like Beethoven Chopin Mozart Bach Liszt... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OaZveHbxAYs.html Happy Saint Patrick's Day. Erin go Bragh 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪 🥰🇯🇲🏴🕊️🔥✝️
This is just wonderful, incredible and so funny. It’s something I imagine Mozart would have done to other composers in his day. Victor Borge is a genuine funny guy and so very talented.
It _was_ done - sort of, and I'm not sure of the era. Some chap wrote a little theme, and sent it to various composers around in his day, asking them to arrange it at send it back. Several did (including one who sent back lots!). I think he might have been called Goldberg - certainly the Goldberg variations are a known thing in one composers oeuvre. Of course, without the Borge humour. (Do look out the Pesce version, too - she has a twist in the tail - the _very_ drunk Mozart version - that Borge does not!)
If only he had included his J.S. Bach ‘Happy Birthday’ parody in this wonderful performance. I once spent some hours transcribing the recording see how he did it.
Realmente um gênio!! Infelizmente que "l'art longa vita brevis" e não o temos mais nesse plano físico. Porém, creio, fulge entre pleades de orbes distantes, alegrando e divirtindo a outros seres.
This is great. Victor Borge was such a genius. My favorites are Mozart and Shostakovich...add scales and trills and it's Mozart...and his Shostakovich is simply perfect! :-D
