h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My late famous fellow-countryman Børge "Victor Borge" Rosenbaum was not only a very gifted pianist and humorist but also a man of split nationality. So much in fact that half of his ashes are buried in Connecticut while the other half rests near his forebears on the Jewish cemetery in Copenhagen as requested in his last will.

Borge celebrated both his 80th and 90th birthdays on stage in Tivoli, Copenhagen, if memory serves, but this is from his 70th stage jubilee in The Royal Theater, Copenhagen, on New Year's Eve 1996.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s381xi-p9Y

In this second part (at 5:55) he is performing our "secret national anthem" with the children's choir of The Royal Danish Music Conservatory. (He was the protector of this choir for many years until his death.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrUkzir5DTI

Enjoy!

Please don't tell anyone, but I have a CD of Borge's work. I like his telling of an opera scene in which the soprano tries to kill herself by squeezing between two trees .

[It's not over even *after* the fat lady sings]

I saw him live when I was a child, in Philadelphia -- the whole family went to his performance at the Academy of Music. My mother said she'd never heard my father laugh so hard. Such musicianship! Such punctuation!!

He was wonderful. Or - to use his own invention, the inflationary language - he was even twoderful

"Many years ago in Denmark we had inflation, and you are familiar with that problem. In inflation, we have numbers rising. Prices go up. Anything that has to do with money goes up...except the language. See, we have hidden numbers in the words like "wonderful," "before," "create," "tenderly." All these numbers can be inflated and meet the economy, you know, by rising to the occcassion. I suggest we add one to each of these numbers to be prepared. For example "wonderful" would be "two-derful." Before would be Be-five. Create, cre-nine. Tenderly should be eleven-derly. A Leiutenant would be a Leiut-eleven-ant. A sentence like, "I ate a tenderloin with my fork" would be "I nine an elevenderloin with my five-k." And so on and so fifth. I have a book here that I have brought, I have a story here that I would like to read to you so that you can get an idea of Inflationary Language, how it sounds when it's being used:
Twice upon a time, there lived in Sunny Califivenia a young man named Bob. He was a third leiutelevenant in the US Air Fiveces. Bob had been fond of Anna, his one-and-a-half sister, ever since she saw the light of day for the second time. And all three of them were proud of the fact that two of his fivefathers had been among the crenineders of the US Constithreetion.
They were dining on the terrace. "Anna," he said as he took a bite of a marininded herring, "You look twoderful threenight. You never looked that lovely befive." Anna looked twoderful, despite of the illness from which she had not yet recupininded. "Yes," repeated Bob, "You look twoderful threenight...but you have three of the saddest eyes I have ever seen."
The table was tastefully deconinded with Anna's favorite flowers: Threelips. They were now talking about Anna's asseten husband, from whom she was sepeninded. While on the radio, an Irish elevenor sang "Tea For Three." it was midnight; A clock in the distance struck thirteen. And suddenly, there in the moonlight stood her husband Don Two, obviously intoxicnineded.
"Anna," he said, "Fivegive me. I am only young twice and you are my two and only." Bob jumped to his feet, "Get out of here, you three-faced triplecrosser!" But Anna warned, "Watch out, Bob. He is an officer." "Yes, he is two. But I am two three!"
Anytwo five elevennis?
"All right," said Don Two as he wiped his fivehead. He then left and when he was one-and-a-halfway through the revolving door, he muttered, "I'll go back to Elevennessee and be double again. Farewell, Anna. Three-de-loo, three-de-loo."

Hear it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY6kElOYcd8

Pierce, seeing how much you know about him, you should write an entry on Victor Borge.

I third that motion

*stares hopefully in Pierce's direction*

Thinks of bribes and incentives to get Pierce to write.....

I'm afraid I'm still not ready to do actual w*rk like that. What I wrote here I just picked up from memory and that place that must not be mentioned (which is why I'm not sure how accurate it is.)

But thanks for the votes of confidence. Once I've got a few things sorted (like 42 projects...) I may do something about it.

Until then, enjoy all the Youtube clips with Borge that come with the ones I've linked to

I'll have to wait a couple of days before I click on those. (Contingent used up - connection slow. It's the 29th today!) My father loved Victor Borge - I remember watching him on black and white television, but can't remember any of his pieces. His humour is obviously timeless.

One of his successors is Hans Liberg. Have you seen any of his work? A Dutchman who is also a pianist and uses classical music to illustrate his jokes. I've seen him perform in German, but as he's Dutch, he probably does it at least in English as well.

Don't think I've ever heard of Liberg. Must try to find something

Meanwhile enjoy this sketch with Borge and another very skilful pianist: Sahan Arzruni from Turkey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jgESE9oJRE

Oh, here's another clip of that - even better. For one things it's longer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-562rqZ7sKI

Punctuation marks with Dean Martin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiGgnpUrP98

Anna Russell is also very funny. She pokes holes in the Ring Cycle, and is hilarious at the end when she points out that the cycle ends exactly where it began .