Music: A Victor Borge Tribute
29 September at 13:00
Drostdy Theatre
To perform a tribute concert is to wrestle with paradox. A tribute artist must celebrate a bygone artist or era, while still catering to a modern, changing audience – and it often happens that the performance ends up either straying too far from the original source material, or its artistic potential remains chained to that which it is attempting to celebrate.
The Woordfees performance A Victor Borge Tribute is reminiscent of the piano/comedy of Danish-American performer Victor Borge, who died in late 2000. PHOTO: Pierre Rommelaere/Woordfees
A Victor Borge Tribute, which was performed at the Drostdy Theatre on 29 September, is an example of the latter. The show is well performed by piano virtuoso Winand Grundling, who remains faithful to his source material, that being the famous Danish/American comedian/pianist Victor Borge, who had his heyday in the mid 20th century. But that faith is often a burden rather than a boon, as Grundling opts to rehash nearly century-old gags rather than risk too much of a modern twist.
While Grundling’s rendition of Borge’s combination of skillful piano-playing and Bing Crosby-era gag comedy does conjure up a laugh every now and then, one cannot shake the visceral quaintness of it. The humour does land, but in a droll, vapid way, which makes the 65-minute runtime feel far longer.
During the recent Woordfees performance A Victor Borge Tribute, piano virtuoso Winand Grundling showed off his knack for comedy, using audience participation in conjunction with his natural charisma to conjure laughs from within the Drostdy Theatre. PHOTO: Pierre Rommelaere/Woordfees
The most engaging parts of A Victor Borge Tribute are, ironically, when Grundling strays away from the show’s namesake, and allows his own natural charisma to shine through. In fact, some of the best moments of the show is when Grundling does a modern style of impromptu audience-involvement stand-up comedy. Regardless, he never goes too long before returning to classic Borge bits.
The performance is further marred by some jarring tonal choices. About two-thirds into the show, Grundling takes a break from performing Victor Borge jokes (often word-for-word) and performs a genuinely sentimental rendition of a David Kramer song. He returns to the irreverent, almost slapstick comedy of Borge directly afterwards, causing tonal confusion which disrupts the flow of the performance.
In honour of the late Danish-American musician and comedian Victor Borge, the recent Woordfees performance A Victor Borge Tribute starred Winand Grundling performing many of Borge’s famous Bing Crosby-era gags, while occasionally adding a modern twist to the source material. PHOTO: Pierre Rommelaere/Woordfees
A Victor Borge Tribute ends up being an enjoyable, yet undeniably old-timey performance. Its marriage to its source material will make any Victor Borge fan happy, but it remains unsatisfying for a modern audience. The performance may be worth seeing, if only for the moments where Grundling adds some originality to a bygone era of entertainment.