Theater: Mirthful Dane

Comedy in Music. Funnyman Victor Borge knows how not to deliver a line. He swallows it, and then utters small digestive burps.

His face is a pliant mask of dismay and disdain. One never knows whether he regards his props—the microphone, the piano, the piano bench—as allies or enemies. Flailing away at Rachmaninoff, he skids clean off the piano bench, pulls out a neon-blue seat belt, fastens it with frosty dignity, and resumes his musical flight. He also keeps up a running gag with a treacherous watch that tells the day, month, year and altitude ("Today it is the 39th of February,...