Victor strikes a chord

3:41pm Thursday 16th June 2005

Being Victor Borge
Wyllyotts Centre
Darkes Lane, Potters Bar
Saturday, 8pm

"She's my pension and I'm her lottery ticket."

Rainer Hersch is talking about his wife's job in marketing and his in comedy.

And he could well have the winning ticket with a play about the lives of the comedy pianist Victor Borge, and himself.

Like Borge, Rainer Hersch is a musician. His gags are not about sex and toilets but the intricate art of classical music.

In his hilarious routine, which involves playing the piano with pre-prepared chord sticks, he dissects classical music. From gags about where you are supposed to clap, to the predictable phrase endings of Bach and Mozart, Rainer has been striking a chord (ahem) with classical music fans at the Edinburgh festival and beyond since 1996. In his All Classical Music Explained series, he plays the piano and is sometimes accompanied by a full orchestra.

In fact, it was at the Edinburgh Festival that he met his wife, Connie, while leafleting for the show.

"She told me she wouldn't understand the jokes and that I would have to speak slowly. I said I'd do it in German. So it wasn't just a career I picked up at Edinburgh," he says.

When Hersch started doing his act, he had never heard of Victor Borge. It was only when he kept being compared to the comedian in reviews that he developed an interest.

Then the BBC asked him to contribute to a documentary on Borge.

"Doing research for the show, I found that he was continually asked the questions which I was asked. One is, Are musicians offended by the jokes you make?' The answer is no, musicians aren't. They are the ones who get the jokes. I also gave the same answer. They love it."

It stands to reason. Comedy is about identifying. And with this act, Hersch has an automatic crowd. However, don't be put off you only have to have a basic knowledge of classical music (ie the difference between a violin and a viola, and between Mozart and Brahms).

The musical similarities between Hersch and Borge are obvious. But it goes deeper than that.

"I was the only person who could understand him, having struggled with the whole thing myself, to write jokes about music," says Hersch. "He also had some things in his life which are similar to mine.

"He started off life in Denmark. He escaped the Nazis he was Jewish and went to America.

"My dad, who is German, also escaped the Nazis and came over to Britain as a young man. I understand what it is to come from a family of refugees."

Hersch still includes his own classical music gags as well as Borge's in this new show, and tells his and Borge's life stories.

If it goes to the West End as planned, there will be a lot of interest, especially from American tourists. At one stage Borge was the highest paid entertainer in the world, and extremely popular in his adopted home of the USA.

"There's a generation out there who absolutely love Victor Borge, so I have already got a market," says Hersch, with typical relish. However, he added: "While I'm playing Borge, there's also quite a lot of me in there. It's half an hour so don't come if you don't like me."

It's unlikely. Hersch is charismatic and confident, as well as being humorously self-deprecating.

Like Borge, Hersch has a background in classical music and even worked as touring manager for the London Festival Orchestra after he graduated from university. At first he did straight stand-up.

"I started doing comedy as a hobby," he says. "I wanted to see If I could do it. I wanted to talk and be funny on stage. I told myself, There's a chance I could do this for a living'. Rather than being somebody who didn't quite make it, I had to throw myself into it just to find out. I gave myself six months. After that, I was unemployable anyway. The London Festival Orchestra wouldn't have me back."

He now lives in Ealing with Connie and his beloved dog, Ted.

But he is no stranger to Barnet. My Life with Victor Borge is directed by Guy Masterson, the Edinburgh Festival's favourite director, who has a workshop behind the The Bull theatre in Barnet.

"My show was the only other show he did last year apart from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (with Christian Slater). So mine was the only show which stuck," says Hersch.

Here's hoping it sticks for a very long time.

u Tickets are £12 (£11 concessions). For more information, or to make a booking, call the box office on 01707 645005.