Ben Venuti - Posted - 07/29/2012:  12:15:15

I've seen that video before and there are other Apollon shorts out there that would make a great rainy Sunday afternoon internet search. Yazoo put out an Apollon album which I had and must have had stolen or something as I don't have it now. Borge was no slouch either. I had the opportunity to meet Victor Borge though under his watchful and judge mental eye when I was dating his daughter 'bout a thousand years ago. He was a very gracious and funny guy despite his probably justified misgivings about the hippie guy his daughter was hanging out with . He warmed up a bit when he realized he had known my Mom. So he stopped by the house one day when he was visiting his daughter at college to see my Mom or maybe just to check me out, I wasn't there. This was a great thing for me as I was under the watchful and judge mental eye of my Mom who had probably justified misgivings about her hippie son! It helped a bit when she decided I was keeping at least some good company, although if she had really known....
My Mom and her sister had a Vaudeville act "The McDermitt Sisters" that started when they were still teenagers(1930's). My Mom played violin and her sister played piano. They played classical and popular music and had a comedy routine that was part of the act. Pretty much predating what Borge did but without the success.They were reported to have been very funny. They were pretty good at cracking everyone up around a dinner table which is all I ever saw of the act. Never much of a financial success apparently and no films or recordings were ever made but my Mom knew a lot of stage personalities, most of whom were stage kids at the time she was a stage kid and some of those became household names.
There was a Loar signed (I believe,--it was a Gibson MM at any rate) mandola that Bernunzio was selling a while back that was supposed to have belonged to Apollon. I would have liked to have had that. I don't have a mandola and I really need one bad! There are videos of Dave Apollon playing a Lyon and Healey out there as well.....