Harry Anderson

I used to make my living by understanding people. And the way I learned to understand them was by observing them. I would sit in a train station or a bus station or a restaurant. And I would watch people. I would watch how they related to one another. I would try to get some insight into them and make them as predictable as I could in my mind.

I am richer than Davy Crockett. I can settle back and do what I want to do. And what I want to do is card tricks and magic.

The biggest challenge in New Orleans has been to find workers who can climb a ladder after lunch.

I created this character that I still have of a guy who is a little bit of a nincompoop - I'm poking fun at street hustlers. I didn't quite make as much money as one would gambling, but it was a lot safer.

Chicago is a big town for magicians and card hustlers. So when I was very young, a fellow sat me down and taught me the Three-Card Monte. And that kind of put me in a - pointed me towards easy money.

If you do sleight of hand without trying to cheat someone, that's what magic is.

There's this perception sometimes around here that I'm this Hollywood guy.

Everyone's life would be improved if they do could one great magic trick. And tell one great joke, play one tune on the piano, and do one great origami fold.

It's an old Elizabethan idea. The fool is the only one who is allowed to make fun of the king because he is a fool. I can say whatever I want about anybody else because I'm just an idiot talking - I'm not insisting that I'm any smarter than anyone else. It's satire.

In 'Night Court,' my name is still Harry, and I'm - my best friends are still three-card monte workers, and I still have spring snakes hidden everywhere and joy buzzers, but I'm the judge.

We treated all of the dead with dignity.

Somebody saw me on 'Cheers' and thought that I was an actor playing a part as opposed to a guy just doing what he knew. And they gave me 'Night Court.' And by the time they realized I wasn't an actor, I had already signed a five-year contract.