Modified On July 9, 2005
From the Times Picayune, an article about how Harry Anderson has finally realized his dream– opening up a showcase for his talents in the only town he could ever really call home.
The main ground floor room is magnificently restored now — the original hammered zinc ceiling buffed to a shine — and the proprietor, in a decidedly better mood than nine months ago, does the things that come natural to him, that once made him rich, that made him a star: He gives people a razz, five nights a week, Wednesday through Sunday.
When we performed there in September, we heard from some local, reliable sources that Harry had settled in Nola, had such plans to open a club of his own, that he was the proprietor of a magic shop just Jackson Square. We made note of it, but forgot to post about it. The story of how he finally realized his dream is a corker. We weren’t aware that Anderson eventually went through a fortune to get where he is. Thirteen years of “Sick Money” gone! (We assume to Wife #1) Click on the above, read it all… and, if you’re in New Orleans any time soon, peel off a twenty and stop in. From what we’ve ever seen of Harry’s live act, it’s worth twice that.
We were familiar with Harry Anderson as a performer before most of the rest of the nation was. Clay Heery, the proprietor of the Comedy Factory Outlet, brought Anderson into his club in Philadelphia, at its original 32nd and Market location, in the winter of 1981. The male half of the staff recalls watching Anderson doing the needle-through-the-forearm trick from a seat in the front row of the 45-seat room when just a lowly open-miker, waiting for the “Midnight Madness” amateur comedy show to start.