I am one of those people who thrive on deadlines. Nothing brings on inspiration more readily than desperation. Harry Shearer More Quotes by Harry Shearer More Quotes From Harry Shearer You have to do real acting, not just do a voice. Harry Shearer voice acting real You know, radio was a really easy way to do the shows. You'd come in, do a read-through, there'd be a few rehearsals, then you'd come the night of the show and do it in front of the audience and then go home. Harry Shearer rehearsal home night I've got an odd, negative bond with C. Montgomery Burns. He reminds a lot of people of bosses they've worked for. He certainly reminds me of someone I'm working for. Harry Shearer boss people negative Even under the best of circumstances men are hard creatures to trap. Women who flatter themselves into thinking they've trapped one are like people who believe they can get rid of the cockroaches in their kitchen. They're in for a big surprise late one night when they turn on the light. Harry Shearer men night believe Well I directed a few feature length things for HBO in the late eighties. Harry Shearer length hbo late To do then now would be retro. To do then then was very now-tro, if you will. Harry Shearer mighty-wind retro would-be I think Nixon says a lot about those times. It was possibly hard, in the '90s and early 2000s to understand the grip of fear that communism had on the country in the 1950s and 1960s - a fear Nixon rode like a endless great wave on the Pacific to high office. I'm sure, though there's no evidence of it, one of the things that rankled him down deep was that it was called McCarthyism and not Nixonism. Harry Shearer office country thinking Privilege has its own way of seeing the world. It's not about the kind of people they are; it's about the situation they're in. Harry Shearer privilege way world I wasn't playing Nixon's satirical stick figure. I was playing Nixon the man. As an actor, I felt I had to get to the deeply flawed humanity of the guy. Harry Shearer guy humanity men I think the British learn their history through the prism of this gallery of grotesques known as the royals. Harry Shearer gallery royal thinking The Simpsons will end as soon as Fox is able to find an 8 p.m. comedy hit to replace it - so I give us another 50 years. Harry Shearer able giving years Satire is an art best practiced behind the back of the intended target. I think inviting politicians on a satirical show becomes a very big trap. Because one of two things happen: Either you have to kind of unsharpen your fangs because you can't be quite as cruel to people to their face as you are behind their backs... Or you don't defang, and those guests get the word and they stop coming. Harry Shearer two art thinking I have a very strong visual memory of the first time I made him laugh. That was remarkable. I was like, "Oh, God, I just made Jack Benny laugh." Harry Shearer strong laughing memories I always used to sit next to Mel Blanc when we'd do the shows. When you have Jack Benny on one side and Mel Blanc on the other, you're not going to go far wrong. Harry Shearer next used sides I was never into candy and games and clowns. Harry Shearer candy clown games I'd always loved radio. I loved Bob And Ray. I loved Stan Freberg. Harry Shearer radio You can get an awful lot of effects into the customer's mind for a great deal less time and money in radio than you can in television. Harry Shearer radio mind television The first thing you've got to do is know your craft, and then you can do something else with it. Harry Shearer can-do-something crafts firsts Nobody makes a movie thinking it's still going to be watched and talked about and quoted 20 years later. Harry Shearer stills years thinking The theater business is very much about "Hey, if you want our big blockbuster at Christmas time, you'll play our piece of crap in April." Harry Shearer christmas-time hey play