Harvey Kneeslapper



Harvey Kneeslapper appeared on Sesame Street as a mad practical joker, always pulling pranks on others. Usually, his pranks involved either letters or numbers, and he would slap whatever letter or number that the prank involved onto the stomach of his victims (particularly one Fat Blue character). Though he usually succeeded, some of Harvey Kneeslapper's Pranks backfired on him, such as the time he tried to fill up an entire closet and wait for somebody to open the door.

He once appeared in a Sesame Street News Flash sketch, where he made a prank call about a man standing out in a snowstorm.

Eventually, his raucous laugh became too hard on Frank Oz's throat, and Harvey, who was always considered a one-joke character, was dropped from the show. Even after Harvey stopped appearing in new segments, his existing segments continued to be used in new episodes up until Season 32.

Harvey's appearance and behavior are slightly reminiscent of comedian Rip Taylor.

Individual Skits

 * Do You Know Where I Wanna B?
 * Harvey Kneeslapper asks a man, "Do you know where I wanna B?" The man doesn't know. Harvey says, "I wanna B here!", and then slaps a B onto the victim's chest.


 * Picture of U
 * Harvey Kneeslapper goes to Fat Blue and asks, "Can I take a picture of U?" Fat Blue gives him permission, but Harvey tells him that his shoes are untied, and when Fat Blue looks down, Harvey slaps the letter U on top of Fat Blue's head and takes a picture of it.


 * Harvey Kneeslapper and The Pogo Stick
 * Harvey is bounching on a pogo stick. He asks Fat Blue if he'd like to try it, and Fat Blue replies, "I'd love to!" Harvey then slaps a big number 2 on Fat Blue's shirt.


 * Do Ya Got an A on Ya?
 * Harvey Kneeslapper asks a passerby if he has an A on him. The passerby doesn't, so Harvey puts one on him.


 * X Marks The Spot
 * Harvey Kneeslapper puts a letter X and a spot on Fat Blue.


 * Toys in The Closet
 * Part 1
 * Harvey Kneeslapper fills up his closet with so many toys that when somebody opens it, all of the toys in the closet will fall on that person.


 * Part 2
 * Harvey's prank has backfired. Instead of toys falling, the closet leads to another place.


 * Part 3
 * Harvey is annoyed over his prank backfiring so he opens the door and gets what he deserves.


 * Wanna C?
 * Harvey Kneeslapper looks inside a paper bag and laughs and asks his next victim, "wanna C?"


 * Ya Want One?
 * Harvey Kneeslapper holds a cookie and asks his next victim if he wants one. It's better to just say no.


 * Harvey Kneeslapper and The Mail Man
 * Harvey Kneeslapper tells the Fat Blue mail man that he has a letter for his mother: the letter R! (Note: A similar practical joke was pulled in The Muppet Show Episode 115: Candice Bergen, which also included the letter R and was pulled by another Frank Oz character, Fozzie Bear)


 * Harvey Kneeslapper and his joy buzzer
 * Harvey Kneeslapper explains to the audience that he is holding a joy buzzer in his hand and plans on asking somebody to give him a five, shocking his victims hand. However, when he asks a victim, "Gimme five!", his victim slaps a number five on him.


 * Wanna see something funny?
 * In the park, Harvey Kneeslapper plans to ask a man, "Wanna see something funny?" then hold up a mirror in front of the man. Instead, the man laughs at Harvey's funny face.


 * Confetti gag
 * Harvey Kneeslapper sets up a bucket of confetti on top of a partially opened door, so that whoever goes through the door will get the confetti dumped on them. Instead, a little girl walks by and closes the door, so that the confetti lands on Harvey!


 * Man In Snowstorm
 * Part 1
 * Kermit the Frog has received a phone call about a man who is standing outside in a terrible snow storm, and Kermit wants to find that man and interview him.


 * Part 2
 * Kermit is still looking for the man.


 * Part 3
 * Harvey Kneeslapper informs Kermit that he is the one who made the call, which was a prank call. As it turns out, Kermit was the man standing out in the storm.


 * 3 sticks
 * Harvey is watching three sticks on a brick wall when a man shows up and says "3 sticks where?" Then Harvey says "3 sticks right here!" and throws a number 3 on the man's head.


 * Ya wanna sticky?


 * Harvey Kneeslapper asks a man "Ya wanna sticky?" The man asks "What's a sticky for?" Then Harvey slaps a number 4 on the mans chest and says "That's a sticky 4!".

Book Appearances

 * The Sesame Street ABC Storybook (1974)
 * Big Bird's Busy Book (1975)
 * How to Be a Grouch (1976)