  We report on the relative optical variability of the three brightest nearby
quasars, 3C 273, PDS 456, and PHL 1811. All three have comparable absolute
magnitudes, but PDS 456 and PHL 1811 are radio quiet. PDS 456 is a broad-line
object, but PHL 1811 could be classified as a high-luminosity Narrow-Line
Seyfert 1 (NLS1). Both of the radio-quiet quasars show significant variability
on a timescale of a few days. The seasonal rms V-band variability amplitudes of
3C 273 and PDS 456 are indistinguishable, and the seasonal rms variability
amplitude of PHL 1811 was only exceeded by 3C 273 once in 30 years of
monitoring. We find no evidence that the optical variability of 3C 273 is
greater than or more rapid than the variability of the comparably-bright,
radio-quiet quasars. This suggests that not only do radio-loud and radio-quiet
AGNs have similar spectral energy distributions, but that the variability
mechanisms are also similar. The optical variability of 3C 273 is not dominated
by a "blazer" component.
