Rita Rudner is the queen of clever one-liners and she delivers them in rapid succession in her trademark deadpan voice and sparkling gown during her show at Harrah's.
Rudner's routine features her stream-of-consciousness-style observations on everyday life that everyone in the audience can relate to, from the oddities of Las Vegas to getting older, the differences between men and women and the pitfalls of marriage.
This might be Sin City, but Rudner's comedy is clean and she doesn't rely on any props or flashy sets to entertain her audience. It's simply her on the stage with a microphone and her witty sense of humor.
Rudner begins her show with some funny observations about life in Las Vegas and being a tourist in a very unusual city.
"I don't care where you're from, Las Vegas is the opposite of it," she says.
Rudner asks audience members if they've been to the Grand Canyon and says that she avoids the helicopter tours -- not because the flight is scary, but because you have to give your weight. "If everyone's lying like I am, we're going down!"
Rudner jokes about things like the trend toward topless pools in Vegas and the proliferation of themed hotels in the city.
"I never thought I'd be able to take a gondola to The Gap," she says.
The show moves on to other topics like getting older and the things women will do in order to keep their youthful appearances.
Women will do anything to avoid wrinkles, Rudner says. "My aunt Sylvia just had herself laminated."
Rudner also questions the audience about their familiarity with Botox. "It's botulism, which I've made in my kitchen quite a few times," she jokes.
Topics about aging like becoming more forgetful and losing your eyesight and hearing draw laughs and nods of recognition from the audience.
The women in the audience can relate to Rudner's jokes about turning 50 and encountering hot flashes, which she theorizes just might be responsible for global warming.
Shopping is one of Rudner's favorite subjects and she tries valiantly to get the men in the audience to understand why it's so important to women.
Rudner likens shopping to indoor hunting. "We use a credit card instead of a gun and our target is already dead."
One of the things Rudner is best known for is poking fun at the many differences between men and women and she covers many common areas of disagreement between the sexes like driving, reading maps, watching sports and the love women have for decorative pillows.
Now that she is a mother, Rudner also works in material about parenting, commenting that working in Vegas is perfect because she has hired a Rita Rudner impersonator as a nanny so her daughter never knows that she's not there. "He's really great with her," Rudner quips.
Rudner's down-to-earth demeanor and likable personality shine throughout the show, but are even more apparent at the end when she opens up the floor for a Q&A session with the audience, which inevitably leads to more funny anecdotes.
Rudner's comedy is easy to relate to and keeps both the men and women in the audience entertained. If you're looking for something to do with a spouse or with girlfriends, Rudner delivers the perfect night of good, clean fun.
-- By Kristine McKenzie
