|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
As a single child of overprotective parents, Rita Rudner’s first tricycle came with seven wheels and a chauffeur.
At least that’s what the longtime comedian quipped during an interview prior to her performance at the Bankhead Theater, scheduled for later this month.
Known for her clever one-liners, Rudner will bring to stage new jokes and a haul of accolades including Las Vegas’ Comedian of the Year for nine consecutive years and the 2017 Casino Entertainment Legend Award.
Not just studded with awards, she has sold almost two million tickets, grossed over $100 million in sales and had the longest-running solo female comedy show in the history of Las Vegas.
She’s also an author with several published books and a screenwriter with worldwide recognition for her work on “Peter’s Friends”.
Given her return to the Bankhead, Rudner said, “I’m at the point of my life where I can do things that I want to do. And I really like that theater, I love the audiences and I’m really looking forward to coming back.”
Rudner began performing during her teen years, kicking off her career in Broadway theater.
At 27 years old, she decided to try her hand at comedy after noticing a dearth of female comics.
“I didn’t really want to be a comedian,” she said. “I wanted to be who I was.”
To develop her act, she enrolled in her own version of comedy school, watching comedy TV shows and movies and attending comedy clubs.
Her comedy career ramped up in the early 1980s, where she was featured as a regular guest on the popular talk shows, “Late Night with David Letterman” and “The Tonight Show”.
Rudner went on to create 10 comedy specials including PBS’s first stand-up comedy special in 2008, called “Rita Rudner: Live From Las Vegas”; “Rita Rudner’s One Night Stand,” which was nominated for several awards; “Born to Be Mild” and “Married Without Children,” which she performed across the country as well as “A Tale Of Two Dresses” in 2018.
As for live comedy, Rudner began performing shows in Las Vegas in 2000 where she was a “house-filling favorite”, according to an announcement by the Livermore Valley Arts.
Even after accumulating decades of comedic experience, she said she’s constantly learning new ways to hone her routine.
“I’m always trying new jokes,” Rudner said. That means looking for new ways to become more emotionally attached to her jokes and how to connect them to stories.
Rudner added, “It’s really an interesting process for me still after all these years.”
In addition to her accomplished standup career, she is also the author of several books, including her bestselling non-fiction titles, “Naked Beneath My Clothes”, “Rita Rudner’s Guide to Men” and “I Still Have It…I Just Can’t Remember Where I Put It” as well as novels called “Tickled Pink” and “Turning the Tables”. The audio adaptation of “Naked Beneath My Clothes” received a Grammy nomination.
Most recently, she released her autobiography called “My Life in Dog Years” in 2022.
Her career also spans film, having co-written the script of “Peter’s Friends” with her husband Martin Bergman, a film producer and writer. The comedy movie stars Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie, Kenneth Branagh, Stephen Fry and herself. It won the Evening Standard Peter Sellers Award for Best British Film and received nominations for the Goya Award for Best European Film of 1994 as well as the WGA Best Screenplay Award for its script. Rudner also won Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film at the American Comedy Awards.
Rudner also co-wrote a TV movie with Bergman called “A Weekend in the Country”, which was released in 1996. The movie featured herself, Jack Lemmon, Betty White, Dudley Moore, Richard Lewis, Christine Lahti and Faith Ford.
More recently, she acted in “Thanks”, which premiered at the 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival and won several awards on the film festival circuit. In 2023, she also acted in the world premier of “STAGED” — a comedic play she wrote with Bergman.
To her future audience at the Bankhead, Rudner said, “I’ve got lots of new jokes, I’ve got a very, very pretty dress and I want to say hello to everyone who comes to see me and I want everyone to have a really good time.”
Rita Rudner’s standup show is scheduled at 8 p.m. on Feb. 28. For tickets and more information, visit livermorearts.org.
