Stand-up comic Rita Rudner has been a favorite of mine for years, to the point where I have memorized several of her routines just because I've seen clips of her performances so often. Don't believe me? From a performance from the late 1980s:

"My parents hired one of those ponies to give rides at my birthday party when I was a kid. These things are never in very good shape. Yeah, but this one dropped dead. It just wasn't much fun after that. One of us would sit on him and the rest of us would drag them around in a circle."

With her off-kilter, sing-songy delivery, that kind of line comes off a lot less dark when she's saying it, but no matter the subject, Rudner is a true pro with perfect timing, a knack for cutting to the heart of things and now, after five years in a smallish theater at New York-New York, has a new gig at the big showroom at Harrah's.

The size of the theater is not really important here, since Rudner doesn't rely on shtick or props or wacky backdrops to get her point across. It's just her, a curtain, a spotlight and a microphone. This is stand-up comedy the way God intended it to be.

Her show runs about 90 minutes, give or take, and the exact content will vary depending on when you see it. That's another bonus -- you can go back to see her again and again and not hear all the same jokes twice.

This particular set involved a lot of Vegas-centric comedy, all spot-on and laugh-out-loud funny.

On people-watching in Sin City: "You look at people and sometimes you just want to walk up to them and say, 'I demand an explanation.'"

On the prices at Vegas restaurants: "Some of them don't even have prices on the menu -- just pictures of faces with different expressions of horror."

She even pokes fun at the guys who pass out the pornographic brochures on the street.:

"They never pay attention. One guy tried to hand me one of those things with two nearly naked women in bed on the cover while saying, 'How about showing them a good time?' And I said, 'How? Would you like me take them shopping? Because it looks like they need some clothes.'"

Much of her set, as has been her stock in trade, is about the differences between men and women and the joys and pitfalls of marriage. She expends a great deal of effort trying to get the men in the audience to understand why the female persuasion enjoys shopping so much: "It's like hunting, but with a credit card."

Now that she is the proud parent of a 4-year-old, she also works in some good "mommy" material, complete with the notion that being a working mom 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 says.

Tickets start at around $50 and go up from there, including a VIP package that allows you a chance to meet Rudner before the show for a few moments (and snap a picture if you're so inclined), better seats and a copy of her new novel.

It's one of the best values in town and one of the best shows at any cost. At Harrah's they call comic-magician Mac King the "King of Afternoon," so I'm giving the marketing folks there a no brainer -- Rita Rudner is the Queen of Las Vegas. It'll look great on the posters.

Rita Rudner
Harrah's
3475 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
702-369-5222
Show times: Mon. through Sat., 8 p.m.
Prices: $49 and up

The Full Story

• Stardust To Close This Week
• Rudner Moves To Big Room, Adds Mommy Material
• Vegas Q&A: What's The Fastest Way Around?

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