RITA RUDNER

BY ED BRUCE edbrucevegas@yahoo.com

Another show that started late...10 minutes here...10 too many.

Monday night the official opening of comedian Rita Rudner at the Venetian...what a hot block this is with Jersey Boys, The Phantom, Blue Man and now Rita, on what is really a city block.

Rudner a true tested veteran of Las Vegas comedy standup at the top of her game tonight, 70 minutes nonstop, great continuity and timeliness, she took 5 minutes of questions and went home.

Try 70 minutes of one liners...pretty much topical and family relevant....if you did 4 a minute you are talking maybe 250ish jokes, and with Rudner's smooth style, it just flows in a perfect evening.

Rudner 57, born in Coconut Grove, Florida....married 22 years, one husband. She went to Broadway as a dancer and ended up here as a treasure; her favorite color and her favorite dresses are pink and she is too !

I am really running the cream of the crop this week with Tango, Le Reve and now Rudner indicative of the world class level of nonstop entertainment in Las Vegas.

It may have been a decade since my last visit to Rita and it was way too long, with Rudner doing just 3 shows a week and planning on a permanent return to California... this is a must see at the multi-venue Venetian 702 414 9000.

I continue to marvel at the creative mind (Rita Rudner) and how this mind works and how it evolves into the smooth Las Vegas headliner show that it is ! Certainly Rudner has written all this material and it is heard nowhere else. She makes fun of herself and her husband and her lifestyle in quick smooth fashion, leaving the audience asking for more.

My wife doesn't laugh like I do, or as often and I am always pleased when she does...she did tonight....THANK YOU RITA !

Another 100 score show ruined by LATE.......

89 B+