Comedians Rita Rudner, Robert Klein to tag-team Tulalip

Published 1:30 am Friday, January 27, 2017

TULALIP — Rita Rudner and fellow comedian Robert Klein are some of the few stand-up stars who still dress up for their shows.

“We’re like two old people going to the prom,” Rudner said during a phone interview earlier this week.

Rudner and Klein will perform at 8 p.m. Feb. 3 at the Tulalip Resort Casino’s Orca Ballroom.

Klein, 74, is well-known for his influential comedy albums of the 1970s, his Tony award-winning turn in the Broadway musical “They’re Playing Our Song,” a bunch of TV and movie appearances, his HBO specials and for twice hosting “Saturday Night Live.” His favorite stand-up subjects are politics and life in general.

Rudner, 63, said her show is a politics-free zone. And it’s all about life. Married life. In-laws. Life with a teenager.

“I’m an older mother,” Rudner said. “My daughter is 14 now. At some point we both lost teeth at the same time.”

A 12-year stint in Las Vegas allowed Rudner and her husband, writer/producer Martin Bergman, to raise their daughter Molly (already a talented singer/songwriter) while still working.

“People would fly in for my shows and all I had to do was drive to work,” Rudner said. “When I did go on tour, it would be for just a few days a month. Even then my husband would call to tell me he was tired of being a single parent.”

The current outing includes just the visit to Tulalip, she said. “And how do you pronounce that? Like tulip with a lay in it? I want to get it right.”

Her show with Klein should be fun, Rudner promised.

“Robert and I have worked together many times. He is terrific,” she said. “We appeal to similar audiences and our acts are seamless together. Yeah, seamless. I’m callin’ it. We each do an hour or so. People get the best of the best of.”

Rudner had a 10-year career as a dancer on Broadway before she turned to comedy. In her late 20s, she started going to clubs in Manhattan to watch comedians work.

“I think because I already had a career behind me, I was a bit more disciplined and mature than a lot of people just starting out,” she said.

Within just a few years, she was making guest appearances on Johnny Carson’s and David Letterman’s late-night TV shows. She soon did her first HBO comedy special and then another and a PBS comedy special. Along with her routines, she then began writing books and collaborating with her husband on scripts of all kinds.

“Today, people get started in comedy in their teens, putting routines up on YouTube and Instagram,” Rudner said. “The whole landscape has changed. You want people to follow you online. Nothing like this existed when I was getting started in the 1980s. If somebody followed me, then I’d get them arrested.”

Recently, Rudner has had offers to do lengthy productions in London and New York.

“I don’t work as much as I used to because I wanna be a mother,” she said. “I love the freedom of doing my own act. I still get excited when I write a new show. It’s very fulfilling.”

Again, Rudner promised a fun evening on Feb. 3 at Tulalip.

“The audience will laugh about three times a minute,” she said. “Don’t laugh. I’ve timed it.”

If you go

Rita Rudner and Robert Klein, live in the Orca Ballroom at Tulalip Casino, 8 p.m. Feb. 3. Tickets from $65-$75 at www.ticketmaster.com.