Wit Wows More Than Vows Do

Rita Rudner calls herself a comedian, but, like some of the best comics, she’s really a behavioral scientist with a sense of humor. She seemingly spends all her waking hours studying the rest of us humans--her husband in particular--and making such keen observations as:

“Before you marry someone, you have to make sure one of you kills bugs. It’s so important.”

Wednesday night at the Improv, she spent about an hour rattling off her takes on human behavior, the bulk of which centered on relationships: male-female, intra-family, friend-to-friend, master-to-pet, driver-to-car, makeup-counter-customer-to-free-gift. . . . Before she was through, she had tapped so many common experiences and pet peeves that members of her audience probably had stiff necks from vigorously nodding their empathy.

Stores that sell bathing suits, she offered, should have an area outside their dressing rooms to provide female customers with “some kind of counseling.” (Nods from women.)

Her husband of eight years, writer-director Martin Bergman, knows what to do when his wife insists that Mia Farrow starred in “Love Story.” He turns to an imaginary judge and says, “And that’s why I killed her, your honor.” (Nods from men.)

Rudner and Bergman recently bought a new car with a climate-controlled interior. She turned her side up to 80 degrees; he turned his side down to 30. “Halfway around the block, clouds began to form.” (Nods from men and women.)

Life-altering observations? Probably not. But Rudner’s material is often astute and amusing and her manner so likable that you find yourself chuckling even when the punch lines are obvious, even when the male-female categorizations would at the very least be called sexist if delivered by less delicate hands.

Still, this routine could have done without some of the rimshot-style jokes, and though she made a point of thanking the audience for allowing her to try out some new material, there were plenty of well-worn Rudnerisms in the mix.

For better and for worse, Bergman is at the center of much of Rudner’s current act. His every habit, from handing her the map on long drives (though he knows she can’t read it) to believing he can will his favorite sports teams to win, is fodder for jokes. Much of it is very funny, but it occupies so much of the routine that there’s little time for Rudner to explore much else. And she actually is funniest when she’s examining institutions other than marriage and relationships other than her own.

Take, for instance, her assessment of the banking industry, which she believes should have to call customers before making bad investments. “Hello, Rita? This is the bank. We’re thinking of loaning some of your money to an idiot. Are you in?”

Or her take on the current trend of service-industry employees getting more and more intimate in their salutations. Instead of “Have a nice day!,” your supermarket checker is apt to say “Don’t put off that mammogram!”

After about 50 minutes of scripted routine, Rudner took questions from the audience. It could have been a throwaway ending; instead, these 10 minutes provided some of the best moments of the evening. Among them:

What do you like to do when you’re not working? “Sometimes I like to look at Calvin Klein ads and try to figure out who’s a boy and who’s a girl.”

Marriage often can be oddly funny, but Calvin Klein ads are often odder, and clearly Rudner has the wit to appreciate that. Her routines should wander to such topics more often, without prompting.

If Bergman truly is like most husbands, he’d probably welcome some time off the hot seat.

* Rita Rudner continues at the Improv, 4255 Campus Drive, Irvine, tonight at 8:30 and 10:30; Saturday at 8 and 10:30 p.m., and Sunday at 8 p.m. $15-$20. (714) 854-5455.