I saw Rita Rudner’s show at her final performance in her old home … The New York, New York Casino.

I had just seen Carrot Top the weekend before and really enjoyed it, but Rita Rudner has been voted the #1 Comedian in Las Vegas for something like, a million years in a row, so my expectations were really high.

I scored second row seats to this show, and couldn’t wait.

Doh! Grandiose expectations sometimes kick you in the balls.

At the appointed time, Rita came out with a diamond-studded microphone, and looked very glamorous. And the crowd erupted in applause. It was just her, a microphone, and a spotlight. This was it. No audio, no visuals, no music. A grand entrance it wasn’t. She simply walked out on stage.

And this is about where I got a little bit lost.

All of a sudden I was watching a 75 minute HBO special … except this one show cost me an entire years worth of HBO.

Now, don’t get me wrong, she was funny …. mostly, I just didn’t need to be there to enjoy it. A video of the show would have sufficed. When I go to a show, I want to see a show (see Carrot Top review).

I also realized that I wasn’t the target audience. I’m not quite as amused about menopause, shoe shopping, or “the difference between men and women” as most people.

Being her last night in the theater, I was expecting some big send-off. There were some brief “thank you”’s to the staff, but nothing more. She also seemed to be going through the motions a little. Almost as if she were tired of telling the same jokes over and over again each night. And if that was the case, who could really blame her? She’s been here for a long time, and has to stick to a certain brand of humor for the middle-aged woman target audience.

A really odd thing was the way she was able to completely tune out the roller coaster. The theater was right under the tracks of the roller coaster, and every two minutes there was a big “rumble rumble” that you could literally feel in your seat followed by people shrieking on the ride. Ms. Rudner had to remain stoic through these periodic coater appearances. It was almost surreal.

Okay, so I was expecting more. Sometimes hype does that to you. To be fair, many of the 35-55 year old women were doubled over laughing uncontrollably. To them, shoe shopping anecdotes really are that funny and that’s cool. To each his/her own.

I, too, found most of the jokes amusing, but, well … what can one person, one microphone, and a blank stage really do for 75 minutes to wow a Vegas audience?

For me, apparently not much. Like I said, I would have been just as content to have watched this from home on Comedy Central. At least I could have scratched my nuts and farted without getting dirty looks from the first wives club.

There is just nothing in the act that you have to be there to see. At least not for me.

In short, this is worth seeing if you are already a major Rita Rudner fan.

If you are on the fence, catch one of her fine performances on cable TV.

I personally give this “show” a 3/10. If I had a uterus and thought the world revolved around me, I would give it a 7/10. If I had a uterus, but had stopped menstruating, I would give this show a 9/10.