Comedy legends Klein and Rudner come to the Tulalip Casino

On February 3, the main showroom at the Tulalip Casino will host legendary standup comedians Rita Rudner and Robert Klein. These comedy pioneers blazed trails that have inspired scores of comedians to follow.

Related: Comedian Tom Arnold talks comedy roots and Trump

With over 70 years experience between them, they each took the time to chat with KIRO’s Dori Monson, finding some common ground.

Rudner on comedy beginnings

One coincidence Dori and Rudner shared was graduating from high school at the age of 15. Rudner said:

I wanted to be a dancer,  I was headstrong and I wanted to be a dancer on Broadway. I looked around and there was no Broadway in Miami. I was already skipping school to take buses to Miami Beach to be in shows… I made a deal with my father (to finish high school) but only if I can do 11th and 12th grades together. And I started school early anyway because they wanted to get me out of the house.

Rudner continues to draw on her dancing training to this day:

I still stretch all the time and I was just on a television show doing some promotion in Las Vegas. All of a sudden, I’m in the middle of talking, and they say ‘Can you still do the splits?’ … When I’m 92 and they say “Can you still do the splits?” I’m gonna have to say “You know what? You’re going to have to look at a videotape because that happened about 20 years ago.

Rudner on her tough path to The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson:

I think I auditioned for five years before I got on Johnny Carson. Because the booker just wasn’t a fan of mine and also he had a girlfriend who was a stand-up comedian. And for five years, she was the only one allowed on the Johnny Carson Show.

At first, Rudner couldn’t remember if she got Carson’s signature “OK” hand signal or was called over to the couch on her first appearance, both heavily sought signs of Johnny’s comedy approval. However, after checking with her husband during the interview, Rudner remembered being beckoned over and the surreality of the moment.

Robert Klein on Trump

It sounded equally surreal for Klein when he heard clips Dori had unearthed of Klein roasting Donald Trump in 2004. Klein’s reaction to one sound bite at the close of the roast, in which he proclaimed himself “a Donald fan” elicited a bit of a different response:

“That is a remarkable piece of tape,” Klein said. “Believe me, I do not feel that way”

His feelings on Trump have evolved over time.

“I always thought he was a bit clownish and all that,” he said. “But he was a New Yorker; he was harmless to me. But he’s not harmless anymore.”

Robert Klein and Rita Rudner will be performing at the Tulalip Casino at 8 p.m. on Feb. 3.

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