Pudgy TV Special.mov

The death last week of comedian Pudgy (Beverly Wines) reminds us of all the working pros who have performed in front of thousands of people on the Strip, but never quite reached a bigger level of fame.

The comedian had a Chicago following for a versatile cabaret act that included more singing. But she gave it up to move to Las Vegas in 1993, after testing the waters three years earlier at Bally's Catch A Rising Star club. Her timing might have been better. She got here right when the Strip made a collective play for the family trade and tried to distance itself from insult comics in the vein of Totie Fields or Don Rickles.

Pudgy spent her latter years as comic relief in girlie shows ranging from "Skintight" to "X Burlesque," the Flamingo show she was working before she died. It would be impossible to count how many people were prodded into singing along to "I Will Survive" over the years, as she trolled the audience and riffed off the crowd.

Perhaps it's fitting that Pudgy's biggest exposure in the past few years came from an E! cable network series called "Nearly Famous 2: Vegas Showgirls," which chronicled the backstage drama of "Skintight" in 2003.

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[khrisfran]

god rest her soul !!! she was very funny, and very kind to me !!!!! some people you never forget !!!!

[yeastymcrevis]

Get us more Pudgy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!