Comedian Rita Rudner performed on a cruise ship last week, traveling from Alaska to Seattle with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout and a slacker by the name of Oprah Winfrey.

OK, make that juggernaut Winfrey, the media mogul who launched a partnership this year with Holland America cruises called “O, The Oprah Magazine Share the Adventure” cruise. Rudner performed on the inaugural trip this month, and she looks forward to thawing out this weekend during her show dates on Oahu and Maui.

“It will be so good coming to Hawaii after Alaska,” said Rudner in ironic tones, speaking on Monday from her beach home in Laguna Beach, Calif.

When not standing in the long shadow of O, Rudner is an incredibly accomplished entertainer. She moved to New York City from Miami at the age of 15 to become a professional dancer and found success in Broadway musicals such as “Annie.” But by the 1980s, she had switched her sights to becoming a comedian — a rarity at the time especially among female performers — and then, in the late ’80s, she added writing in the form of screenwriting and authoring best-selling books to her resume.

Along the way, she has won accolades in the form of appearances on late-night talks, gigs in Las Vegas, a syndicated show and so forth for her style of comedy — deadpan humor at her own expense, and her relationships. Essentially, universal humor. The title of her award-winning comedy special might sum it up best: “Rita Rudner: Born to be Mild.”

Rudner returned home from the cruise Sunday to Southern California, where she and her husband, British screenwriter Martin Bergman, live part-time with their daughter, Molly, 16. The other part of the year is spent in Las Vegas, where Molly attends school and Rudner often performs.

Rudner’s daughter could be heard practicing the piano during the phone call. Molly, a budding singer-songwriter, is opening up for her mother’s shows in Hawaii and has warmed the crowds for the likes of the late comedian Louis Anderson.

“I just made her play tennis before this,” said Rudner in a droll “I-am-the-worst-mother-ever tone. “Now she has to play the piano. But she wants to do the shows. She gets upset if she can’t.”

Rudner answered some questions for the Star-Advertiser in advance of her Hawaii shows:

Honolulu Star-Advertiser: You have said that you did a lot of research on comedy before going into the business. What did you learn from studying the routines of your favorite comedians such as Jack Benny and Woody Allen?

Rudner: I am writing an autobiography right now that goes into this. I studied different styles of jokes, and why people laugh, and what is funny. I love analyzing. I still do it. Comedy is like dancing. In dancing, you start by being in first position, second position, third position. It’s kind of methodical. But it’s boring to talk about. I won’t go into it too much. It’s kind of like when you go to the doctor. You want them to do the surgery. You don’t want them to tell you how they’re going to do the surgery.

I enjoy talking about my family, friends and my dog. I am not a big (stand-up) comedy fan. I like to focus on real life, and things everyone can relate to. That is what I like — when people nudge each other because they recognize something in the moment. It’s an escape from politics. Right now, political humor is popular. On stage, I don’t really talk about that.

One time a person came up to me after a show and said, ‘I never knew stand-up comedy could be so relaxing and happy.’ That’s what I want: People relaxed and happy. I don’t need to share my personal views. I know I’m right. (A classic line in one of Rudner’s comedy sketches.) But it’s just my point of view.”

S-A: But you are a little involved in politics? (Rudner took part in a fundraiser for President Obama and the Democratic leader of the Senate, Harry Reid, in 2009 for example.)

Rudner: Yes, but that is not on stage. There’s room for politics in comedy. I love Bill Maher, and there is room in comedy for politics.

S-A: You are involved in so many different projects — dancing, comedy, acting, screenwriting, books. How did you make the leap from dancing to comedy in the 1980s?

Rudner: I went into comedy from a practical point of view. I thought ‘I can do that.’ There were two female comedians at the time: Phyllis Diller and Joan Rivers. Then I was entrenched. Thank my father: He prided himself on being impractical, so I took a practical point of view.”

S-A: What are some of your favorite highlights from your career, which spans more than 30 years?

Rudner: Playing Carnegie Hall three times. Writing a two-person play (“Act 3,” 2016). I always look forward to the next thing. Writing the Oscars (2001 and 2003 with Steve Martin). Being nominated for a Grammy Award (“Naked Beneath My Sheets,” Best Comedy Album, 1993.) Losing wasn’t fun.

S-A: Has your material changed over the years? Do you tailor it to your audiences?

Rudner: If an audience laughs, and the joke is working 100 percent of the time, that’s when I know when to keep a joke. Otherwise, I get rid of it.

I tailor my material rather than change it. The first show I did at 8 p.m. on the Oprah cruise went well but then there were 8-, 6-, and 5-year-olds at the 10 p.m. show and they were all sitting up front. I never swear but I do talk about marriage. There were kids everywhere! Maybe the word was out that I don’t swear so maybe parents decided the show was a good place rather than leaving kids in the cabin. They were nice kids but this just doesn’t happen, so I had to edit myself. But I love a challenge.

S-A: Have you performed in Hawaii before?

Rudner: I have performed in Hawaii three times before. … I played in Maui six months ago and it was a sold-out show. So we looked at the schedule for what would work down the road. This weekend worked, and now I am playing again this weekend.

S-A: What projects are you working on?

Rudner: I go on tour with Brad Garrett (of “Everybody Loves Raymond”) in a couple months. I am working on the show, a play and the book. I don’t have a release date for the autobiography, but I am estimating it will take two years to write it. I am writing the play “Two’s a Crowd,” with my husband. It’s about two people who are overbooked for a hotel room in Las Vegas and both refuse to move. It’s a romantic comedy.