Comedienne Rita Rudner is a study in contrast when she’s performing. Her wide-eyed innocence conflicts with her sophisticated, sly wordplay. Also her self-deprecating humor doesn’t acknowledge her porcelain beauty. Rudner, who will be performing with Louie Anderson Thursday, July 16, at the Maine Center for the Arts, is one of the hottest female comics working today. Winner of the 1990 American Comedy Award for Funniest Female Stand-up, she displayed her talents in hundreds of live performances, on TV, and in books and movies.

In an interview from her home in California, Rudner credits her success to doing comedy people can relate to.

“My comedy is about relationships, and the things that can happen to you when you’re awake,” Rudner said. “I’ve always tried not to adopt a style, but rather to be myself and be funny.”

Rudner eschews the screaming and vulgarities that many comedians today use, preferring instead to employ her wit and timing.

An example would be this take on relationships: “Men are afraid of commitment. When I want to end a relationship, I never say, `It’s over.’ I say: `I love you. I want to marry you. I want to have your children.’ ” (Pause) “Sometimes they leave skidmarks.”

Although only 35, Rudner is already enjoying her second show-business career. She left her Miami home at the age of 15 to become a dancer on Broadway. Over the next decade, she racked up numerous theatrical credits, including a featured role in the musical “Annie,” and appearances in the original productions of “Mack and Mabel” and Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies.”

But one night in 1980, she was ready for a change. She went into a New York comedy club and tried her hand at stand-up.

“I found out I loved it, and found out I had a talent for it,” she recalled. “Also there’s more longevity. I mean, George Burns is still working, but Gene Kelly hasn’t had a job for a number of years.”

She polished her act at small clubs in New Jersey and Long Island. An appearance on David Letterman’s show enabled her to start head- lining New York comedy clubs, and she was able to hang up her dancing shoes after two years in comedy.

Rudner has made her mark on TV as well. She’s been on “Late Night” and “The Tonight Show” many times, and has appeared on four HBO specials. Most recently she was in 1991’s “Born to Be Mild,” which was voted Best Comedy Special in the 1991 “Cable Guide” reader’s poll. She also had her own comedy/variety series on the BBC, which aired as two ACE award-winning specials on the A&E network.

Although Rudner and her husband, British comedy producer Martin Bergman, are working on a project for prime time, she isn’t anxious to land a U.S. network series.

“I’ve turned down a lot of offers, because it’s a minefield out there,” she said. “It’s a hard thing. If it bombs, it’s a bomb, but if it’s a hit, you’re stuck for seven years.”

Rudner is also moving into movies. She and Bergman developed “Peter’s Friends,” to be released around Christmas. Kenneth Branagh (“Henry V,” “Dead Again”) stars in, directs and produces the film, which also stars Rudner and Britons Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Tony Slattery.

“Peter’s Friends” is a comedy about half-a-dozen old friends who reunite one New Year’s Eve in a large country house. They were last all together 10 years earlier in a theatrical revue troupe. The reunion, as in “The Big Chill,” is a catalyst that encourages them to evaluate their lives.

Although Rudner admitted being somewhat intimidated by working with such a talented cast, she was confident about her performance.

“I wrote a part well within my range, a role I was pretty secure in,” she said. “I played an American, so I didn’t even try an accent.”

Rudner found out that Hollywood wasn’t waiting with open arms with starring vehicles for comediennes.

“Hollywood will be ready for whoever sells tickets,” she said. “But I had to do it myself, because no one was going to cast me for the lead in a movie.”

Rudner plans to continue doing little comedic parts now and then. Also, she and Bergman are writing a comedy for Disney and Interscope.

Rudner also has written a book of humorous essays, “Naked Beneath My Clothes,” published by Viking Press.

“I wanted to expand upon my act, to do something I was already good at,” Rudner said. “I also wanted to write a book where it sounded like someone was talking to the reader.”

Rudner plans to keep rotating stand-up comedy, TV, movies and books.

“I enjoy doing different things because I break it up, and do different things for months at a time,” she said.

But stand-up comedy still gives her the most satisfaction.

“I love the relationship with the audience,” Rudner said. “There’s no middleman. It’s so simple and so gratifying. It all happens in a night. It’s the best way to earn a living.”

Tickets for the Rita Rudner-Louie Anderson concert are available by calling 581-1755.