By MIKE WEATHERFORD REVIEW-JOURNAL

Heading into her final three nights of public performance, Phyllis Diller dispensed equal doses of punch lines and wisdom about 47 years in show business.

The 84-year-old comedian, known for gravity-defying wigs and her outlandish cackle, is stepping down from conventional stand-up engagements after Sunday's show at the Suncoast because of a heart condition.

"I was proud of my material," she told reporters Friday, because it "got laughs without being filthy."

A late start in show business at 37 gave her the background for her demented housewife act. "I pity pretty young girls because they really don't have a stance," said. "They'd have to make one up."

Diller's unmistakable look, and a routine often centered around mythical husband Fang, gave her an inroad into a male-dominated profession in the early '60s.

For today's comedians, "If there's nothing to set them apart, they don't give you anything to hang onto to make sure they mean it," she says. "It sounds like they're getting up there and saying something they memorized."

She cited Rita Rudner, Wendy Liebman and Richard Lewis as younger comedians with distinct personas.

Stressing the importance of timing and rhythm, she said that "if you can't dance to comedy, forget it. It's music."

Diller said a movie about her life is in the works, and that a documentary crew was recording this weekend's events in Las Vegas in hopes of making "an art film."

The movie should include "the hardships," she said. "It looks very easy once it's done. You don't realize what a person has gone through once they get there."

A host of Las Vegas-based entertainers is expected at Sunday's show, including Jerry Lewis, Rich Little, David Brenner, Marty Allen and Phyllis McGuire.