Vidale began her career in 1986 performing at amateur stand-up comedy nights in Houston before quickly progressing to comedy clubs in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Los Angeles. She appeared in the cable comedy special "Rodney Dangerfield: Opening Night at Rodney's Place" on HBO in 1989. On the same special were such notables as Tim Allen, Jeff Foxworthy, and Sam Kinison. She performed on "Late Night With David Letterman" and toured internationally. Vidale's most prominent featured role on a TV series was as the title character, a single mother, on the short-lived 1993 sitcom "Thea". The show lasted only one season in which it was noted to be "ranked near 50 out of approximately 75 shows in the weekly Nielsen ratings" Nevertheless, she was nominated for a People's Choice Award as Favorite Female in a New Series. She was regularly a judge on the BET comedy competition TV series "Comic View". She has performed on numerous sitcoms, including "Ellen", "The Wayans Bros.", "The Drew Carey Show", and "My Wife and Kids". Vidale made a guest appearance, playing a hairdresser, in the episode "Queens for a Day" (2007) of the television series "Ugly Betty". That same year, she played the part of Helen's grandmother on the Drake & Josh episode "Really Big Shrimp". Vidale provided the voice of Mammy Two Shoes in re-dubbed versions of 19 "Tom and Jerry" cartoons from 1989 to 2001. She has performed in feature films such as 1995's "Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde", Jerry Springer's "Ringmaster" in 1998, and the 2006 Master P comedy "Repos".