Urzila Carlson
Born (1976-02-15) 15 February 1976
Johannesburg, South Africa
Medium
  • Stand-up
  • Panel shows
NationalityNew Zealander
Years active2008–present
Subject(s)
  • Parenting
  • Emigration
Children2
Websiteurzilacarlson.com
Known for

Urzila Carlson (/ˈɜːrʃɪlæ/ UR-shih-la; born 15 February 1976) is a South African-born New Zealand comedian and actress, known for her stand-up performances as well as her appearances on television programs in both New Zealand and Australia. Carlson is a regular panellist on 7 Days.[1][2][3] Carlson is a regular panellist on both the Australian and New Zealand version of Have You Been Paying Attention? and was a panellist on The Masked Singer Australia for the show’s second and third seasons.[4] In 2021, she was a contestant on the second season of Taskmaster NZ.

Biography

Carlson was born in 1976 at the Queen Victoria Hospital in Johannesburg.[5] She grew up on the Ingwelala nature reserve,[6] next to Kruger National Park[7] and has a brother and a sister.[6][8] Her parents separated when she was 6 or 7 years old.[3][6][8] Carlson is a lesbian and came out to her mother when she was 24.[1] She refers to herself as a "lesbiterian",[9] a portmanteau of lesbian and Presbyterian.[3][10] She married her partner Julie in 2014, and they have a son and a daughter together.[11][12]

Her 2016 memoir is called Rolling With The Punchlines.[8][13]

Carlson speaks English and Afrikaans.[5] In 2018, she was named Australasian Ambassador of South African Tourism, representing the country as part of an ongoing campaign to encourage Australians, New Zealanders and South African expats to visit.[7]

Career

Carlson's first job was as a typesetter for a newspaper, which she did for 12 years.[1] By the age of 24 she was "production manager for Africa's largest newspaper group with 13 newspapers and 6 magazines",[6] and won awards for graphic design and photo re-touching.[5]

She emigrated to New Zealand from South Africa in 2006 after being subjected to a series of thefts including her car being stolen, an armed robbery at work, and a break-in at her home, in which she and her neighbours confronted the intruder with cricket bats. She became a New Zealand citizen in 2012.[5] As of 2019 she lives in Auckland.[6][12][14]

Carlson moved into comedy in 2008, when she was 32.[1][6] She has appeared on the Australian shows The Project, Studio 10, Spicks and Specks, Orange Is the New Brown, Have You Been Paying Attention?, Hughesy, We Have a Problem,[15] and two seasons of The Masked Singer.[4] She has also appeared on New Zealand shows 7 Days, Have You Been Paying Attention? and Super City.[3][1][15] Stand-up routines include The Long Flight To Freedom.[5] Carlson performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala from 2016 to 2018 and received ‘Best Female Comedian’ at the New Zealand Comedy Guild Awards.[8] She was nominated for the Helpmann Award for Best Comedy Performer in 2018.

In 2019, she appeared in Netflix's Comedians of the World.[10][14][15] In October 2019 she was presented with the Rielly Comedy Award from the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand for her contribution to New Zealand entertainment. In 2021, she was a contestant on the second series of Taskmaster NZ.[16] In 2022, she was a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under. In 2023, Carlson appeared on Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Du Chateau, Carroll (24 July 2012) Urzila Carlson: The comedian standing up for herself, The New Zealand Herald, New Zealand Media and Entertainment. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  2. ↑ Kanowski, Sarah (23 March 2018) Urzila Carlson: a life without regrets, Conversations, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Accessed 27 April 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Quinn, Karl (8 March 2018). "Urzila Carlson treats stand-up 'like I'm at a barbecue with mates talking s---'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  4. 1 2 "The first unmasking. Urzila Carlson is ready to play detective". ViacomCBS ANZ. Network Ten. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "URZILA CARLSON: THE LONG FLIGHT TO FREEDOM". Theatre Review. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dann, Jennifer (29 November 2016). "Twelve questions with Urzila Carlson". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  7. 1 2 COMEDIAN URZILA CARLSON IS NEW SOUTH AFRICAN TOURISM AMBASSADOR Travel Monitor. 2 October 2018
  8. 1 2 3 4 "'Rolling With The Punchlines' Is Urzila Carlson's Fascinating Memoir". lotl.com. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  9. ↑ "Urzila Carlson: The comedian standing up for herself". NZ Herald. 25 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  10. 1 2 Steve Bennett (2 January 2019). "Comedians Of The World – Urzila Carlson". Chortle. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  11. ↑ "7 Days comedian Urzila Carlson welcomes baby boy". Stuff. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  12. 1 2 Weaser, Laura. "Urzila's Kiwi love story". Now To Love. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  13. ↑ Urzila., Carlson (2016). Rolling with the punchlines. Sydney: A & U New Zealand. ISBN 9781877505638. OCLC 1057621440.
  14. 1 2 "Urzila Carlson goes global with Netflix comedy special Comedians Of The World". Newshub. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  15. 1 2 3 "Who Is Urzila Carlson? New Details On The Comic From 'Comedians Of The World' On Netflix". YourTango. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  16. ↑ "Taskmaster NZ to return with new line up of comedians". Stuff.co.nz. 29 May 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
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