South African-born Urzila Carlson got her break in Kiwi comedy in 2008, after a workmate entered her in a stand-up competition. In this Funny As interview, Carlson talks about many topics, including:
Unknowingly entering a Raw Comedy Quest contest, with her first open mic show to an audience full of her co-workers
Turning to comedy full-time, after losing her advertising job in Auckland
Performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and fulfilling her goal to perform at Just for Laughs, the world's largest comedy festival
How illness led to getting her break on hit TV show 7 Days
"Gag hags" flirting ludicrously with her after shows
Sometimes feeling like an outsider, through being South African in a "very tight-knit" comedy community
With stand-up, it’s just you, and you cannot have a down night. You’d better up your game. Those people are spending their hard-earned cash to come and see you be funny. And I like that aspect of it. And I like how immediate it is. You tell a joke, they laugh. If they don’t laugh, you fix it, you go in a different way.– Urzila Carlson on why she loves stand-up comedy
Log in
×