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South African–New Zealand comedian (born 1976) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Urzila Carlson (/ˈɜːrʃɪlə/ UR-shih-la;[citation needed] 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] and both the Australian and New Zealand version of Have You Been Paying Attention?. She has also been a panellist on The Masked Singer Australia for the show's second and third seasons[4] and a contestant on the second season of Taskmaster NZ.
Urzila Carlson | |
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Born | Johannesburg, South Africa | 15 February 1976
Medium |
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Nationality | New Zealander |
Years active | 2008–present |
Subject(s) |
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Children | 2 |
Website | urzilacarlson |
Known for |
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]
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 and renounced her South African citizenship.[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.
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