The Truth According to Urzila Carlson
17/05/2011 - 21/05/2011
NZ International Comedy Festival 2011
Production Details
DON’T EVER LET THE TRUTH GET IN THE WAY OF A GREAT STORY!
Lying has many forms and names – embellishment, fibbing, exaggeration and porky pies, to name just a few. The truth is we all lie, all the time, for different reasons. Great men lie. Great women lie better. Some of the most tragic events in history happened because of great lies. Urzila Carlson will get to the truth by telling you some lies and some truths. Can you tell the difference?
Opening night is Tuesday the 17th of May at the Basement. The show starts at 7.15pm and runs for five nights only.
Urzila Carlson will take you on a journey of the lies she has told and some of the spectacular porkers she has got back. You will hear four work experiences, one of which is an absolute lie. Can you tell which one? At the end of the show all will be revealed.
What’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told? Think about it, you may be asked to share!
Urzila Carlson did her first open mic night in 2008 and was addicted. One hit was all it took. In 2008 she won the NZ Comedy Guild´s best newcomer award and the AK Memorial Cup. In 2010 she won NZ Best Female Comedian and was nominated for the 2011 Billy T Award.
What the reviewers have to say.
“adorable new blood in the standup world, smart and bent” Adelaide Advertiser
“stand out performance, sidesplitting” Rip it up magazine, Australia
“voracious and self deprecating humour that thrives on bad habits that most women stress about” Theatreview
“She’s fat, she’s gay, she’s South African and she’s funny.” Theatreview
AUCKLAND
Dates: 17 May – 21 May, 7.15pm
Venue: The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, City
Tickets: Adults $20 / Conc. $15 / Groups 10+$15
Bookings: 0800 TICKETEK, www.ticketek.co.nz
1hr
Audacity and fearlessness in well constructed routine
Review by Nik Smythe 18th May 2011
The truth, according to Billy-T nominee Urzila Carson in her Billy-T nominated show The Truth According to Urzila Carson, is generally more dangerous than a well-appointed lie.
Carson illustrates in detail the pros and mainly cons regarding the application of an array of itemised lie categories: white lies, small lies, big lies, necessary lies, obvious lies, inappropriate lies, evil lies and lies for basic survival. She seems to be a bit of a compulsive liar herself, which apparently can become problematic when people believe the porkies she comes up with.
Carson is large woman, with a guttural frankness made all the more confrontational by her alarming Afrikaans accent. This particular night has a fairly reticent audience, not immediately warm to her fairly standard introduction, and somewhat complacent when she asks a question or for a show of hands.
Nevertheless the laughs build steadily so that fifteen minutes into it she’s got a good momentum up which remains throughout, highlighted by a couple of climactic pieces of business such as the one involving her friend’s friend’s vibrating egg…
Among other targets under fire are exponents of the various careers Carson (claims to have) tried her hand in: teachers, nannies, massage parlour workers and “the most dangerous people in the world”: promo girls.
With just three years experience in comedy, Carson still has a touch of greenness to her delivery but she’s certainly got the audacious approach that’s required, as well as the appearance of fearlessness be it genuine or just another lie. All in all a well constructed routine.
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