URZILA CARLSON: THE LONG FLIGHT TO FREEDOM
San Francisco Bathhouse, 171 Cuba St, Wellington
29/04/2013 - 04/05/2013
Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland
07/05/2013 - 11/05/2013
NZ International Comedy Festival 2007-09, 2013
Production Details
NAME: Urzila M. Carlson (The M stands for Mystery)
IMMIGRATION STATUS: New Zealand Citizen since 2012 – yippee!
FORMER CITIZEN OF: South Africa
LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English, Afrikaans, Bad
REASONS FOR IMMIGRATION TO NEW ZEALAND: Safety, Cricket team, weather, to be closer to Winston Peters., lack of white scorpions, to go on a proper Safari at Orana Park in Christchurch
PAST WORK EXPERIENCE: Typesetter, Award winning Graphic Designer and Photo-re-toucher (primarily making burgers look more luscious and models less so), Au Pair in Texas, lots of other jobs… was excellent at all of them.
AWARDS/ACHIEVEMENTS: Went to the same school as Charlize Theron (the similarities end there), Excellent listening certificate age 5. Biggest baby ever born at Queen Victoria Hospital in Johannesburg. Awards for indoor Cricket, including multiple “hat-trick” awards.
TALENTS: Makes a mean charcoal BBQ. Can wink with both eyes at the same time. Can get any stain out of anything. Passion for power tools and cleaning devices. Beer tasting award winner… more than once in fact. Fastest Typist Award NZ 2 years running
MARITAL STATUS: Currently living in sin because NZ Law prohibits me from making an honest woman out of my girlfriend.
DRIVERS LICENSE: Got one, but don’t need one because I’m the world’s best driver.
PHOBIAS: Deathly afraid of any type of bug.
EDUCATION: I’m a woman, I know everything! Google asks me questions.
The Long Flight To Freedom…. It involved filling out a hell of a lot of forms!
Urzila Carlson is quickly becoming one of New Zealand’s best and most loved comedians. One of the most common questions she is asked is why she chose to move to New Zealand and become a New Zealand Citizen? In her brand new 1 hour solo show The Long Flight To Freedom she discusses her journey to here. What pushed to her emigrate? And her love for her new homeland.
As part of the 2013 NZ International Comedy Festival
URZILA CARLSON – THE LONG FLIGHT TO FREEDOM
WELLINGTON
Dates: Mon 29 April – Sat 4 May, 7pm
Venue: San Francisco Bath house, 171 Cuba St
Tickets: $22.50 – $25.50 (booking fees may apply)
Bookings: 0800 TICKETEK or www.ticketek.co.nz
AUCKLAND
Dates: Tue 7 – Sat 11 May, 8.45 pm
Venue: Loft at Q, 305 Queen St
Tickets: $22.50 – $25.50 (booking fees may apply)
Bookings: 09 309 9771 or www.qtheatre.co.nz
For the sweetest deals and hottest comedy news throughout the Festival head to www.comedyfestival.co.nz
Theatre , Comedy , Solo ,
In-your-face wit
Review by Hannah Smith 30th Apr 2013
Urzila Carlson’s been making her way around the NZ comedy scene for the last few years. Now she’s got citizenship, and a baby on the way (like, any minute, she brings her phone on stage in case it happens during the set), and a happy life in Kiwi-land. The Long Road to Freedom relates Carlson’s journey from her birthplace in South Africa to her newfound homeland.
Half her material is drawn from the disparities between the South African and New Zealand ways of life, half from her memories of growing up in the mother country – and while the connective thread gets a bit lost and disjointed in places this provides enough structure for a 60 minute set.
Her stage persona is aggressive but appealing, loads of confidence and charisma laced with a healthy dose of ‘Get Fucked’ attitude; her comedy is observational, anecdotal and narrative in style. Stories of childhood holidays on an African farm sit alongside memories of happy and unremarked child bashing in her nostalgic past.
Carlson is clearly trying out a lot of new material with this show – some of which hits, some of which needs a bit more work. There are a few sections where a lot of set up goes unrewarded by a punchline. The style vacillates between gags and more long form funny stories, and the balance is occasionally askew.
She gets into some deeper territory with her discussion of Nelson Mandela, and this is the most successful part of the show for me – fewer easy laughs but it feels important and interesting, as well as having moments of sharp comedy.
Carlson is a witty woman, with an in-your-face stage presence, and the audience lapped it up. Recommended.
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