Urzila Carlson will be totally Unacceptable at Perth Comedy Fest

South African expatriate and New Zealand resident Urzila Carlson brings her unabashed comedy stylings to the Perth Comedy Festival stage.

Having become a mainstay on comedy television here in Australia, Carlson is essentially an honourary Aussie – despite her disdain for the current state of our Marriage Act.

Speaking to OUTinPerth, Carlson tells us a little about her show’s provocative title; Unacceptable.

You’re heading all over the east coast before you hit Perth. Aren’t you sick of us yet?

No! I like what you guys have done with the place. I popped over on Saturday for a social visit! I literally saw a concert and flew right back. That’s the kind of relationship I have with Australia now – come for a sleepover and leave at 5 o’clock in the morning.

Is that a flight of shame, rather than a walk of shame?

Yeah, but at least I can shower at the airport.

So tell us; What’s Unacceptable?

Basically everyone that defriended me. That’s how it works isn’t it? The show actually started after I saw a homophobic post on Facebook. I wanted to say something but I also couldn’t be bothered getting into that whole back-and-forth. I thought to myself how I could say something that would nip it in the bud, so I just went with “unacceptable.”

My mum used to say that to us and it would just stop you dead in your tracks. No nagging for that, it’s just unacceptable. I let it run a bit while other young dudes made their own homophobic remarks, and then I just wrote “unacceptable.” It literally disappeared in less than a second. He deleted the post and apologised to me. I told I’m an old lesbian and nothing hurts me but there’s young people in his circle of friends that he doesn’t even know he’s hurting. It’s unacceptable.

As a comedian you can tread on thin ice, have you been called unacceptable yourself?

Oh yeah! Once or twice I’ve actually agreed and cut things from my acts. A lady once approached me after a show and said “Great show! But you probably shouldn’t use the word ‘retard’, that’s not cool. It really hurts some people.”

That made me realise she was right. I don’t need to say that word. It was like I’d become to numb to the word I didn’t even think about the meaning for other people and the derogatory weight behind it so I stopped using it that day.

Though sometimes people call me unacceptable and I tell them they’re full of shit and keep going with my life!

Urzila Carlson will be at Perth Comedy Festival from Saturday May 20th – Sunday May 21st. Tickets and more information available from perthcomedyfest.com.au

Leigh Andrew Hill