Miss Carlson is a regular panellist on 7 Days and said she came from a family that loved telling stories.
She arrived in New Zealand from South Africa five years ago and got a job in advertising. Her workmates said she should be a comedian because she kept them in stitches.
When she left, they gave her a coffee maker and a fake contract for a five-minute stand-up performance at an open mike comedy night in Auckland.
The night turned out to be the start of a comedy festival and organisers rang her the next day to ask if she wanted to be in its competition. She wasn't interested, but they persuaded her to have a go.
People still laughed, and they have kept laughing and booking Miss Carlson for gigs. For the first three months, she was nervous but three years in she's full-time, with lots of bookings, and said it was a fantastic life.
"It's incredibly rewarding and I work with really funny people and I get to have a beer at noon."
She was in the 7 Days Live show at Wanganui's opera house in December. It was a big night with a full house.
"We nearly ripped the roof off. That was my favourite show," she said.
She has also camped at the Whanganui River Top Ten Holiday Park for The Big Braai and is looking forward to returning.
"I love going down there, because it's really laid back. It kind of reminds me of small town South Africa."
Miss Carlson was raised in a suburb near Johannesburg and usually begins shows by talking about her accent.
"I just say this is what I sound like. I know it's not a sexy accent."
Afrikaans is her first language, and she will be doing comedy shows in it in Auckland and Wellington in this year's New Zealand International Comedy Festival. Her first name, Urzila has been in her family for seven generations. It is pronounced "Ursula".
She said she got her humour from real life situations and judged what to say by observing audiences as they arrived and by seeing what they laughed at later. She started shows with a list of ideas.
"If they don't laugh, then you kind of have the A-grade guaranteed stuff in the bank - stuff that's tried and true."
She doesn't think being a female comedian is a big deal - Justine Smith and Irene Pink are two of her New Zealand favourites - but not because they're female.
