Julie Marcus was born in Dallas, Texas shortly after her parents immigrated from South Africa. Her mother is a psychologist and her father is a civil engineer. She has two younger sisters. When Julie was five, her parent's enrolled her in an acting class at the local recreation center because they were concerned about her shyness. She won second place as Best Actress in the theater competition and thus knew what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. She moved to La Jolla, CA when she was 15 and attended La Jolla High School and the La Jolla Playhouse Junior Conservatory. She got a B.A. in Theater, and a minor in Film from the University of Southern California. While in college, she originated her stand-up routine because she wanted there to be a female stand-up represented in the USC competition. After that, she performed stand-up in comedy clubs throughout Los Angeles. After graduating, she moved to New York City where she performed theater, stand-up, improvisation, sketch comedy, on-camera acting and voice-over work. While in NYC, she produced a play she wrote, "It's a Wonderful Sex Life" at the Manhattan Theater Source." She moved back to Los Angeles in 2009 to be closer to her family, but returns to NYC quite frequently, generally living a bi-coastal life.