Aparna Nancherla: ‘Why Should I Apologize for Who I Am?’
The Last Laugh
The Daily Beast
4.6 • 661 Ratings
🗓️ 1 March 2022
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Aparna Nancherla is one of the most accomplished and well-respected stand-up comedians of her generation. But she has spent most of the past two years off stage, recording voiceover work and writing a book about imposter syndrome, the kind of “showbiz activities,” as she put it, that can be done in a “cave.” In this episode, Nancherla opens up about “commodifying” anxiety in her comedy and taking on the culture wars with her new animated Comedy Central series ‘Fairview.’ She also shares why it was so hard to write jokes for Seth Meyers, why it was so rewarding to play Bojack Horseman’s daughter and why Joe Rogan should stop hiding behind the “I’m just a comedian” defense.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The comedian on today's show is better than pretty much anyone else I've ever seen at finding humor in her anxiety. |
| 0:08.3 | And, you know, sometimes when you tell people you have anxiety, they're always like, well, you know, there's nothing to fear but fear itself. |
| 0:15.7 | It's like, okay, have you checked out some of fear's work? |
| 0:25.6 | It's like pretty much churning out solid gold hits. Making some great points, rarely misspires. |
| 0:29.6 | And like if you don't have anxiety, the way I would describe it |
| 0:33.6 | is like there's an edgy improv group in your brain. |
| 0:38.3 | And it just needs like a one word suggestion |
| 0:47.3 | to spin like countless scenarios that no one's comfortable with. |
| 0:53.3 | Like the whole time you're just like, when will this show be over? |
| 0:56.3 | I just came to be supportive. |
| 1:03.8 | This is the last laugh. |
| 1:05.8 | I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast, and that was Aparnanancherla, sharing just a small glimpse of what it's like |
| 1:12.4 | to live inside her head. |
| 1:14.8 | Aparna has made a career out of talking about anxiety, depression, and other mental health |
| 1:19.8 | struggles on stage, something she admits to me she has somewhat conflicted feelings about now. |
| 1:24.9 | It's a theme that has also popped up throughout her acting work on live |
| 1:28.3 | action shows like the underappreciated corporate and beloved animated hits like Bojack Horsman |
| 1:33.8 | and Bob's Burgers. Now she has brought her unique voice and sensibility to Comedy Central's |
| 1:39.4 | new culture war cartoon, Fairview. In this episode, Apara opens up about her struggles with imposter syndrome, |
| 1:46.5 | why she finally stopped apologizing for herself at the beginning of her stand-up sets, |
| 1:51.0 | and a lot more. |
| 1:52.5 | She is such a funny, smart, and insightful comedian, |
... |
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