Aparna Nancherla jokes about mental health, but also takes it seriously — and she’s got tips

Aparna Nancherla’s comedy career spans almost two decades. She started in standup, has written for shows like Mythic Quest and Late Night with Seth Meyers, and acted in shows like Search Party, Corporate and BoJack Horseman.

After taking a break from standup to write a memoir turned into an extended hiatus.

”I was mining some real, raw personal depths and facing some parts of myself that I hadn't looked at really closely,” Nancherla told LAist. “And then I think trying to get up in front of a bunch of strangers at night was just too much for my nervous system.”

Nancherla is now back with her first hour-long special.

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In Hopeful Potato — available now on Dropout, a streaming service dedicated to comedy — she shares her journey navigating her social anxiety in everyday life.

Nancherla joined LAist All Things Considered host Julia Paskin to talk about how she deals with anxiety and depression and her recommendations for places to decompress in L.A.

Good advice and bad mental health advice she’s received

Julia Paskin: Let's talk about good advice.

Aparna Nancherla:  Ironically, the internet's recommendation to touch grass. I think seeing actual people being a little out in the world [and] spending time in nature, those are all things that have helped me. But also realizing that your coping mechanisms are not always gonna work the way you want them to. Deep breathing or taking a self-care day, sometimes it won't make you feel better… I think that just accepting that's part of it too. Like some days you're just gonna feel bad and that doesn't mean you failed.

Julia Paskin:  Could I ask you [for] some of your top worst tips you've received for dealing with depression and anxiety?

Aparna Nancherla:  I've heard, "Just don't think about it." I'm like, "Oh yeah, I haven't tried that." [Also],  something along the lines of: "Suck it up. We're all having a hard time. Everyone's a little depressed." That kind of thing. And honestly, I do find going for a walk or exercising or drinking more water, those can be helpful things. But I think people often utilize them as the solution, like this will cure you. And I'm like, there is not really a cure. It's an ongoing, non-linear journey, and I don't think people understand that.

Places to avoid being a hermit

Julia Paskin:  You talk in the special about having had "big hermit energy" at one point [...] You mentioned touching grass. Any particular spots in L.A. to go touch grass?

Aparna Nancherla:  I mean, very on-brand for me, but I love a coffee shop, I love a library, something where you're around people, but maybe you don't have to directly engage with them, but there's some social contact…  I do think it's [...] important to kind of push myself to be out in the world. 'Cause I think sometimes it can be a slippery slope with being like, is this really a self-care day at this point? You haven't seen anyone for 10 days. Like maybe this is more a sign [that] you need to have lunch with a friend.

Just a couple months ago, [I] got a membership to the L.A. County Arboretum… [I’m an] admirer of waterfalls, and they have a big one planted right in the middle called the Meyberg Waterfall. And it is just one of my really happy places.

Julia Paskin:  Do you have a favorite library or bookshop or anything like that, that you'd recommend?

Aparna Nancherla: I'm in Pasadena, so I love the Pasadena Public Library system. …  There's actually a library I really love in Glassell Park. The Eagle Rock Library I love. And then there's just like great coffee shops around those places too, like Habitat and Penny Oven.

Navigating mental health in an unstable entertainment industry

The unpredictability of the entertainment industry — from the shuttering of studios during the pandemic, to fears of AI and the potential effect of corporate mergers on jobs — has increased anxiety for people working in Hollywood. Nancherla’s advice for dealing with this uncertainty? Support one another.

Aparna Nancherla:  I think what helps in these moments is as a creator [thinking] what can I make? What brings me joy? What connects me to other people? And for me it is kind of going back to smaller things where it's like [doing] a local show. I just did a fundraiser for a local L.A. Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who's doing such great work with housing and people's wages. And I think it's so important to remember there are degrees of power and ways we can show up for each other that don't have to do with billionaires, and mergers and things that hopefully people can work towards changing, but might not change overnight.

Nancherla’s comedy special "Hopeful Potato’"is available to stream now on Dropout.

This interview has been edited for clarity.