Aparna Nancherla and Alvin Irby

Aparna Nancherla and Alvin Irby Visit friends and take a deep dive into the imposter syndrome and how funding for Black Organizations are held under a microscope. 

Aparna Nancherla is a comedian and general silly billy. Her sense of humor is dry, existential, and absurd, with notes of uncalled-for whimsy. Think a wine you didn’t order.

Her forthcoming book, Unreliable Narrator: Me, Myself and Impostor Syndrome (Viking), is currently available for pre-order via Penguin Random House and will be released on September 19, 2023. You can hear Aparna as the voice of Moon on Fox’s The Great North, or have heard her as the voice of Hollyhock on Bojack Horseman. You can currently watch Aparna in The Drop on Hulu or as Dr. Pocha on Lopez vs. Lopez (NBC). You may have watched Aparna as Grace the belabored HR rep on the critically-acclaimed Comedy Central show, Corporate.

She also has a half-hour special on the second season of The Standups on Netflix, as well as appearances on Late Night with Stephen Colbert on CBS and Two Dope Queens on HBO. Other acting credits include A Simple Favor, Modern Love, Bob’s Burgers, Crashing, Master of None, and Inside Amy Schumer. She’s written for Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell and Late Night with Seth Meyers, as well as Mythic Quest on Apple+.

Aparna was also named one of “The 50 Funniest People Right Now” by Rolling Stone. In 2019, she was in a Super Bowl commercial with Michael Bublé for sparkling water neé seltzer.

In 2016, she released her debut album, Just Putting It Out There, on Tig Notaro’s label, Bentzen Ball Records, and recorded a half hour special for Comedy Central. She was also chosen as one of Variety’s “Top 10 Comics to Watch” that year.

Aparna currently lives in Los Angeles if you can even imagine.  Watch the absurdist web series Womanhood Aparna made with bright light Jo Firestone for Refinery29.

Alvin Irby is a former kindergarten teacher turned award-winning social entrepreneur, international speaker, comedian, and author. He is Founder and Chief Reading Inspirer at Barbershop Books, a literacy program that creates child-friendly reading spaces in barbershops and provides early literacy training to barbers. His work connecting reading to male-centered spaces and involving men in boys’ early reading experiences earned him the National Book Foundation’s 2017 Innovations in Reading Prize. Irby’s popular TED Talk "How to inspire every child to be a lifelong reader," has been viewed over 1 million times.

Irby’s nationally-recognized cultural competency workshops help school districts, library systems, and education organizations create relevant and engaging learning experiences for all students. His Diversity & Inclusion trainings have been described as informative, inspiring, engaging, and humorous. Ir by helps educators better understand and address the systemic and personal challenges that inhibit children’s intrinsic motivation to read and learn. His debut children’s book, Gross Greg, combines Irby’s passion for early literacy and comedy. Gross Greg is a laugh-out-loud story that captures the hilariously gross behavior of kids everywhere.

As a stand up comedian, Irby's fresh perspective and smart brand of humor shine through in his comedy album "Really Dense." His clever social commentary and funny observations have not gone unnoticed. Irby won the Clean Comedy Showcase at the 2019 San Diego Comedy Festival and won 2nd place at NYC’s 2019 Laughing Devil Comedy Festival. One of the highlights of Irby’s comedy career was being selected as a national finalist for the StandUp NBC competition and performing at the legendary Hollywood Improv in Los Angeles.

Alvin Irby holds a Masters of Science (MS) in Childhood Education from Bank Street Graduate School of Education, a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, and a Bachelors of Arts (BA) in Sociology from Grinnell College.

Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), TBS's The Last O.G, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf