In the way only she can, the comedienne and actress aims to spark change in how we think about the aging brain.
Amy Sedaris has made a career of making people laugh, from her cult-favorite character Jerri Blank in Strangers with Candy and hosting her Emmy-nominated truTV series At Home with Amy Sedaris (and who can forget her in Sex and the City?).
Now, she’s focusing on brain health—partnering with Centrum for its new Dave & Brain Busters campaign, which promotes gaming as a form of cognitive exercise. It highlights popular video games—like Pac-Man, Fruit Ninja FX, and Pop the Lock—as playful ways to boost reflexes, memory, and focus for adults 50 and over.
According to a recent survey conducted by Centrum and Talker Research, 78% of adults 50 or older worry about their cognitive aging—and 96% believe it’s important to maintain cognitive abilities and memory as they age. More than half understand that technology can play a role in aging well, with 54% of survey participants saying “actively engaging with new technology has improved their memory.”
Anyone familiar with Sedaris’s work likely isn’t surprised to know she approaches wellness with honesty and humor. Though much of her work is rooted in the absurd and the whimsical, she recently got a little more serious with The Healthy by Reader’s Digest about staying well with time.
The Healthy by Reader’s Digest: Amy, plenty of research has shown that laughter is so good for the brain. You’ve been giving people that medicine for decades.
Amy Sedaris: I’m lucky. I laugh a lot. I come from a very funny family. I was just with my brother the other night, and then I went to see a show—and nothing feels better than your stomach hurting from laughing so hard. You’ve got to laugh! You’ve got to have some fun. I feel I’m pretty lucky that way—to be able to laugh that hard. At the end of the day, you’re like, “OK, that was a fun hangout, we got three belly laughs in.” I judge everything by that—how much did we laugh today?
The Healthy: You’ve always embraced very quirky, creative projects. Do you think that helps keep your brain challenged and engaged?
Amy Sedaris: I was just telling someone else I’ve done jobs just so I can memorize something—because I’ll think, Oh, it’s been a couple of months, I haven’t had to memorize anything. I’ll take a small little job just so I can exercise my brain, because that’s good. I have a good memory. Sometimes I can be Aunt Clara and go off and be forgetful, but I’m always shocked when I forget something. I’ll go to the grocery store and shop, and then I don’t like to look at my list until I get out to see if I actually remembered everything. I pride myself on that. And when I forget, I’m like, “Oh my God, I can’t even believe I forgot that.” That’s so not me. And I’ve noticed that happening a little bit more as I age, and I’m like, “That’s a drag.”
The Healthy: How else do you stay energized?
Amy Sedaris: Well, I exercise a lot—five days a week—and I’m always doing something crafty. My friends make fun of me. I’m always swamped because I’ve got a craft fair coming up. I want to make pot holders and decorated tin cans and just stupid stuff. But I like getting a small group together and crafting and having a fellowship kind of thing—being around people. I’ll make food, I cook a lot, I shop a lot, I work out a lot, I walk a lot. I just think the most important thing is to move.
And living in New York City is like … The minute you walk out your door, oh my God, there’s so much stimulation. I always wonder, When is that going to start to get to me and I’ll want a quieter place? But … if I had a country house or something, I think I would be lonely. It’s better for me to be out and about and around people. I don’t have a pet anymore, but having a pet and the responsibility of that—and the community that comes with having a pet—I miss that a lot.
The Healthy: What type of exercise do you do?
Amy Sedaris: I go to the gym; I do strength training and cardio. Three days a week I have a trainer, and then I do Pilates once a week. I have a Pilates chair, and I do a stretch class on Saturday mornings with an old friend of mine. It’s really stuff like that—just super simple. But it is a different kind of movement than my workout at the gym or Pilates. And I walk a lot, being in New York City. I just like to move.
The Healthy: What’s a benefit of getting older that surprised you?
Amy Sedaris: A lot of people are getting work done to their faces, and changing them. I don’t want to say I would never do it, but I just can’t imagine. You want to look your age. You watch the old Dallas episodes and it’s so fantastic. You see [the actors’] teeth and no face work done, and you’re like, Wow.
The Healthy: What’s one self-care habit you refuse to skip?
Amy Sedaris: I’d say staying on top of my skincare. I’m Greek Orthodox, so Greeks have pretty good skin. When I get together with my family at the beach in the summer, I give everyone a facial at night. Exercising is obviously part of my regime, and I do take vitamins—I take a lot of supplements and fish oils and stuff for my bones, stuff for my eyes. And stay busy. I’m just busy.
The Healthy: Having purpose is huge.
Amy Sedaris: Having purpose. And when you’re not working—I’m pretty good at just entertaining myself.
For daily wellness updates, subscribe to The Healthy by Reader’s Digest newsletter and follow The Healthy on Facebook and Instagram. Keep reading:
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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
