Improv Is For All Ages, Including Older Adults with Paula Dirkes

Paula Dirkes is an improvisational theater fan, actor, and facilitator based in metro Detroit, Michigan. She has spent over 20 years in the improv theater community as a performer and improv games leader. She is the owner and Chief Play Officer of Vintage Improvisation Detroit, which brings her love of improv games and older adults together through her unique brand of in-person life enrichment programming in senior living facilities and senior centers in metro Detroit since 2019.

In 2021, she created Senior Improv Games, which is designed specifically for improvisation actors, improv game leaders, improvisers, and activity leaders who want to earn an income and bring joy to the older adult population.

In this episode, Paula discusses the joys and challenges of providing improv experiences to seniors in different senior settings. (Paula does not call them workshops, she calls them experiences). Paula has found ways to navigate around these challenges, and she wants to help other improvisers not feel as intimidated to work with this population.

Improv is not just for the young. It's for all ages and abilities! Paula's mission is to make improv accessible and available to older adult populations wherever they gather, and it's so inspiring to hear her stories of how she is making that happen.


You can find out more about Paula here: 

• Website - seniorimprovgames.com
• Website - vintageimprovisationdetroit.com
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulacdirkes/
• I reference an old This American Life tv episode (yes, tv episode) at the end. Here is that episode if you want to check it out --  https://www.thisamericanlife.org/s1e5/growth-spurt-2
• Since recording this episode, Paula has also started a private Facebook Group page called "Improvisers for Older Adults. You can ask to join the group here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/improvisers4olderadults

Loved the episode? Now you can send a text message with your thoughts and comments! Your message might just get a shoutout in another episode!

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