In this episode of Improv Your Parenting, host Jeremy talks with improviser and festival organizer Jessica Keith about how improv skills show up in daily life with kids—especially through imagination play with her nearly five-year-old daughter. Jessica shares how characters like Paddington Bear and their nightly “Push Down Salon” routine help her daughter process school experiences, and how improv tools like leading questions, offering silliness alongside guidance, and anthropomorphizing everyday objects support connection and learning. They discuss the challenges of repetition in play, managing parental frustration and limits (timers, clear next-step expectations, walking away when needed), and how Waldorf education’s predictable rhythm reduces anxiety and supports confidence. Jessica reflects on how parenting has simplified her character work while also making it harder to switch back into adult performance at times, including a recent disorienting on-stage experience. The conversation expands into Jessica’s view of play and improv as a non-religious spiritual practice, a way to cope with a heavy world, and a path to community-building. She describes founding Gather Improv during COVID restrictions at her in-laws’ wedding venue, growing from about 45 participants in its first year to around 130, and experimenting with community experiences like “Sunday Moss.” Jessica also shares ideas inspired by Bluey for helping parents access playful interaction with their kids and imagines an “improv church” where people gather regularly to play.
00:00 Welcome + Meet Improv Mom Jessica Keith
01:08 Improv with Kids: Daily Imagination Play at Home & School
02:33 Paddington Bear as Play Therapy (Processing School Stuff)
06:02 Staying Present Without Burning Out: Time Limits & Solo Play
07:57 How Improv Training Shapes Parenting (Non-Human Characters & Worldbuilding)
10:15 Her Childhood Imagination & How It Led to Theater
12:51 Bedtime Characters: Finger Dudes & “Push Down Salon” Routine
15:10 Handling Frustration + Waldorf “Rhythm of the Day” for Smoother Transitions
22:29 When Parenting Feeds the Improv: Simpler Characters, Harder Shows
24:34 Improv vs. Parenting Play: Switching Scene Partners
25:54 When Play Gets Repetitive: Safety, Tropes, and Losing Discovery
29:49 Parent Guilt & Setting Boundaries: ‘Not Right Now’ Without Shame
32:04 Distractible Parent Brain: ADHD-ish Moments and Keeping Promises
33:16 Preparing for What’s Next: Capacity, Presence, and ‘Woo Woo’ Play
34:29 Play as Spiritual Practice (and Antidote to Heavy Times)
38:19 From Kids to Community: Bringing Improv Play to Parents
40:07 Bluey-Inspired Parent Play: Simple Games and ‘Thoughts in a Box’
42:59 Building Joy in Ireland: The Gather Improv Festival Origin Story
44:42 Sunday Moss & Improv Church: Nature, Community, and a Big Vision
48:02 Final Wrap: Gratitude, Recording Jokes, and Where to Find More
","author_name":"Jeremy Strozer"}