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Here, Penny talks to us about her experience of pursuing stand-up comedy as an older woman of 64, pivoting into a creative career later in life, and her experience of ageism in the arts.
"I feel it is important to try new things as we get older. I know it’s a bit of a cliche, but ageing is a privilege and as we age life throws up challenges which highlight how important it is to not put things off. What’s more, staying active, stimulated and socially engaged can keep us healthier for longer. For me, a cancer diagnosis and divorce were real wake up calls to make some changes.
"Even though I had an arts degree, I never had the courage to pursue a creative career. It wasn’t what people from my background did. After many years working in marketing and business development for lawyers and accountants I made the decision later in life to pivot to a career in the arts. I thought that I had the interest and skills to make the transition. But I found it difficult. On the rare occasion I landed an interview I could tell almost from the moment I walked in the room that I wasn’t even being considered. And I don’t think I look that shabby! I am absolutely certain that my age and unrelated career worked against me.
Some people told me to remove most of my career history – but I worked hard at those jobs; experience shouldn’t be seen as a negative. And that experience is what has made me who I am.
"I kept at it until I landed something - combining part time and freelance work. I don’t regret making that change even though I suffered a lot of imposter syndrome and a smaller bank balance.
"Arts organisations talk a lot about diversity – particularly for their audiences and participants. But from my experience this doesn’t include age when it comes to their recruitment policies. Where someone fresh out of school or college is seen as a potential recruit that can be trained, recruiters are put off by years of unrelated work experience and older candidates are considered untrainable. And most of us are still keen, willing and able to learn new things – in fact we absolutely crave it!
"More recently, for health reasons and needing flexibility to support my Mother with dementia, I decided to retire. But that doesn’t mean I want to give up on new adventures and learning new things. Since retiring I work casual hours (because I still need the money) and have enjoyed seeking out places to work that feed my interests. I love birdwatching so for a while I worked for the London Wildlife Trust. I now work as an usher in a theatre.
"I value feeling part of a team. It’s good for my mental health. I’m the oldest in the team by far and that shouldn’t be the case. I’m learning a lot from my younger colleagues – I get to see things from their perspective. I feel it is important for community cohesion for young and old to work and be together. The world, culture, society and attitudes continually change. Being in the presence of people different from us encourages understanding and acceptance – that's true of young and old. Not just through traditional family set ups but working and experiencing things side by side.
"However, I do wish people of my own age wouldn’t assume I only volunteer. This is not an assumption made about the younger people doing the same job. We are all having to work for longer before we reach pensionable age, not all of us older folk are the wealthy generation as portrayed in the press.
"I’ve also recently been trying stand-up comedy and writing a play having earned a place on a theatre writing programme. They’ve both been challenging and scary but that’s exciting. But I’d rather not always be the token “oldie”. Yes there are lots of older comedians, but many of them started out when they were young. I want to have the space, encouragement and network to sometimes be bad at stuff because I’m new at it. I’d welcome being around a few older people being bad at stuff together!"
