About us
It started because one room was missing.
In 2018, Jody Wood built an improv program called SKIT, a Special Kind of Improvisational Theater, for people on the autism spectrum and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Not a therapy group with theatre games bolted on. An actual class, taught by actual actors and teaching artists, where the work was real and the standard was real.
What we are for
Ability first, and not as a slogan.
We use improvisational theatre across comedy, acting, music, movement, singing, painting and public speaking. Underneath all of it is one belief: people are underestimated constantly, and the fastest way to undo that is to put someone in a room where their ideas are accepted and built on rather than corrected.
That is the “Yes, and” rule. It is the first thing anyone learns in improv and it turns out to be a decent way to treat a person.
We want to be known as a place where underestimated people go and come back louder.
Who teaches
The people in the room with you
Jody Wood
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
A professional actor for more than forty years, and Director of the JW Actors Studio in New York and Princeton. Founded the program as SKIT in 2018 and still teaches the Wednesday acting class himself.
Eric Hammitt
Instructor
Graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, 2016. Has worked in casting, acting, writing and production.
Amalea Hammitt
Instructor
BFA in Drama from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Certified Clown Teacher through The Clown School, Los Angeles.
Jim Gaven
Instructor
Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from New Jersey, focused on upbeat and positive music.
Stuart Carroll
Instructor
Associate Professor of Elementary and Early Childhood Education at The College of New Jersey, affiliated with TCNJ’s Career and Community Studies program.
Governance
Board of Directors
Jack Tatar
Board Chair and interim Secretary
Managing Partner of Doyle Capital Management and a venture investor in transformative technologies.
Daniela Rivera
Treasurer
Chief Executive Officer of DR Strategic Associates. A nonprofit strategist with more than fifteen years in funding and program development.
Joseph Wood
Board Member
A licensed architect with more than fifteen years of practice in Philadelphia, San Diego and Princeton.
Jennifer Overfield
Board Member
Executive Director of Evermore Lifestyle Solutions. Master’s in Conflict Management and Resolution and a Bachelor’s in Psychology.
Christian Perry
Board Member
Co-Founder of Little Angels of Honduras, with more than ten years in nonprofit work, most recently a 14,000 square foot neonatal intensive care unit at the country’s largest public hospital. A lab planner for science and technology research environments.
Come see it before you decide anything.
Sitting in on a class costs nothing and tells you more than this page can.