About two years ago a tornado damaged McComas Hall. Though it
would prove to be a genesis of sorts, the building’s stage was
pretty much totally destroyed. As Mississippi State University
started pumping money into the reconstruction, associate professor
of communication Wayne Durst jokingly said, “We learned how to fly
by the iron seat of our pants in that troubling time,” in reference
to having to continue acting despite all the carnage.
Then in December of last year, Sam Hamburg asked communication
professor Jo Durst if his idea of having a Starkville based improv
group was alright or not. When she said that it was a good idea,
the Ironman Improv Repertory Theatre Company was conceived and
later named based on the comical quote from two years ago.
Sam Hamburg, the group’s producer performing and theatre major,
used to see an improv group named CCI on Capital St. in Jackson.
The group’s attraction to the use of improvisation is largely based
on seeing this Jackson group’s performances.
On a Monday a few weeks before Spring Break, the group performed
publicly for the first time. An estimated 50 people were in
attendance.
“We did pretty well for being restricted, and we were pretty
proud afterwards. For some parts there was a rush, but mainly there
was the drive to keep going. It lasted an hour, though I wanted to
continue. Once it was over and I had a chance to pause, I realized
that all my muscles ached; it felt like I had had a full body
workout. In the future we’re planning on sticking our comedian,
Byron, in the middle of the set. He wants to be a stand-up comic,
and he’s really good at it,” producer Sam Hamburg said.
There are many different forms of improvisational comedy
used on shows such as “Whose Line Is It Anyway?,” “Saturday
Night Live,” “Second City” and the “Upright Citizens Brigade.” In
order to practice before performances, the group rehearses
different kinds of “games.” For instance, one game is “change”:
While the group performs a given subject, one audience member is
allowed to shout “Change!” whenever he or she wants the scene to go
on in a different way. “Since improv is unrehearsed, it can get
really lewd, but it’s always fun,” Hamburg said.
The group is made up of seven people who either major in theater
or are undecided. All of them are experienced and most have been
involved in the theater department for years. After thanking Wayne
and Jo Durst for their support and ability to keep the group
together, Sam Hamburg said, “The hated name of Oxfordians. They
have an improv group. Jackson; Jackson has an improv group out of
New Stage. And now Starkville and State have an improv group, and
their name is the Ironman Improv Repertory Theatre Company. I think
that people should see us because, to quote Michael Jackson, “We’re
bad/ We’re bad/ Ya know it!”