JS: What are some of the more surprising results
that you've seen? I know that things like
the Bull in the China Shop just took everyone
by surprise but what are some of those really
surprising results that you didn't expect?
Kari: Oh there was one recently, this was
one of Jamie and Adam's myths...has Bullett
Baloney aired?
Tori: uhhhh
Kari: Ah, who cares...no one is recording
this, right? Alright. We were doing myths
about guns that are kind of wacky and they
had this really old cartoon one where....have
you ever seen Yosemite Sam he has like a rifle
and or a shotgun and Bugs Bunny bends it back
so it shoots him? Jamie and Adam actually
made a bent shotgun that it shot a bullet
all the way backwards and it worked. I thought
there was no way this was gonna work. You
know I thought there was no way...that it
was going to explode in the barrel or something
but the bullet actually continued.
Tori: It was crazy
Kari:that was so bizarre to me. I was watching
this in one of our rough cuts and I was like
"No! You're kidding! What?
Tori: Cartoons were real!
Kari:I know! I watched them actually do that
and I was so bummed that we didn't get that
one it was so freaking cool.
Tori: Speaking of cartoons being real there
was another one of those "Like, there's no
way that's going to work" is are elephants
afraid of mice? And
Kari:Oh yeah!
Tori: Jamie and Adam went to Africa and they
had a little remote trap door that let the
mouse come out around wild elephants and the
elephants lost their minds. It's a little
white mouse!
Kari:They snuck away backwards and freaked
out!
Tori: They freaked out! The only thing missing
was the table and chairs that the elephant
could jump on and lift it's skirt. It was
just like the cartoons said. Cartoons weren't
lying!
JS: Speaking of cartoons is there one thing...let's
take safety out of this because you're wanting
to kill (something) now...but if money was
no object you think "this would be just great
to test" but because of money or technology
you can't right now but it's something you're
dying to test?
Kari: I have a couple we always through around
the idea that we would love to do upside down
race car but I mean...it's that a Formula
1 race car has so much down force that it
could actually drive upside down but we need
a helical track miles and miles long as well
as a Formula 1 race car....we tried the t-shirts...if
anyone has a car just hit me up.
Tori: And then finding someone to drive it...
Kari: Oh we know who is going to drive it.
Tori: I don't know who would be that stupid
to drive it.
Kari: I think you would totally drive it.
Tori: There is one myth I have always wanted
to test is going into outer space and your
space suit were to open would you, I guess,
implode? Explode? Basically just fly to pieces.
Kari: Yeah...right...
Tori: Anyone want to try that one? Volunteers?
Kari: There is one I always wanted to do but
it is too sick and morbid and Discovery would
never go for it but I always wanted to do
21 grams...
Tori: Do you know the myth? 21 Grams?
Kari: Where when you die your soul weighs
21 grams so you basically
Tori: What?
Kari: You've never heard of this one? I think
there's even a movie called 21 grams. So anyways
we thought it practically through you've got
somebody on their death bed a volunteer...just
saying...call me...they just have their bed
and are on a scale and you wait for that exact
moment...you have a scale...you have a camera
and you see what happens. Last breath and
there go 21 grams. I guess it would be boring
watching someone sleep.
Tori: Until they die. That's not morbid at
all.
Kari: Well it would be interesting.
Tori: I'd say flaming kid down a slide is
better.
Kari: You're winning me over. That's why I'm
fired too, ok?
JS: Your show has been credited with a real
increase in people getting into the different
STEM fields...into science, technology, engineering,
and math fields. Have you seen that when you
go out to speak or with anything and what
do you think the impact of the show is?
Kari: Well...people tell us that and it is
kind of mind-blowing to us we didn't start
out with an educational show or a science
show it just happened to turn out that way
teachers started using our show in their classrooms
to teach basic physics or you know show how
math is practical in the real world...I guess
our world isn't REALLY the real world...
Tori: Realish...
Kari: I mean it's an amazing byproduct that
I think we're all very happy about and we
couldn't be more pleased that this is the
end result and you know we tried to tailor
certain things towards the educational system
after we found out that we could be used this
way. For a while science channel did a thing
with me where they took some Mythbusters clips
and they called it Head Rush and it had You
can do this at home experiments for kids and
we tried to reach out that way because we
realized we do have this amazing product that
does that.
Tori: Yeah I think that is kind of the easiest.
For me growing up through school teachers
that didn't teach traditionally with lectures
or over...projector screens, where they actually
had you go and do stuff I learned more from
those teachers and especially now on Mythbusters
it's like every day we're figuring stuff out
and learning through doing and I think that's
a much easier way to teach than trying to
learn through reading.
Kari: Like memorizing the components...
Tori: Yeah!
Kari: and repeating those on a test and they
forget those five minutes later
Tori: It's not really figuring out and learning
so I think that is why our show is designed
to entertain initially and by default you
learn some stuff and then we blow stuff up
at the end. It's awesome. Everybody wins!
Kari: We all came to a love of science sort
of late...we didn't know that's what we were
doing. One day we were just like "Oh my god!
We're doing science? How were you at science
growing up? Weren't you in film school? In
fact Jamie has a degree in Russian, Adam has
a high school diploma and Grant's got an electrical
engineering degree (which is the closest thing
to qualified any of us are for this job)...you
knows arts and film...film, you know it's
crazy but the whole idea of the show is that
we're just regular guys and we're doing science
because it's not something that this nerdy
guy in the white lab coat is going to do speaking
a language you don't understand...no it is
something that it's something that is for
everyone so I think that's what has been the
message for us.
