They came, they saw, they talked about blowing things up. Stars of the hit television show, MythBusters, Kari Byron and Tory Belleci, hosted an explosive event on Thursday night in the Smith Student Center Ballroom.
Kicking off the event was a short video that brought Byron and Belleci out on stage to a ballroom full of excited fans. Once the cheering and screaming commenced, the event started.
Growing up, Byron had no clue that she was going to be a on a television show. She was always into science when she was younger, but she never thought of it as a career, or even a lifestyle.
“When I was younger, I played with my little sister and I would always experiment on her and blow her dolls up,” she said. “Now look at us! Tory and I never thought that we would be blowing things up in real life, especially on television at that.”
With Byron also balancing the responsibilities of being a mother, being on the show and fulfilling her duties as a mother were a struggle for her sometimes, she said. She explained that it became overwhelming sometimes, but never a hassle. She adores being on the show and being a mother at the same time.
Belleci always knew that he wanted to work on film since he was a child, he said. At age eight, he received his first video camera, which led him on his way. Since then, he has worked on major films such as Star Wars, The Matrix and Terminator. He admitted that working on those films has been very different from working on MythBusters.
“MythBusters is a bit more fun, mainly because I get to blow stuff up,” he joked. “I love working on movies and the show though. I’m honored to be a part of both. To see my dream as a child come to life over the past few years has been amazing to me.”
On MythBusters, the cast is asked to solve crazy myths in every episode, such as riding a motorcycle on water and escaping a sinking car. On the show, it looks as though Byron and Belleci are fearless, but as they have mentioned, looks can be deceiving.
“Yes, there are definitely some myths where I’m sitting there and thinking, ‘what the heck!’ And then there’s Tory, who seems to be not afraid of anything. I literally had to think and go through every possible scary thing until I found what he was afraid of. It turns out he’s scared of heights, typical,” Byron said.
Belleci agreed that sometimes it’s hard to bare a brave face on the show.
“Looks are deceiving people! We are scared on a weekly basis. When people send in myths such as blowing up cement trucks and performing head-on collisions with two semi-trucks, yes, things get a little scary,” Belleci said.
Along with scary myths, there are also favorite myths that are shared among Belleci and Byron. Both said they share a passion for animal myths. Byron prefers shark myths because they are completely unpredictable and Belleci prefers any wild animal myth.
According to Belleci and Byron, being on the show is not about being serious all the time. Often, they host cast parties and play pranks on other cast members.
“I love playing pranks on the cast mates,” Belleci said. “It just levels everyone out and lets them breathe. Kari is always my number one target. Sometimes she comes on set a little overwhelmed, so I just love to scare her to lower her anxiety. I think she likes it too,” he joked.
“No, I don’t like it,” Byron laughed.
The new season of MythBusters just recently premiered on Jan. 4. With the season still rolling along, Belleci revealed how excited they were for the rest of the season and how this season is a little different from the past season.
“I’m super excited about the rest of the season. I think it’s definitely something to watch. It’s a lot more crazy myths and we’re blowing more stuff up, of course! It should be a great time,” Belleci said.
One thing Byron admitted she loved about the show is that it’s a family show. Anybody can watch it and learn something from it and be inspired, she said.
Towards the end of the event, both Belleci and Byron gave students advice on achieving their lifelong dream.
“Internships are a great way to improve yourself. Just work hard for free and bust your butts. Also, don’t give up. We were just waiting for the MythBusters series to end and it never did. You never know what could happen,” Byron expressed.
“If you love something and you really want to do it, surround yourself with positive people and do it. Don’t wait for anyone else to do it for you because it will never get done,” Bellici said.
