What The Mythbusters Gang Is Up To These Days
Fans of weird science around the world had to finally say goodbye to an old friend when the long-running Discovery Channel show Mythbusters aired its final episode in 2016. For 14 seasons, we watched with fascination as Adam, Jamie, and the rest of the crew tackled some of the coolest and weirdest myths known to man. But what's the cast up to now that all the lights and cameras have gone home for good? Quite a lot, as it happens. Let's check out what's on the horizon for the Mythbusters hosts and their awesome team of engineers.
Adam Savage
His antics are crazy, and he likes explosions maybe just a little too much, but that's all part of why we love Adam Savage. While Adam's ideas for testing myths were sometimes off the wall, that added to the unique formula that made Mythbusters such a success. Where is he today?
In addition to his ongoing weekly podcast The Adam Savage Project, you can catch Adam checking out more interesting science theories on his web series Tested. It seems that most of all, Savage is looking forward to a break from the demanding filming schedule of Mythbusters. "I have not existed in the last 14 years without Mythbusters," Savage told CNET. "We filmed full-time since 2002."
Savage told fans in a September 2017 Reddit AMA that he'd logged "almost 175,000 flight miles" since Mythbusters stopped filming, traveling the world as a consultant on various movie and television sets as well as for his "Brain Candy Live" tour with Michael Stevens of Vsauce. Additionally, Savage recently recorded a series of podcasts for Syfy—Origin Stories—in which he interviews some of the living legends of science fiction and fantasy, like Neil Gaiman, Nnedi Okorafor, and Frank Oz. It's not clear what Savage will work on next, but he's definitely earned some time off.
Jamie Hyneman
The straight man foil to Savage's often goofy personality, Jamie Hyneman was really the soul behind Mythbusters. The series was filmed at Hyneman's "M5 Industries" special effects workshop, with most of Hyneman's onsite team eventually being drafted to appear regularly on the show after the first season. After the build team of Kari Byron, Tory Belleci, and Grant Imahara departed in 2014, Savage and Hyneman returned to host the final seasons together.
Since the finale, Hyneman has kept a fairly low profile. For a time, he was associated with Savage's web series Tested, but left the show in mid-2016. Hyneman was also spotted giving the commencement address in 2016 at his alma mater, Indiana University. No doubt Jamie has been focusing on his work at M5 Industries, but with a new Mythbusters reboot set to premiere in 2017, we have our fingers crossed for a cameo from the man in the beret.
Kari Byron
Believe it or not, Kari Byron wasn't originally part of the plan for the Mythbusters formula. Instead of signing up for a casting call, the California girl with the art degree used persistence to get the job. "I wanted to work at M5 as a sculptor badly enough to just keep showing up and working for free until Jamie Hyneman hired me," she told Joe Mammy. Hyneman's decision to take a chance on Kari may have been his best idea ever, because Byron went on to become an integral part of the team.
After Discovery cut its budget in later seasons, Kari Byron and the rest of the build team were forced to leave Mythbusters and move on to greener pastures. Thankfully, the talented Byron put her tenacity to good use and has had no problem keeping herself busy. She teamed up with Tory Belleci to host Thrill Factor on the Travel Channel, and Byron, Belleci and Grant Imahara recently launched the first season of their new show, White Rabbit Project, on Netflix. In addition to exploring the impossible, Byron has also kept up with her creative roots, including some pretty amazing artwork made with exploding gunpowder.
Tory Belleci
You may not realize it, but Tory Belleci had a long history of creating awesome special effects work before ever joining the cast of Mythbusters. He worked at Industrial Light and Magic for eight years, creating effects and building models for projects like the Star Wars prequels, Van Helsing, Starship Troopers, the Matrix trilogy, and many more. Despite these accomplishments, perhaps the one things most fans will remember the most about Tory was the disastrous bunny hop he attempted while riding a vintage bicycle—and the hilarious crash that followed.
Since leaving Mythbusters, Belleci has continued working on movie and television projects, serving as host on the Travel Channel's Thrill Factor with Kari Byron, and continuing to get hurt in the funniest ways possible on Netflix's White Rabbit Project.
Grant Imahara
When Grant Imahara joined the Mythbusters build team after the departure of Scottie Chapman, some thought he was just a "geek." But over the years, Imahara has gone above and beyond to prove that not only is he a talented engineer, but he can build just about anything—and take just as much abuse—as the rest of the cast.
After the build team left the show in 2014, Imahara has kept himself busy by expanding his acting horizons: he played Lt. Masaru in the fan film Star Trek: Renegades, and also appeared in the made-for-TV movie Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! We don't know the plot of Sharknado 3, but we're pretty sure we're going to have to watch it now, based on that title alone.
Recently, it's been nothing but good news for Grant. He got engaged to his longtime girlfriend in 2016, and Imahara, along with Kari Byron and Tory Belleci, recently launched their new Netflix show The White Rabbit Project. We don't want to spoil anything for you (go watch it already), but Grant manages to pull off one of the most impressive builds ever. Don't worry—you'll know it when you see it.
Jessi Combs
When Build Team member Kari Byron temporarily left MythBusters for maternity leave in 2009, Jessi Combs filled in. She quickly proved herself a worthy addition to the cast and soon left the show to appear on other vehicular series, including All Girls Garage and Overhaulin'.
But what she really wanted to do was a set a new land speed record. In 2013, she became the "fastest woman on four wheels," taking her jet-powered car up to 398 miles per hour. Three years later, she tried to go even faster, and made it up to 483 mph on a 13-mile course in Oregon's Alvord Desert, but mechanical problems with her car doomed the run to failure. In August 2019, Combs gave a new record one more try... and it would prove to be her last. In an attempt to cruise in excess of 500 mph, Combs crashed, and died as a result of the accident. She was 39.
Scottie Chapman
Early Mythbusters fans will never forget Scottie Chapman, who was known as the "Mistress of Metal" for both her amazing welding skills and her totally metal tattoos. You could probably say that Chapman is maybe a tiny bit to blame for Tory's bicycle faceplant, as she remarks right before Belleci's wreck: "Let's egg him on until he hurts himself. That's always fun."
While Scottie was (and still is) a talented metal fabricator, the television lifestyle just wasn't for her, and she departed Mythbusters in 2005 to "get my life back." Since then, Chapman has only appeared on an occasional episode of Mythbusters, and in 2013 she completed a degree in dental hygiene from Diablo Valley college. But don't think Chapman has traded in her acetylene torch for a dentist's drill: "I also still like to get my hands dirty on the weekends. Metal fabrication will always be a part of my life."
Buster
While not technically a cast member, crash-test dummy "Buster" was a constant friend of the team—always ready to help out when an experiment was too dangerous to test on a wimpy human. He's been blown up, dropped, launched, smashed, and put through so many crazy tests, it's amazing that he managed to last as long as he did. Appropriately, Buster took one for the team one last time during the final season of Mythbusters, saying goodbye with a supersonic ride on a rocket sled going over 800 miles per hour. After his final crash, Savage took the remaining pieces of Buster—the ones they could find—and gave them out to the rest of the cast and crew as keepsakes to commemorate their time together.
Robert Lee
His voice is probably the most familiar on the show, but you've likely never seen his face. This invisible member of the Mythbusters team is none other than voiceover actor Robert Lee, who narrated the U.S. version of the series. For 271 episodes, Lee provided the color commentary as Adam, Jaime, and the rest of the team attempted things that Lee repeatedly warned viewers to "don't try this at home."
Lee also provided the narration for the 2017 reality series Mythbusters: The Search, in which the hosts for the new Science Channel revival of the show were chosen. We can only hope that when the new Mythbusters series airs, Lee will be back to narrate again.
Eric Haven
Like narrator Robert Lee, comic-book artist Eric Haven was an "invisible"—yet extremely important—member of the Mythbusters gang. Initially a researcher for the production of the show, Haven used his design skills to create over 500 of the "blueprint" drawings used to introduce the various myths and experiments tested on the series over the years. After his research and illustration gig, Haven became an associate producer of Mythbusters from 2005 to 2012, then one of the producers of the series after 2012—earning himself three Emmy nominations along the way. Recently, Haven produced Mythbusters: The Search, and in 2017, he also produced the first season of the new Science Channel series Street Science.
Heather Joseph-Witham
During the first season of Mythbusters (and a few episodes of the second season), folklore expert Heather Joseph-Witham was on hand and onscreen to explain to viewers the background behind many of the urban legends and myths explored on the show. She has a master's degree and her Ph.D. in folklore and mythology from UCLA, making her a perfect choice to educate audiences about the truth behind the tales.
After the format of the show was changed in the second season, less backstory for the myths was needed, and Heather's last episode was 2004's "Elevator of Death/Levitation Machine." She's gone on to make appearances on other TV series in the years since, and currently serves as an Associate Professor in the Liberal Arts and Sciences Department at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.
Frank Doyle
Frank Doyle's 30-plus years of experience as an FBI agent and bomb specialist certainly came in handy to the Mythbusters team when they brought him on as a consultant to the series. For 11 years, Doyle helped Adam and Jaime plan the most dangerous segments of the show—those involving explosives. His first onscreen appearance was in one of Mythbusters' most famous tests, when they blew up a cement truck using 850 pounds of ANFO explosive during "Salsa Escape"—one of over a dozen episodes featuring Doyle. Today, he's still working as the president of his own company, which specializes in law enforcement forensic and explosives training.
J.D. Nelson
If you're familiar with the show, you probably know co-host Adam Savage is a fan of blowing things up—even if the original myth doesn't really call for explosives. That's where Sergeant J.D. Nelson of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office comes in. Nelson serves as the supervisor for the department's bomb disposal range, located in Dublin, California. He worked as a consultant and on-site safety supervisor for the show on many of the episodes involving explosives, appearing on camera for 11 of them, including "Painting with Explosives" and "End with a Bang."
Fans will recognize the bomb disposal range as the location used for a large number of Mythbusters' biggest booms—including the infamous accident that happened during the filming of the "Cannonball Chemistry" episode, which Nelson was on hand for. As of April 2017, Nelson was still with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. With the Science Channel revival of Mythbusters (featuring new hosts Brian Louden and Jon Lung) set to premiere in November 2017, we may see Sgt. Nelson onscreen again if the new team returns to the Alameda bomb disposal range for more explosive action.
Jessie Nelson
While you're probably more familiar with Jessi Combs—who filled in for Kari Byron while she was on maternity leave—dedicated fans of the show will no doubt also remember Jessie Nelson (now Martin), who was more commonly referred to as "MythTern Jess." From 2006 to 2008, Jess worked as an intern for the Mythbusters crew, with job duties she's described as "coffee slave" and "lifter of heavy things." All jokes aside, Jess also served as a researcher for the show and worked as part of the build team. She appeared on camera in 11 Mythbusters episodes, including "Walking on Water" and "Archimedes Death Ray Revisited."
Jess Martin went on to work as a consultant for Vantage Technology Consulting Group in San Francisco, started learning programming to add to her arsenal of engineering skills, and spent her spare time climbing, running, and CrossFit training.
Alan Normandy
Lieutenant Alan Normandy served nearly e0 years with the South San Francisco Police Department, and along the way, he became a longtime advisor to and collaborator with the Mythbusters team. Before the first episode of the show even aired, a producer who was researching the 'Ice Bullet' myth started looking for an expert to help them out—specifically, they needed a police officer to witness their experiment. Because of his ongoing investigations at the time, Normandy didn't want to appear onscreen back then, so he sent another officer in his place. Later, the Mythbusters team called him up again when they needed some high-powered weaponry for another myth (in the episode "Blown Away.") This call was the start of a long partnership, and the show hired him to become a regular consultant.
As the SSFPD's chief firearms instructor, Normandy's expertise (and his access to a wide range of modern firearms and ammunition) has proven extremely useful to the Mythbusters team over the years; he's even appeared onscreen in at least eight episodes. According to his LinkedIn page, after retiring from the police force in 2014, Normandy went on to found a rifle accessory company, and he became a pistol instructor for the National Rifle Association in 2017.