Mythbusting Rules (For Fun)

"Remember your screwups are being filmed"

"When in doubt blame Buster"

"Just when you think things can't get weirder, you'll see whats being filmed next week"

"The best laid plans of mice, men and Mythbusters will fall apart as soon as the camera starts rolling"

"Dignity is not an option"

"Humiliation is ALWAYS an option"

Eyebrows are expendable.

Sticks and stones will break your bones, but C4 will spread them over a large area.

Berms are fallible.

If at first you don't succeed....we will let you know what you did wrong.

Beware the Ark of the Covenant

Fear and revulsion are normal human reactions. Extreme examples are usually good TV.

Safety equipment is your friend.

Murphy was an optimist.

Never discuss what you will be or have filmed with family until the episode airs.

Around here its spelt 'enterPAINment'

Mythbuster results are often not only stranger than you imagine, they're stranger than you can imagine.

Science happens all the time.
Its just the bits you notice?.. no, its the bits you DONT notice that are the true science, so take notes, take film footage, look for the bits you didnt see the first time, Thats where the science lies...

We are all scientists, every one of us, the art of true science is how you let people in on "the secret" and involve them in the science.
If the people at home say "Well I didnt know that", then your work here is in progress. And therefore, in involving the audience, your first work of the day here is done.

It IS all about the science.
The absolute star of the last show so far is how Adam and Jamie made scientists of all of us, its how they explained the science in a way we all understood, like teaching a Blacksmith how to do woodwork, they have the intelligence already, its just the skills that they need to update.
Talk to the audience like they are the blacksmith learning carpentry.


If the driver starts to run, do try to keep up, but if you dont, it will be at least "Entertaining"

Never EVER ride a red bike.
If you ignore that, do NOT try to jump a toy cart.

If the driver says "I have a snow-plough", he definitely has "right of way"
If you ask "How many times have you done this" and the driver says "This is my first", get the slo-mo camera up to speed, you just know this is going to make good watching?...


Failure is the direct consequence of not using a bigger hammer.


When someone says "Let me show you the scars", you may want to take interest, because although the scars may be gross, the story of how they got them will be with you for life...


The difference between Science and screwing around is taking notes.
Having a video camera running is adequate record taking "For now", although you may want a note-book to evaluate why it went wrong?.
You may also want a backup camera to take notes of when and where in the proceedings the front line camera got reduced to a cloud of dust anyway...

Duck-Fu, of if your not that enlightened, Google-Fu, can be your best friend, although it can be your worst enemy.

Daja-Fu is the feeling you got knocked out doing this before, didnt you?..

I want to say Sausages are your wurst enemy here, but I need a caveat, that working with Kids and sausages are your "Bratwurst" enemy.

"Thats funny" when something isnt what its "supposed" to be is the punchline that immediately indicates science in progress.

"Quack damn you"....
Be prepared for your silliest statements to become internet memes and tag lines, punchlines even, overnight.

The impossible is only something no one has ever done before.
Remember this.
What you are about to do is impossible to some people.

They will NOT believe what you did, they may even question the result, even if it was a failure, and may even ask to see "The other footage", the stuff you definitely didnt show, even if you didnt, for proof, even if what you did is plainly obvious, some people will not believe it.
Of course that doesnt make sense, but neither do the people who are science deniers.

ALWAYS face away from the housing.

I will never ever tire of watching an explosion and the development of a pressure wave in slow motion.
Its not just fascinating, its beauty in the art of creation, but its also highly educational.

Working with Kids and Animals is "Entertainment". The best tv will be when it goes wrong, so plan ahead for it to go wrong.


"Adapt and survive"
Life is something that happens when you planned something else.... so expect the unexpected at all times, and, again, always face away from the housing?..

If your result was so unexpected that you believe "Well no one can make this sh*t up can they?..", then you have a success.

A Result is a result.
The science is how you explain the result.

Do things that force you to learn, not just things you already know. You may be more comfortable in your field of expertise, but when you learn on camera, we learn with you and that's the entire point.

If you're excited about something that you think others might find trivial, share and explain your excitement anyway. If there was one thing Adam, Jamie and the rest of the "old" Mythbusters did to inspire the maker movement more than anything else, it was sharing their joy of working with techniques and materials that most people would have never found interesting if they hadn't. The popularity of Adam's many build videos on tested.com is proof of this. It's not so much what he builds that gets people excited to watch, but how he does it, how enthusiastic he is while doing it and how well he explains what he does and why it makes him happy.

Show your failures and explain what went wrong and why. Many think of scientists as geniuses who get everything right on the first try and that's why so many people think they can't do science. But science isn't boasting about what you already know. It's about learning what you don't. There's a reason why NASA engineers famously never call it "a failed launch", but instead call it "a launch rich in learning opportunities". If you're not risking failure, you're not doing science.