the5souls

LAST UPDATED	Oct 1, 2012 / 11:39 AM, EST / 8:39 AM, PST (Tables are finally complete! Woo!)
Verification	https://twitter.com/donttrythis/status/252465762592247809
Why do an AMA now?	I did one AMA (on video) a few years back. I've been wanting to do one for awhile. Also: we have a season Premiere on the 7th of this month. New time- 8pm on Discovery. Now if you don't mind I'd like to get back to answering only questions about Woody Harrelson's movies.

AMA IS NOW FINISHED	Okay Reddit. I'm wrapping it up. I've had a blast. This has been so much fun. Sorry for screwing up the reply thing early on. You guys have been great. My lasagna worked out great. My sister in law made some amazing gazpacho, and my wife made a terrific Garlic tart. Sleep well redditors! Let's do this again in a year. OK? Adam out.
Total number of responses:	154

Types of Questions	Link
Favorite/Worst/Best/Etc.	link
Myths and Mythbuster Stuff	link
Personal Life	link
Miscellaneous	link

People told me that the huge table of links from before actually crashed some browsers/apps. I've tried my best to filter the responses into different categories. Hopefully everything's squeaky clean now! If there are problems, please let me know. Now I gotta catch up to Adam's new responses.

How to make a table just like this! :D	link

Mythbusters Favorite/Worst/Best/Etc. _________________________	Post
Favorite thing about Mythbusters	Favorite thing about the show is getting to do something different every day. That's why I got into effects, it's why I lasted in that field, and it's the best part of MB. FANS. I love the fan based interactions. Twitter has been a godsend for me with fan contact. We've gotten at least a dozen myths directly from my twitter feed. But more than that, I like how civilized (generally) the conversation on twitter tends to be (for me at least).
Favorite myth	Favorite myth is Lead Balloon. No explosions, no fanfare. Just a 14' diameter balloon floating made of 28lbs of rolled lead. The level of problem solving was so crazy fun on that one. That being said, I'm always excited about the story we just did (Indycars last week) and the one we're just about about to do (some more stunt driving myths starting Tuesday).
Funniest myth	Funniest myth: We were testing a myth about a drunk who convinces his blind friend to drive him home. We tried it with each other (one blindfolded one giving directions), and then got a blind guy to do it. He was better at driving than either Jamie or I. See when we close our eyes, we try and map the world on the darkness but a blind person has no such preconceptions. So then we got Jamie drunk and the most amazing thing happened. Jamie's directions made the blind guy drive LIKE A DRUNK PERSON. We were pissing ourselves laughing in the chase car. Never saw that coming. Jamie of course was oblivious and wondering what the hubbub was.
Most fun myth	Flying with the Blue Angels was a high point. I drove an Indy Car last week. Not bad. Hand feeding an octopus (that fell in love with me) was also unforgettable.
Most difficult myth to pitch	They love almost everything we bring them. They shut down very few stories. But they hate the Hi-Fidelity myths that I want to do: Vinyl vs. CD vs. MP3. We'll wear them down eventually.
Most difficult myth attempted	Breakstep Bridge. The engineering on demonstrating a fatal harmonic in a bridge is diabolical. We definitely bit off more than we could chew on that one.
Worst myth suggestion	Old (often drunk) dudes who ask me myths about them dating Kari. I know she's lovely, and I know creepers gotta creep, but don't do it around me. I feel like her dad sometimes with how protective I feel about this.
Least favorite part of testing a myth	The blueprints that open and close the show. Those stilted conversations are hard to keep fresh. If you watch a lot of them, you'll notice we try lots of things to keep them from being stale, but they take a lot out of me. I'd much rather do my camera stuff in the moment.
→ I can feel your pain through the screen...	It's the convention that's tough, we do the best we can. For the record, I write most of those scripts.
Worst smell	The most foul smell on the show wasn't the pig in the Corvette. No, it was the human turd that I washed off the lip of Jamie's loading door. Didn't smell until I broke the seal by hitting it with a high pressure hose. Worst. thing. ever. On humid days we can still smell the big buried in the sidewalk outside of Jamie's shop.
Best thing set on fire	Hmmm. That's a good one. I liked dousing the car with gasoline and lighting it. That flame moved FAST. Totally scary. Good thing i was wearing a fire suit.
Favorite explosion	Favorite explosion is definitely water heaters. I do a whole piece about how much I love them in our Behind the Myths tour (shameless plug: We're coming to Florida soon! Orlando on Oct. 12, Tampa on Oct. 13, and Jacksonville on the 14th. http://www.mythbusterstour.com). There's truly nothing so cool as the deep thud of a water heater explosion.
Most fun gun	I love the HK Mp5. Feels like shooting with a sewing machine. So light. We used them to try and start an avalanche in Telluride. Didn't work.
Funniest Jamie quote	I can't repeat it here. Jamie has a dark dark sense of humor.
Funniest off-air moment	Seriously, if it's funny, it makes it in. Unless it's an off-color joke (my specialty).
Craziest off-camera experience	Once almost got shot by an entire SWAT team in NYC in Times Square in '87. That's a good story. I may tell it someday.
Worst/Best fan experience	Having people yell my name really loud in airports is a low point (why people need to yell about meeting me is beyond me- it feels super aggressive). Meeting any kids is always a high point. Whenever people yell "Jamie" I don't respond. It feels weird correcting them and at the worst they're going to think that Jamie's a jerk.
Best fan moments	Best fan moments have been getting emails from people in grad school who tell us that they got interested in their field from watching us. That's crazy amazing. The other great thing is meeting fans who I admire. Like Simon Pegg, Guillermo Del Toro, Jamie Lee Curtis, Vince Gilligan, Matthew Weiner, Sophia Bush, Seth Rogen, Michael Chabon, Craig Ferguson, David Letterman, James Cameron. It's a long list.
Favorite Jamie quote	"Whirlpools and whirlpools and whirlpools..."

Mythbuster, Myths _________________________	Post
Choosing myths	We pick myths based on our curiosity. A great position to be in.
How do you plan the myths each season?	We plan about 3 months out. 4 times a year we spend a week plotting stories (they never end up following our original plot, but we get close enough). I agree about the water heater. We did know how. What we didn't know was WHEN.
How do you decide whether or not to test a myth?	We call it arguing. Seriously, sometimes it's super obvious what to test. Sometimes we need to plot it out to see if there's a good show in a story. Sometimes we'll start with one idea, and then INSIDE that idea is a better one.
Any myths not allowed because of network?	Not really.
Thought myth would go bust, but did not?	Killer Cable snap. The myth that a cable under tension can slice through you when it snaps and whips around. . Not a fisherman alive who doesn't KNOW that this is true. Except that it isn't. We busted it wide open. I was very surprised. But our research bore that out: we found not a singe first person account of it happening. Everything was circumstantial.
Any myths wanted to test more thoroughly?	Criminy, lots of them. I'll say this, because we are forced to do very few iterations for each test, we work hard to build good methodologies. We don't necessarily stand by our results, but I'll stand by our methodologies.
List of myths dwindling?	We still have about 200 good stories on the master list. And it grows every week. I'm dying to replicate a study I read recently that men get stupider when women are around.
Cannonball incident	Let's get the cannonball thing out of the way. Pretty much the worst thing that's ever happened to us on the show. Freaked us all out. Salient points: we are SO FREAKING GRATEFUL AND RELIEVED that nobody was physically hurt. We sat in the guy's house that the cannonball went through and he was so mad (I would be too). I totally understood why. The episode changed all of our safety procedures, strengthened them, like any wake-up-call should. On par, I think our safety record is fairly good (a few stitches, couple of broken fingers from moving safety equipment) for a show that replicates deadly scenarios on a daily basis. We're getting more careful rather than less these days. Perhaps also because we're all getting older.
Revisiting Cannonball myth	Our reticence to play with cannons notwithstanding, I was just thinking of revisiting that one. I've been reading the Patrick O'Brian books about Jack Aubrey (I'm on the 4th one- the Mauritius Command) and besides them being super AWESOME, they're getting me interested in doing some more Napoleonic Ship's myths.
Debunking Ghost Hunter	They do that themselves by never coming up with a positive (non subjective) result. We don't need to complicate things by starting to try and prove negatives on the show. That's not our business.
Retry rocket car myth?	Yes we will retry the rocket car myth. That's all I'll say for now.
Test the construction of the Pyramids?	We have several stories on our roster that touch on this: Moving Easter Island heads, moving stonehenge, and pyramid blocks. They're intense, but we'll eventually do that as an ep.
Test myth where mosquitoes carry AIDS from person to person	Yeah, I don't think we'll be testing that one soon...
Wasn't the 25-foot Grease Fireball close enough to 30 feet?	It might seem pedantic, but we were following the rules according to the parameters we'd set. I agree with you however.
F1 car driving upside down myth	Upside-down race car is one we've been wanting to do forever. All we need is a F1 or an indy car that we will be allowed to hang upside-down and a wind tunnel that exceeds 250mph. We've tried forever. Haven't found one yet.
Myth that you wanted to do, but can't for moral/ethical reasons	I'd love to do 21 grams. Perhaps James Randi will let me do that when he finally decides to depart, which given his energy is still probably 25 years away.
Killer Cable myth	A point: We're talking about cables that WHIP. Aircraft carrier cables are so large it's like getting hit with a steel girder. And cables can sever any part of you if they're under tension and you're between them and something hard. The myth is that a cable under tension can whip around at such a speed that it can slice flesh. I dispute that we didn't fully test it. We tested it with every grade of cable (up to 1" IIRC) that could be found on a regular boat and tensioned them up to 85% of their breaking strength and sliced them. Dented pigs was all we got. There's plenty of first hand accounts of people getting things severed by ropes, cables etc. That's not what we were testing. We were testing the whipping action. Myth busted.
→ "As a fisherman I've never been worried abut being 'sliced in half.' Hit in the head and having my skull crumble like a cheap soda can is what worries me."	And that is what would happen.

Miscellenous Favorite/Worst/Best/Etc. _________________________	Post
Favorite film	I can't possibly state what my favorite film of all time is. As it is I've got like 30 films in my top 10. Things like Blade Runner Brazil Godfather The Philadelphia Story The Departed Spirited Away Dr. Strangelove 2001 Terminator 1 and 2 Raiders Star Wars and Empire (are there any others?) Citizen Kane The Abyss Hellboy Pulp Fiction (anything by Tarantino) Beginners The Thing Master and Commander Alien Aliens Godfather Apocalypse now etc. etc. We're planning a whole film podcast for Tested, but still compiling our lists.
Favorite costume	My favorite costume is definitely No-Face from Spirited away. One of my favorite movies in the world (watch it, thank me later). Funny thing happened at Comic-con when I wore it. I had a satchel of gold coins in my robe to give to people I was taking pictures with. But the Otaku (who were the most freaked out and happy to meet No-Face) kept putting the coins back into my hands. Took me awhile to realize that it's because it's bad luck to take coins from No-Face. I got chills. The cosplay that happens at the cons is like a new kind of theater that only the participants understand. I love diving into that world.
Most desired prop	Holy grail of movie props: I've long wanted a full sized Ark of the Covenant from Raiders. It's a lot of work but I think about it from time to time. Also I need to finish my Iron Man Mark III armor. Can't wait to get that one done.
Favorite movie prop	I can't possibly pick one. Though having Hellboy's coat comes close...
Hardest to acquire prop	That's a hard question to answer. I'm going to have to think about it.
Favorite book	I've just been reading a ton of Michael Chabon and I love LOVE the Yiddish Policemen's Union. Raymond Chandler is my favorite author. I read all of his books about every 5 years. Seriously . I love Hundred Years of Solitude.
Favorite food/restaurant	Desert island food: eggs. One of my favorite restaurants right now is Namu in San Francisco. 18th and Dolores. They're killing it right now.
Favorite pizza topping	Delfina Pizza here in SF has a Salsiccia (sausage) that I live for. We order from there at least twice a week. Best. Pizza. Ever.
Favorite hobby	Depends on the day. I have so many to choose from.
Least known hobby	I play a mean game of pool. Back in my 20s, I played for a couple hours a day for about 3 years. Then I didn't play for 20 years and just got a table in my cave. I've dusted off the old cue and started playing again.
Favorite color	Favorite color is Orange.
Largest humanity hurdle	The corrupting influence of money in politics. It's getting worse. Publicly funded elections is one solution. It's not an easy problem to solve but it needs solving. That's what's on my mind lately. Bill Gates is taking care of the rest.
Favorite hair/beard combo	I'm most pleased with how it all looks now. I'm very happy in my 40s. My wife likes this look to. And I like looking good for her.
Most inspiration	My parents. They always supported my interests. I was able to use my dad's charge account at the town hardware store when I was 12. Later, when I moved into NYC, he allowed me to use his account at New York Central Art Supply. What a great store.
Greatest life achievement	Raising my kids and meeting my wife.
Favorite band	Impossible to say. I'm a beatles man. I love Jeff Tweedy, Ryan Adams. Bernard Fanning, Miranda Lambert. Love Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Ciba Matto. James Taylor, Tom Waits, Eddie Vedder, Kanye, Hans Zimmer, Peter Gabriel, KT Tunstall, Sheryl Crow. Liz Phair, Mumford, Shawn Colvin. There's something in my iTunes library to offend everyone.
Funniest, weirdest, and creepiest internet thing about you	Ahh criminy. I've seen some amazing caricatures on Deviant. I love the walrus dancing gif. Weirdest: once I explored Rule 34 (look it up) and read some Jamie/Adam slashfic. To be clear I read about a paragraph. I will never erase what I read from my mind as mind bleach doesn't exist, but there you have it. That's the low point. I'm sure that there's worse than the 300 some-odd words, but I'll never know. Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know 'cause I wouldn't eat the filthy motherfucker.
Favorite animal	Dog. I have two dogs. They are the best beings in the world.

Miscellaneous Comments _________________________	Post
Reddit Lurking	For the record I've been lurking on Reddit for years. Maybe like 5 years.
Shitty_Watercolour's artwork, and here is the direct link to his comment	I love that shitty watercolor!
Replying Revelation!	Holy crap you're totally right. I didn't understand Reply. Sorry for being an idiot.
Replying troubles will haunt Adam's mind as he goes through life, telling his kids about how important it is to reply directly to the question and not into thin air, for thin air will show no emotion listening to anybody's everyday struggles	I feel seriously so dumb about the reply thing. I'm used to the format on Metafilter.
Believe that every time you don't click reply, you get a nickel. YOU'RE RICH!	That's totally why I did it.
You're my hero... give me hope to what I can become... goal to have a conversation with you...	That made my day. Thanks.
Got involved in Battlebots and now pursuing a degree in engineering because of you. Thanks.	You're welcome! A thousand times welcome. Good luck!
Advice for those struggling in college and don't know what to do in life?	You don't want to ask me. I dropped out. There's no control to compare against with my experience. But one thing I do know: there's always time. I spent my 20's thinking I was running out of time, now I realize that there's a lot of it. Try something different. Try everything. Jeez, now I sound like an advice columnist.
Come to Austrailia? Were you and Jamie friends before the show?	I'd love to come to Australia. I know we're big down under, and I love Australians. Jamie and I were cordial professional colleagues before the show. We are the same now, though we see each other more often now.
"Hey, do you remember that huge baseball-glove-shaped chair that used to be in the kids section of the Tarrytown Library?"	I loved that chair at the Warner Library. Is my dad's mural in the kid's section still there? [Reply: "No idea--I haven't been there since I was a kid, but whenever I've heard you tell the story about how D&D led to your first kiss, I've imagined little me (I grew up in Briarcliff) sitting in that chair being read to by my mom while teen you was in another room slaying orcs."]
Will wife be okay with you making love with Redditors?	She would not.
Breaking Bad	I met Vince Gilligan from Breaking Bad at the Emmys a couple weeks ago. We had a good talk, have some fun stuff in the works. That's all I can say right now.
Do a Breaking Bad episode	Yes we can. I love that show.
Meeting Jon Coulton	We met through the inimitable Paul and Storm.
Fight 1 horse sized duck or 100 duck sized horses?	Totally 100 duck sized horses. Ducks are nasty (but delicious) creatures. I'd HATE to meet one that large.
Why did you quit WWE wrestling?	The 'roids.
Duct Tape love, scale of 1-10	[Score 7]. It can do anything, but it leaves a damn residue on stuff when left for too long. Aesthetically it's hideous, but that's sort of it's appeal. I love Baling wire too.
3 items on a stranded island	Leatherman. Duct tape. A tarp. Baling wire. A spoon. Some rope. Oh, and a trailer and some food.
Want to live forever?	Totally.
Eyeglasses	They're designed by Gillian Kaplan from Specs in the City in London. Model Doron BK in gloss (they make a matte too).
Comics	I have all the BPRD comics. They're awesome. I also read everything by Alan Moore, Frank Miller.
Can you wish me a happy birthday?	Happy freaking birthday!
Advice to start making cool things?	Instructibles. Make Magazine. Web based instruction is great nowadays. And get into theater. Theater is the greatest training ground ever. Theater is the first art form to re-emerge intact following an apocalypse.
What sci-fi thing would change our lives?	Oh faster than light travel to be sure!
Automatic or manual transmission?	I'm old so I like automatic for driving around town. Standard for tricks.
Currently in your pockets	Wallet. Iphone. AA Flashlight (I use it multiple times per day). Keys to house, shop and car. Leatherman (on the belt).
→ What kind of Leatherman?	It's a charge, but I have a few so I'm not sure.
http://i.imgur.com/bx5YD.jpg Me with you on exploding bumper myth. Thank you	That's awesome. Thanks for sharing that.
Went up with you on stage for 19th birthday. Thank you.	I'm so glad that happened. I hope your year got better.
Why are there 34,000 downvotes?	They see me rollin', they be hatin'.
Being smashed by a canonball is one of my top 3 choices	That would certainly be quick.
"I just want to take a moment and let you know that not all of us think you are too stupid to figure out the reply button. I'm sure you've been here long enough to understand that these people are just karmawhoring."	Thank you.
http://imgur.com/53OnQ	One of my favorite gifs ever.
Thank you for hours of entertainment and laughter	My pleasure.
You now have a sub-machine gun. 1 horse sized duck or 100 duck sized horses?	I'd still go with the Duck sized horses.
"'totes' Wow somebody else says that."	Totes magotes!
Advice for success or life in general?	Do what you love. Stay obsessed. Try everything.
Coca-Cola or Pepsi?	Is that even a question? Coca-Cola!
How was UNT?	The crowds in Texas are always off-the-hook. UNT was great.
"The day I go to the gym, a Mythbuster does an AMA..."	It's OK, I'm still here.
"I am a student in Orlando and am excited to see that you are coming to the UCF arena. Being in college you would be amazed that cash is short on hand. I'd like to know some things you plan on discussing so I can get an idea if its worth what little cash I have."	Okay MonroeMoose , For you only, and you alone, if you don't think it's worth it, I will personally refund your tickets. Deal? You can email me, my email address isn't hard to find.