Brian Burt's Blog: Work in Progress - Posts Tagged "mythbusters"

My family and I just had the distinct pleasure of getting to see the Mythbusters dynamic duo, "Jamie and Adam Unleashed," live on stage during their current tour. We love the television show - amazingly, all three of my boys (ages 9 to 18) think it's extremely cool. It's one of those rare programs that gives reality TV a good name. As we watched Jamie and Adam defy (okay, clarify) physics in front of a live audience (using eager volunteers from the crowd as victims... uh, test subjects), it occurred to me that these guys are a lot like SF writers.

Bear with me. Jamie and Adam are definitely showmen. They use science and technology in creative, unconventional ways to tell a compelling story with every episode, every mind-boggling Hollywood stunt they analyze or urban legend they debunk. They combine fact and fiction in ways that entertain their audience immensely while also making them think.

Booyah. They may not be SF writers (or maybe they are - that's what pseudonyms are for), but they're certainly simpatico. Heck, for the climax of their stage show, they put one of my middle son's buddies in a suit of armor and obliterated him with a paintball cannon that would have intimidated a squad of Navy SEALs. Now that's what I call dramatic tension!

So the next time I'm happily watching these "masters of the explosive arts" launch a hot water heater into near Earth orbit or attempt to swim in syrup to see if they go faster or slower than in boring old H2O, I'll be taking notes. I'm sure I can learn a great deal about storytelling, the scientific method, and showmanship from these two crazy, creative uber-nerds.

Who says that mad scientists have to be the bad guys?

#SFWApro