The ONE Thing Tory REFUSED to Do on MythBusters

Overview

Kari Byron and Tory Belleci kick off this MythBitz “mailbag/AMA” episode by answering fan questions from Instagram, YouTube, and the MythBitz site—turning the usual “what happened?” recap into a lot of personal behind-the-scenes stories, weird stunts, and jokes.

Highlights & notable stories

Tory almost quit (cow-poop era)

One fan asks what task made Tory want to quit, but she did it anyway. She recalls filming the Young Scientist Challenge, which involved a cow-poop methane setup: gathering huge amounts of cow waste, stirring it in a giant vat, and doing it while they were over time, muddy, hot, and gross. She jokes it made her think, “Why is this my job?”

She also mentions a second foul memory: being asked to collect feces samples from Adam for analysis—so bad she says she would’ve drawn the line and had someone else do it.

The “one thing Tory refused to do” (and why it’s RFID)

Another question references the “Head in the Freezer” / Jason X context and asks about what Tory had to do that was extreme.

They discuss reenacting the movie moment using liquid nitrogen/freeze-smash effects, including a situation where they couldn’t use the footage because she looked too visibly pregnant on camera. She’s also describing doing ice carving while pregnant—while the baby kicked during the chainsaw.

But when the topic shifts to what she refused, Tory says she declined an RFID chip in her arm (“That just doesn’t sit well with me”). She eventually got it done anyway, joking that if she’d known the needle/depth in advance she might’ve said no for real.

Family adventures + monkey costume fireworks

Between MythBusters talk, Tory and Kari share what they did outside the lab.

• Tory describes a wild “safari” theme party thrown by deadmau5’s team. She cosplayed as a monkey at a furry/survival-rave-like event. The punchline: she worried the costume would be flammable, so she changed out before the fireworks—but still wore it late into the night first.

• Kari counters with outdoor stories: Tahoe canoeing mishaps from not using her abs, Truckee River float plans they skipped due to crowds, and a cute “hair flip” photo matching her mom’s from the 1970s.

Tahoe deep-sea submarine lore (no bodies, just abyss)

Kari and Tory revisit an older MythBusters-related curiosity: Tahoe “concrete shoes / buried bodies” folklore. They mention riding in a two-person submarine to the shelf where it turns pitch black into the abyss, finding no visible bodies—at least within their view.

Kung-fu, paper armor, and costume pain

Fans ask about favorite/sucky costumes.

• Tory’s favorite was a Superman-phone-booth style transformation stunt: a fast “undress/dress/done” challenge.
• The worst was paper armor—fun in concept, but she had to wear it through a hot obstacle course, including climbing a rope in water. The paper soaked up water and became extremely heavy.
• She also complains about a Tin Man-related attempt, where she had to wear a bikini and deal with sticky/cold paint.

When did they realize they were iconic?

They discuss fan impact: early on, people complained about the “build team brats,” but at Dragon Con they walked onstage to cheers instead of hate. They also mention clips going viral over the years (implosion deep-sea diver helmet, COVID sneeze dye test, etc.), showing how MythBusters clips keep the brand alive for new audiences.

How linear was filming?

Kari explains the production flow: intros/conclusions are often recorded after testing, but sometimes the schedule and availability of places like the bomb range forced more on-site urgency. If experiments didn’t work, they’d sometimes go back to the shop and reconfigure—because you can’t fix everything with full tooling on location.

“Most iconic feeling” moment

Tory says her favorite memories weren’t always the “best myths,” but the best team moments—like after a huge luxury car drop challenge, when the crew ran onstage together screaming and hugging in a circle.

Standout jokes / tone

• Heavy poop/poison “why is this my job” humor
• Tory’s refusal-to-do-then-do-it gag about RFID
• Flammability irony: “monkey suit” sounds unsafe… but she removed it before fireworks
• Costume complaints played for laughs—especially paper armor becoming waterlogged

Personalities featured

• Kari Byron
• Tory Belleci