Kari Byron
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Kari Elizabeth Byron, (born December 18, 1974) is a San Francisco-based artist and television personality. She graduated from Los Gatos High School and went on to study film and sculpture at San Francisco State University, from which she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film and Sculpture in May 1998. After this, she spent the following year backpacking mostly in south-east Asia, such as the Himalayas, and was also involved in a number of art projects. She also worked as a secret Martini shopper for a liquor company[1], and did various other jobs.
Kari is best known for her appearances on the Discovery Channel show MythBusters, where she assists Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman with projects about the myths they bust, as well as doing myths with fellow build team members Tory Belleci and Grant Imahara. She became involved in the show after persistently showing up at Hyneman's M5 Industries workshop in a desire to get hired at his company. On her first day as a paid employee, she was asked by Jamie and MythBusters producer Peter Rees to help out with the "vacuum plane toilet" myth. She was given a more prominent role in the show starting with its second season. Not having had a long history in show business, at first she found it hard to act naturally with this more visible position but gradually became more used to it.
Art and sculpting are important aspects of her life, and she has claimed that she does some kind of art every day, and thinks she would go crazy if she didn't. Some of her preferred sculpting materials are polymer clay, various found objects, acrylic gouache, wood and metals. Kari showcases some of her art on her personal website[1], and photography from her public exhibit debut Stray Doll in September 2004 is available at Anno Domini.[2] She believes being an artist is a hard career to choose, but has found inspiration in artists such as various SECCA award winners in the past. Preferring to make her audience think, she has had the following to say about her art:
| I do portraits or I make sculptures exploring my cynical view of contemporary issues. Artists that over-explain their art always take away from my experience as a viewer. I try to let my viewer make their own message. Art becomes more personal if you let yourself become involved. I will always explain my motivations and themes if someone asks but I prefer to hear theirs. |
She is a vegetarian and has a pierced tongue.
She has made guest appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, and appeared in a four-page spread in the June 2006 United States edition of FHM. She also has done some videos for this website. http://www.fhmus.com/articles-1276.asp?cnl_id=5&stn_id=46&idx_id=1276
Byron, along with the other build team members, was a guest of Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia in 2006. Their panels were better attended than some of the more traditional celebrity guests in attendance[citation needed].
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[edit] External links
| MythBusters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Main crew | ||
| Jamie Hyneman - Adam Savage | ||
| Build Team | ||
| Kari Byron - Tory Belleci - Grant Imahara | ||
| Related articles | ||
| Season 1 - Season 2 - Season 3 - Season 4 - Pilots, Specials and Mini-myths | ||
| Additional cast - M5 Industries | ||
