0:00:00.786,0:00:03.543
There's this fact that I love[br]that I read somewhere once --

0:00:03.543,0:00:06.274
that one of the things that's contributed

0:00:06.274,0:00:09.784
to homo sapiens' success as a species

0:00:09.784,0:00:11.799
is our lack of body hair.

0:00:11.799,0:00:13.318
That our hairlessness,

0:00:13.318,0:00:16.714
our nakedness combined[br]with our invention of clothing

0:00:16.714,0:00:19.940
gives us the ability to modulate[br]our body temperature

0:00:19.940,0:00:23.536
and thus be able to survive[br]in any climate we choose.

0:00:24.019,0:00:27.543
And now we've evolved to the point[br]where we can't survive without clothing.

0:00:27.543,0:00:29.096
And it's more than just utility,

0:00:29.096,0:00:30.381
now it's a communication.

0:00:30.381,0:00:33.322
Everything that we choose[br]to put on is a narrative,

0:00:33.322,0:00:35.366
a story about where we've been,

0:00:35.366,0:00:36.881
what we're doing ...

0:00:36.881,0:00:38.739
who we want to be.

0:00:39.239,0:00:40.979
I was a lonely kid.

0:00:40.979,0:00:43.982
I didn't have an easy time[br]finding friends to play with

0:00:43.982,0:00:46.582
and I ended up making[br]a lot of my own play.

0:00:46.582,0:00:48.583
I made a lot of my own toys.

0:00:49.212,0:00:51.034
And it began with ice cream.

0:00:51.034,0:00:54.039
There was a Baskin-Robbins in my hometown,

0:00:54.039,0:00:56.352
and they served ice cream[br]from behind the counter

0:00:56.352,0:00:58.982
in these giant, five-gallon,[br]cardboard tubs.

0:00:58.982,0:01:00.034
And someone told me --

0:01:00.034,0:01:01.182
I was eight years old --

0:01:01.182,0:01:03.802
someone told me that when[br]they were done with those tubs

0:01:03.802,0:01:06.228
they washed them out[br]and they kept them in the back,

0:01:06.228,0:01:08.202
and if you asked they would give you one.

0:01:08.202,0:01:11.103
It took me a couple of weeks[br]to work up the courage but I did,

0:01:11.103,0:01:12.099
and they did.

0:01:12.099,0:01:13.100
They gave me one.

0:01:13.100,0:01:15.243
I went home with this[br]beautiful cardboard tub.

0:01:15.243,0:01:18.742
And I was trying to figure out what[br]I could do with this exotic material--

0:01:18.742,0:01:20.168
metal ring, top and bottom --

0:01:20.168,0:01:22.822
and I started turning it over[br]in my head and I realized,

0:01:22.822,0:01:23.824
"Wait a minute,

0:01:23.824,0:01:25.910
my head actually fits inside this thing--"

0:01:25.910,0:01:27.220
(Laughter)

0:01:27.220,0:01:28.936
Yeah, I cut a hole out,

0:01:28.936,0:01:30.478
I put some acetate in there

0:01:30.478,0:01:32.386
and I made myself a space helmet.

0:01:32.386,0:01:33.391
(Laughter)

0:01:33.391,0:01:36.374
I needed a place to wear the space helmet,

0:01:36.374,0:01:39.004
so I found a refrigerator box[br]a couple blocks from home.

0:01:39.004,0:01:40.328
I pushed it home,

0:01:40.328,0:01:43.219
and in my parent's guest room closet,

0:01:43.219,0:01:45.535
I turned it into a spaceship.

0:01:45.535,0:01:47.774
I started with a control panel[br]out of cardboard.

0:01:47.774,0:01:49.619
I cut a hole for a radar screen

0:01:49.619,0:01:51.842
and put a flashlight[br]underneath it to light it.

0:01:51.842,0:01:55.047
I put a view screen up which I offset[br]off the back wall --

0:01:55.047,0:01:57.682
and this is where I thought[br]I was being really clever --

0:01:57.682,0:01:58.678
without permission,

0:01:58.678,0:02:00.733
I painted the back wall[br]of the closet black

0:02:00.733,0:02:02.068
and put a star field

0:02:02.068,0:02:06.598
which I lit up with some Christmas[br]lights I found in the attic,

0:02:06.598,0:02:08.769
and I went on some space missions.

0:02:09.413,0:02:10.444
A couple years later,

0:02:10.444,0:02:12.045
the movie "Jaws" came out.

0:02:12.045,0:02:13.709
And I was way too young to see it,

0:02:13.709,0:02:17.381
but I was caught up in "Jaws" fever like[br]everyone else in America at the time.

0:02:17.822,0:02:21.369
And there was a store in my town[br]that had a "Jaws" costume in their window,

0:02:21.369,0:02:23.849
and my mom must have overheard[br]me talking to someone

0:02:23.849,0:02:25.899
about how awesome[br]I thought this costume was

0:02:25.899,0:02:27.775
because a couple days before Halloween,

0:02:27.775,0:02:32.334
she blew my freaking mind[br]by giving me this "Jaws" costume.

0:02:32.601,0:02:35.024
Now, I recognize it's a bit of a trope

0:02:35.024,0:02:36.920
for people of a certain age to complain

0:02:36.920,0:02:40.625
that kids these days have no idea[br]how good they have it,

0:02:40.625,0:02:42.693
but let me just show you a random sampling

0:02:42.693,0:02:46.414
of entry-level kid's costumes[br]you can buy online right now ...

0:02:46.414,0:02:50.259
and this is the "Jaws" costume[br]my mom bought for me.

0:02:50.259,0:02:51.264
(Laughter)

0:02:52.941,0:02:56.144
This is a paper-thin shark face

0:02:56.144,0:02:59.803
and a vinyl bib with the poster[br]of "Jaws" on it.

0:02:59.803,0:03:00.798
(Laughter)

0:03:00.798,0:03:02.436
And I loved it.

0:03:02.872,0:03:04.113
A couple years later,

0:03:04.113,0:03:06.803
my dad took me to a film[br]called "Excalibur."

0:03:06.803,0:03:08.868
I actually got him to take me to it twice,

0:03:08.868,0:03:09.998
which is no small thing

0:03:09.998,0:03:13.182
because it is a hard, R-rated film.

0:03:13.182,0:03:15.296
But it wasn't the blood[br]and guts or the boobs

0:03:15.296,0:03:17.222
that made me want to go see it again --

0:03:17.222,0:03:18.391
they helped --

0:03:18.391,0:03:19.394
(Laughter)

0:03:19.403,0:03:20.796
It was the armor.

0:03:20.796,0:03:24.724
The armor in "Excalibur" was[br]intoxicatingly beautiful to me.

0:03:24.724,0:03:29.448
These were literally knights[br]in shining, mirror-polished armor.

0:03:29.448,0:03:30.454
And moreover,

0:03:30.454,0:03:33.612
the knights in "Excalibur" wear[br]their armor everywhere.

0:03:33.612,0:03:34.611
All the time.

0:03:34.611,0:03:35.794
They wear it at dinner,

0:03:35.794,0:03:37.401
they wear it to bed.

0:03:37.401,0:03:38.395
(Laughter)

0:03:38.395,0:03:40.240
I was like, "Are they reading my mind?

0:03:40.240,0:03:42.876
I want to wear armor all the time!"

0:03:43.645,0:03:46.027
And so I went back[br]to my favorite material--

0:03:46.027,0:03:47.599
the gateway drug for making:

0:03:47.599,0:03:49.042
corrugated cardboard.

0:03:49.042,0:03:52.138
And I made myself a suit of armor,

0:03:52.138,0:03:55.321
replete with the neck shields[br]and a white horse.

0:03:55.321,0:03:56.626
Now that I've over-sold it,

0:03:56.626,0:03:58.651
here's a picture of the armor that I made.

0:03:58.651,0:04:00.020
(Laughter)

0:04:00.020,0:04:01.825
(Applause)

0:04:04.967,0:04:07.550
Now this is only the first[br]suit of armor I made

0:04:07.550,0:04:09.017
inspired by "Excalibur."

0:04:09.017,0:04:10.293
A couple of years later,

0:04:10.293,0:04:14.185
I convinced my dad to embark[br]on making me a proper suit of armor.

0:04:14.642,0:04:16.049
Over about a month,

0:04:16.049,0:04:20.105
he graduated me from cardboard[br]to roofing aluminum called flashing

0:04:20.105,0:04:23.084
and still, one of my all time favorite[br]attachement materials,

0:04:23.084,0:04:24.343
POP rivets.

0:04:24.343,0:04:26.039
We carefully over that month,

0:04:26.039,0:04:28.636
constructed an articulated suit[br]of aluminum armor

0:04:28.636,0:04:29.797
with compound curves.

0:04:29.797,0:04:32.857
We drilled holes in the helmet[br]so that I could breathe

0:04:32.857,0:04:35.734
and I finished just in time[br]for Halloween and wore it school.

0:04:35.734,0:04:39.422
Now this is the one thing in this talk[br]that I don't have a slide to show you,

0:04:39.422,0:04:41.938
because no photo exists of this armor.

0:04:41.938,0:04:43.238
I did wear it to school,

0:04:43.238,0:04:45.792
there was a yearbook photographer[br]patrolling the halls

0:04:45.792,0:04:46.884
but he never found me

0:04:46.884,0:04:48.925
for reasons that are[br]about to become clear.

0:04:49.352,0:04:51.453
There were things I didn't anticipate

0:04:51.453,0:04:55.824
about wearing a complete suit[br]of aluminum armor to school.

0:04:56.450,0:04:59.182
In third period math I was standing[br]in the back of class,

0:04:59.182,0:05:00.961
and I'm standing in the back of class

0:05:00.961,0:05:03.187
because the armor did not[br]allow me to sit down.

0:05:03.187,0:05:04.434
(Laughter)

0:05:04.434,0:05:06.884
This is the first thing[br]I didn't anticipate.

0:05:07.447,0:05:09.985
And then my teacher looks at me[br]sort of concerned

0:05:09.985,0:05:11.531
about halfway through the class

0:05:11.531,0:05:13.062
and says, "Are you feeling OK?"

0:05:13.062,0:05:14.728
And I'm thinking, "Are you kidding?

0:05:14.728,0:05:15.727
Am I feeling OK?

0:05:15.727,0:05:17.072
I'm wearing a suit of armor!

0:05:17.072,0:05:18.524
I am having the time of my --"

0:05:18.524,0:05:20.893
And I'm just about to tell her[br]how great I feel

0:05:20.893,0:05:23.484
when the classroom[br]starts to list to the left

0:05:23.484,0:05:26.224
and disappear down this long tunnel,

0:05:26.224,0:05:29.684
and then I woke up in the nurse's office.

0:05:30.728,0:05:34.566
I had passed out from heat[br]exhaustion wearing the armor.

0:05:34.809,0:05:35.807
And when I woke up,

0:05:35.807,0:05:38.931
I wasn't embarrassed about having[br]passed out in front of my class,

0:05:38.931,0:05:39.925
I was wondering,

0:05:39.925,0:05:42.025
"Who took my armor? Where's my armor?"

0:05:42.025,0:05:44.003
OK, fast-forward a whole bunch of years,

0:05:44.003,0:05:45.902
some colleagues and I get hired

0:05:45.902,0:05:48.634
to make a show for Discovery Channel[br]called "Mythbusters."

0:05:48.634,0:05:49.634
And over 14 years,

0:05:49.634,0:05:53.053
I learn on the job how to build[br]experimental methodologies

0:05:53.053,0:05:55.769
and how to tell stories[br]about them for television.

0:05:56.042,0:05:57.768
I also learn early on

0:05:57.768,0:06:00.650
that costuming can play a key[br]role in this storytelling.

0:06:00.650,0:06:04.838
I use costumes to add[br]humor, comedy, color

0:06:04.838,0:06:08.237
and narrative clarity to the stories[br]that we're telling.

0:06:08.237,0:06:11.019
And then we do an episode[br]called "Dumpster Diving,"

0:06:11.019,0:06:13.230
and I learn a little bit more

0:06:13.230,0:06:16.535
about the deeper implications[br]of what costuming means to me.

0:06:16.535,0:06:18.017
The episode "Dumpster Diving"--

0:06:18.017,0:06:19.997
the question we were trying to answer is:

0:06:19.997,0:06:24.047
is jumping into a dumpster as safe[br]as the movies would lead you to believe?

0:06:24.047,0:06:25.049
(Laughter)

0:06:25.655,0:06:28.395
So the episode was going to have[br]two distinct parts to it.

0:06:28.395,0:06:31.426
One was where we get trained[br]to jump off buildings by a stuntman

0:06:31.426,0:06:33.007
into an air bag.

0:06:33.007,0:06:35.511
And the second was the graduation[br]to the experiment:

0:06:35.511,0:06:38.430
we'd fill a dumpster full of material[br]and we'd jump into it.

0:06:38.430,0:06:40.712
I wanted to visually separate[br]these two elements,

0:06:40.712,0:06:43.566
and I thought, "Well, for the first[br]part we're training,

0:06:43.566,0:06:45.197
so we should wear sweatsuits --

0:06:45.197,0:06:48.969
Oh! Let's put 'Stunt Trainee'[br]on the back of the sweatsuits,

0:06:48.969,0:06:50.538
that's for the training."

0:06:50.538,0:06:53.819
But for the second part I wanted[br]something really visually striking --

0:06:53.819,0:06:56.678
"I know! I'll dress as Neo[br]from 'The Matrix.'"

0:06:56.678,0:06:57.680
(Laughter)

0:06:57.680,0:06:58.979
So I went to Haight Street.

0:06:58.979,0:07:01.385
I bought some beautiful[br]knee-high, buckle boots.

0:07:01.385,0:07:03.850
I found a long flowing coat on eBay.

0:07:03.850,0:07:04.890
I got some sunglasses

0:07:04.890,0:07:07.317
which I had to wear contact[br]lenses in order to wear.

0:07:07.317,0:07:09.216
The day of the experiment[br]shoot comes up

0:07:09.216,0:07:11.167
and I step out of my car in this costume

0:07:11.167,0:07:14.245
and my crew takes a look at me ...

0:07:14.245,0:07:17.029
and start suppressing[br]their church giggles.

0:07:17.029,0:07:18.027
They're like,

0:07:18.027,0:07:20.214
(Laugh sound)

0:07:20.214,0:07:22.668
And I feel two distinct[br]things at this moment.

0:07:22.668,0:07:27.134
I feel total embarrassment over the fact[br]that it's so nakedly clear to my crew

0:07:27.134,0:07:29.971
that I'm completely[br]into wearing this costume.

0:07:29.971,0:07:30.968
(Laughter)

0:07:31.511,0:07:34.754
But the producer in my mind reminds myself

0:07:34.754,0:07:37.204
that in the high-speed shot in slow-mo

0:07:37.204,0:07:40.320
that flowing coat is going to look[br]beautiful behind me.

0:07:40.320,0:07:41.322
(Laughter)

0:07:42.091,0:07:44.030
Five years into [the] "Mythbusters" run,

0:07:44.030,0:07:46.886
we got invited to appear[br]at San Diego Comic-Con.

0:07:46.886,0:07:50.136
I'd known about Comic-Con for years[br]and never had time to go.

0:07:50.136,0:07:51.327
This was the big leagues.

0:07:51.327,0:07:53.793
This was costuming mecca.

0:07:53.793,0:07:55.856
People fly in from all over the world

0:07:55.856,0:07:59.061
to show their amazing creations[br]on the floor in San Diego.

0:07:59.061,0:08:00.609
And I wanted to participate.

0:08:00.609,0:08:03.694
I decided that I would put together[br]an elaborate costume

0:08:03.694,0:08:05.151
that covered me completely

0:08:05.151,0:08:08.750
and I would walk the floor[br]of San Diego Comic-Con anonymously.

0:08:08.750,0:08:10.043
The costume I chose?

0:08:10.043,0:08:11.183
Hellboy.

0:08:11.576,0:08:12.667
That's not my costume,

0:08:12.667,0:08:13.840
that's actually Hellboy.

0:08:13.840,0:08:14.844
(Laughter)

0:08:15.208,0:08:18.933
But I spent months assembling the most[br]screen-accurate Hellboy costume I could,

0:08:18.933,0:08:20.235
from the boots to the belt,

0:08:20.235,0:08:21.238
to the pants

0:08:21.238,0:08:22.559
to the right hand of doom.

0:08:22.559,0:08:25.814
I found a guy who made a prosthetic[br]Hellboy head and chest

0:08:25.814,0:08:27.282
and I put them on.

0:08:27.282,0:08:30.977
I even had contact lenses made[br]in my prescription.

0:08:30.977,0:08:33.235
I wore it onto the floor at Comic-Con

0:08:33.235,0:08:37.974
and I can't even tell you how[br]balls hot it was in that costume.

0:08:37.974,0:08:38.969
(Laughter)

0:08:38.969,0:08:39.966
Sweating --

0:08:39.966,0:08:41.434
I should've remembered this --

0:08:41.434,0:08:42.444
I'm sweating buckets

0:08:42.444,0:08:44.158
and the contact lenses hurt my eyes,

0:08:44.158,0:08:47.728
and none of it matters[br]because I'm totally in love.

0:08:47.728,0:08:48.730
(Laughter)

0:08:49.199,0:08:52.741
Not just with the process of putting[br]on this costume and walking the floor,

0:08:52.741,0:08:55.813
but also with the community[br]of other costumers.

0:08:56.377,0:08:58.317
It's not called costuming at Cons,

0:08:58.317,0:09:00.256
it's called "Cosplay".

0:09:00.256,0:09:01.757
Ostensibly, Cosplay means

0:09:01.757,0:09:05.225
people who dress up as their favorite[br]characters from film and television,

0:09:05.225,0:09:06.329
and especially anime,

0:09:06.329,0:09:09.317
but it is so much more than that.

0:09:09.317,0:09:12.363
These aren't just people who find[br]a costume and put it on.

0:09:12.363,0:09:13.783
They mash them up.

0:09:13.783,0:09:15.266
They bend them to their will.

0:09:15.266,0:09:19.081
They change them to be the characters[br]they want to be in those productions.

0:09:19.081,0:09:21.020
They're super clever and genius.

0:09:21.020,0:09:23.845
They let their freak flag fly[br]and it's beautiful.

0:09:23.845,0:09:24.848
(Laughter)

0:09:24.848,0:09:25.846
But more than that,

0:09:25.846,0:09:27.713
they rehearse their costumes.

0:09:27.713,0:09:29.153
At Comic-Con or any other Con,

0:09:29.153,0:09:31.674
you don't just take pictures[br]of people walking around.

0:09:31.674,0:09:32.966
You actually go up and say,

0:09:32.966,0:09:35.398
"Hey I like your costume,[br]can I take your picture?"

0:09:35.398,0:09:37.948
And then you give them time[br]to get into their pose.

0:09:37.948,0:09:40.016
They've worked hard on their pose

0:09:40.016,0:09:42.507
to make their costume look[br]great for your camera.

0:09:42.507,0:09:45.361
And it's so beautiful to watch.

0:09:45.361,0:09:46.815
And I take this to heart.

0:09:46.815,0:09:48.344
And at subsequent Cons,

0:09:48.344,0:09:52.760
I learn Heath Ledger's shambling[br]walk as the Joker from "The Dark Knight."

0:09:52.760,0:09:55.833
I learn how to be a scary Ringwraith[br]from "Lord of the Rings,"

0:09:55.833,0:09:57.811
and I actually frighten some children.

0:09:57.811,0:09:59.734
I learn that "herr herr herr"--

0:09:59.734,0:10:02.162
that head laugh that Chewbacca does.

0:10:02.800,0:10:05.719
And then I dressed up as[br]No-Face from "Spirited Away."

0:10:05.719,0:10:09.193
If you don't know about "Spirited Away"[br]and its director, Mayao Miyazaki,

0:10:09.193,0:10:10.776
first of all, you're welcome.

0:10:10.776,0:10:11.779
(Laughter)

0:10:12.359,0:10:13.860
This is a masterpiece

0:10:13.860,0:10:16.004
and one of my all-time favorite films.

0:10:16.004,0:10:20.150
It's about a young girl named Chihiro[br]who gets lost in the spirit world

0:10:20.150,0:10:22.506
in an abandoned Japanese theme park.

0:10:22.506,0:10:24.425
And she finds her way back out again

0:10:24.425,0:10:26.664
with the help of a couple[br]of friends she makes.

0:10:26.664,0:10:30.590
A captured dragon named Haku[br]and a lonely demon named No-Face.

0:10:30.590,0:10:33.582
No-Face is lonely and he[br]wants to make friends,

0:10:33.582,0:10:36.684
and he thinks that the way to do it[br]is by luring them to him

0:10:36.684,0:10:38.722
and producing gold in his hand.

0:10:38.722,0:10:40.496
But this doesn't go very well,

0:10:40.496,0:10:43.299
and so he ends up going[br]on a kind of a rampage

0:10:43.299,0:10:45.647
until Chihiro saves him --

0:10:45.647,0:10:46.890
rescues him.

0:10:47.359,0:10:50.906
So I put together a No-Face costume

0:10:50.906,0:10:53.353
and I wore it on the floor at Comic-Con.

0:10:53.353,0:10:57.920
And I very carefully practiced[br]No-Face's gestures.

0:10:57.920,0:10:58.915
I realized --

0:10:58.915,0:11:01.711
I resolved I would not speak[br]in this costume at all.

0:11:01.711,0:11:03.685
When people asked to take my picture,

0:11:03.685,0:11:05.333
I would nod

0:11:05.333,0:11:07.836
and I would shyly stand next to them.

0:11:07.836,0:11:09.633
And they would take the picture

0:11:09.633,0:11:13.796
and then I would secret out from behind[br]my robe a chocolate gold coin.

0:11:13.796,0:11:17.187
And at the end of the photo process,[br]I'd make it appear for them.

0:11:17.187,0:11:19.208
Ah, ah ah --

0:11:19.208,0:11:20.210
like that.

0:11:20.210,0:11:21.616
And people were freaking out.

0:11:21.616,0:11:24.433
"Holy crap! Gold from No-Face,[br]oh my god, this is so cool!"

0:11:24.433,0:11:28.339
And I'm feeling and I'm walking[br]the floor and it's fantastic.

0:11:28.339,0:11:31.520
And about 15 minutes in something happens.

0:11:31.520,0:11:34.274
Somebody grabs my hand

0:11:34.274,0:11:36.454
and they put a coin back into it.

0:11:36.454,0:11:39.550
And I think maybe they're giving me[br]a coin as a return gift,

0:11:39.550,0:11:42.396
but no, this is one of the coins[br]that I'd given away.

0:11:42.396,0:11:44.015
I don't know why.

0:11:44.015,0:11:45.018
And I keep on going,

0:11:45.018,0:11:46.436
I take some more pictures.

0:11:46.436,0:11:48.201
And then it happens again.

0:11:48.201,0:11:51.435
Understand, I can't see[br]anything inside this costume.

0:11:51.435,0:11:52.874
I can see through the mouth --

0:11:52.874,0:11:54.600
I can see people's shoes.

0:11:54.600,0:11:57.438
I can hear what they're saying[br]and I can see their feet.

0:11:57.438,0:11:59.696
But the third time someone[br]gives me back a coin,

0:11:59.696,0:12:01.875
I want to know what's going on.

0:12:01.875,0:12:04.949
So I sort of tilt my head back[br]to get a better view,

0:12:04.949,0:12:07.518
and what I see is someone walking[br]away from me going like this.

0:12:07.518,0:12:10.518
(Angry gesture)

0:12:10.518,0:12:12.791
And then it hits me.

0:12:12.791,0:12:16.542
It's bad luck to take gold from No-Face.

0:12:16.542,0:12:18.557
In the film "Spirited Away,"

0:12:18.557,0:12:21.954
bad luck befalls those who take[br]gold from No-Face.

0:12:22.293,0:12:26.800
This isn't a performer-[br]audience relationship.

0:12:27.100,0:12:29.511
This is Cosplay.

0:12:29.958,0:12:32.312
We are, all of us on that floor,

0:12:32.312,0:12:35.540
injecting ourselves into a narrative[br]that meant something to us.

0:12:35.914,0:12:37.898
And we're making it our own.

0:12:37.898,0:12:41.998
We're connecting with something[br]important inside of us.

0:12:42.508,0:12:47.708
And the costumes are how[br]we reveal ourselves to each other.

0:12:48.064,0:12:49.351
Thank you.

0:12:49.608,0:12:50.611
(Applause)