[Kari, Grant, and Tory from The Mythbusters will be on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson tonight, so it seems like a good time to post this.]
In case anyone was wondering if I would succumb to the bright lights of Hollywood, the answer is, of course: duh.
Last week I attended a wonderful party in Pasadena, thrown by the Discovery Channel for their 25th anniversary (my pictures from the party are on Flickr). My friend Katherine Nelson secured an invite for me; she does PR for the channel and we met at Comic Con in 2008 when I was tagging along with My Close Personal Friend Adam Savage™. Last week I happened to be in LA working on my sooper sekrit project, and that timing happily coincided with the party.
I’m not used to high-end parties, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I decided to go all out and wear a tie. Go me.
I got to the hotel, located somewhere down twisty passages in Pasadena all of which look alike, and started wending my way to the party itself. As I randomly walked, I wondered to myself what celebs might be here, and at that very moment happened to see Ed Begley, Jr.
OK then.
When I finally reached the actual party location, I was happy to see Katherine taking pictures of Kari Byron, Grant Imahara, and Tory Belecci from Mythbusters! I hadn’t seen Kari in a couple of years (I moderated a panel with three of them in Canada), but I saw Grant and Tory at Comic Con last year. It was nice to see them again. I hung out a bit with them, and, as always, found them to be fun and charming and pretty much what you see on TV. At least, they’re nice enough to a dork like me.
There were lots of Discovery Network celebs there (as well as a giraffe). I was completely unashamed to horn in on Stacey and Clinton from “What Not to Wear” and chat for a second. I was thrilled to get a chance to talk with Annabelle Gurwitch, who is on Planet Green now, but I know her from watching “Dinner and a Movie” on TBS a few years ago, and she was exactly as I had hoped: funny and sassy and totally approachable. Also? A doll. There, I said it.
I also dorked a bit when I got a chance to say hi to Kat von D from “L.A. Ink”, since she wasn’t in the shop the day I got my tattoo. It was totally cool to show her my tattoo (patience; my show is supposed to air next month) and thank her for the experience. We swapped a couple of stories, and I found she was like everyone else I met at the party: approachable, open, and interesting.
In fact, if there was any disappointment with the party (besides not being allowed to actually eat the cakes made by the bakery from “Cake Boss” and realizing after I had gotten back to my hotel that the Meteorite Men were there and I missed them) it was of the snarky variety; that is, no one was a jerk. I mean, c’mon! This was a Hollywood party! No cocaine? No obnoxious divas?
Could it be that the portrayal of Hollywood in Hollywood films has been Hollywooded? Hmmm.
So all in all it was a fabulous event with a lot of people having lots of fun. It makes me wonder… could it be that because there is a science bent to the networks (not all the shows, but many) the party was more about the fun and less about the personalities? Hmmm again.
Maybe not. But still. Science is cool.
