If you’ve followed Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame at all, you know that he’s got a special place in his heart for cosplay. It was a part of his life before he even knew it had a name, and it has been something that has caused him great pride as well as some embarrassment. Earlier this year, Savage gave a great TED talk about his love of cosplay and what it means to him. If you’ve ever had any questions about the people who dress up at conventions, take a minute and watch this beautiful speech.

Adam Savage makes things and builds experiments, and he uses costumes to add humor, color and clarity to the stories he tells. Tracing his lifelong love of costumes — from a childhood space helmet made of an ice cream tub to a No-Face costume he wore to Comic-Con — Savage explores the world of cosplay and the meaning it creates for its community. “We’re connecting with something important inside of us,” he says. “The costumes are how we reveal ourselves to each other.”