The Lunatic Fringe Podcast

You'd be hard pressed to find many professions where twenty-five was considered a late start,  but at the top of that very short list would most certainly be Freestyle Motocross, yet late to the game was exactly what Scott Fitzgerald A.K.A Toppdog was.  From Mini's off massive ramps at the very beginning of his Lunatic journey, to the real deal with none other than the world famous Nitro Circus, S...

It started with an accident onboard a commercial airliner over Austrailia, or at least the catalyst did.  In an event that will forever be a part of Simon Colmer, part of learning to get past it was a bucket list that happened to include skydiving; yet for someone scared of heights dealing with the after effects of a traumatic experience onboard an airplane, it was one that took a bit of time to g...

it's kind of an unbelievable list of accomplishments and stunts. X-Games Skysurfing World Champion. Super Bowl Halftime winning Pepsi Commercial  pulling stunts with a goose. First ever to skydive from an exploding aircraft. First ever parachute on fire in flight... The list goes on and on.  Yet if you had asked a young Troy Hartman what he thought he was going to be when he grew up, there was onl...

It's kind of an unbelievable list of accomplishments and stunts. X-Games Skysurfing World Champion. Super Bowl Halftime winning Pepsi Commercial  pulling stunts with a goose. First ever to skydive from an exploding aircraft. First ever parachute on fire in flight... The list goes on and on.  Yet if you had asked a young Troy Hartman what he thought he was going to be when he grew up, there was onl...

With one of the most unique stories of how skydiving entered his life, Moe Viletto had just survived an impromptu zero gravity aerobatic flight by the skin of his teeth when he and his pilot buddy spotted canopies off in the distance. Knowing the instant he landed from his first jump that this was what life had been aiming him toward, he embarked on what this year would have been five decades of s...

World Champions and always outgoing ambassadors to the world for skydiving, Team Airwax with Greg Crozier, Karine Joy and Ewan Cowie join me face to face in the studio to talk about life after lockdown, travel in the time of Covid, previous lives and what the future holds in store. We touch on what it takes not only to be a championship team in our sport, but how social media plays an enormous par...

On the conclusion of Lunatic Fringe with Joe Jennings... From the X-Games to Good Stuff; from Hollywood to the Super Bowl, Mr. Joe Jennings has helped to shape not only modern skydiving through the lens of his camera, but was instrumental in bringing our sport to the forefront of pop-culture, entertainment and the masses. Like most, his first jump wasn't just entertainment, it was transformation,...

From the X-Games to Good Stuff; from Hollywood to the Super Bowl, Mr. Joe Jennings has helped to shape not only modern skydiving through the lens of his camera, but was instrumental in bringing our sport to the forefront of pop-culture, entertainment and the masses. Like most, his first jump wasn't just entertainment, it was transformation, and on part one of Joe's chat on Lunatic Fringe, I get th...

On this, his first time in the host seat, the familiar Mr. David Junior Ludvik takes the time to sit down with fellow skydiving instructor Kareem Madoor.  Working as a management consultant, Kareem started to wonder if there weren't a little more to life than office walls and deadlines. With his first foray toward the Lunatic lifestyle, he found an affinity for scuba, then moved on to kite surfing...

As a young Kiwi, starting out with sport was a pretty natural thing, and Jeff Weatherall excelled. Surfing seemed to be a natural fit for him, and competition became the standard at a young age; but as is known to happen when you push for the top, Jeff found himself burned out on the waves, and instead put all of his focus into a sport he'd never considered before, wakeboarding.  On his way to bec...

From a young age he was drawn to air sports, and skydiving in particular, but having an uncle who'd broken his back landing a round years before, it would have been easy for Jarno Cordia to watch his dreams of flying stay nothing more than childhood fantasy; but his desire to get in the air was much stronger than any fears he or his family may have had. After finishing school at 17 and a top notch...

Kim Worthington.  Now known as Kim Turnbull. Wife. Mom. Upstanding citizen and all around normal person. But back then, well...  Kim got her start skydiving like a lot of us did, with a tandem and an instant love for the sport. With one trip to Spain it was game on for her, and straight into a career as an AFF instructor (Via manifest) coach and a run all around the US that culminated in one hell...

On this edition of Lunatic Fringe, Omar Alhegelan, Junior Ludvic and I tackle the difficult subject of death, and how we as skydivers deal (or don't deal) with the end.  From denial to humor, we speak about how we and those around us cope with it, and try and speak openly about a subject that most skydivers work really hard to avoid; when we at last shuffle off this mortal coil.

Just another last minute plan is how it started for Flavio Almeida. At the ripe old age of 16 years, he found himself doing not just his first, but second static line jump on his first ever trip to a small Brazilian dropzone near the rainforest, and never imagined then the path he'd just started himself down.  From jumping in his home country, to studying, jumping and working in Canada (which ende...

A Vegas OG, Brian Moler, and in fact pretty much the entire Moler family have either been a part of, or heard every story there is to tell about skydiving in Las Vegas, Nevada. For a city not at all known for skydiving, you'd might just be amazed at just how much has gone down in Sin City, and he is most certainly the man to talk to. From failed contracts put out on a DZO's life (kind of), to warr...

For Tim Jones, the decision to become a skydiver wasn't a difficult one. A half planned road trip from the UK into France and a tandem skydive was about all it took. As sometimes seems to be the case, skydiving and Tim fit together pretty easily, and through a fortuitous friendship formed with Andrew Ford, who he would later find out was "somebody" in skydiving, he found himself working ground con...

Back in the can to talk over old times and new, Andrew "Fordy" Ford brings 35 years of airsports experience int to talk about not just the "good Ol' days" of yesteryear, but to talk about the advances of today, and what might be around the corner. Paying homage to some of the greats from back in the day and some the incredible talent of now, Fordy takes some time to chat about his life with the Lu...

Raised with a competitive spirit, but finding herself in constant competition with older BMX riding brothers, Amber Forte knew from a pretty young age not only that she wanted to find her own path, but more importantly that she wanted a life less ordinary. Having made her first skydive on her own at 18 and being just as impressed with the mentality of the jumpers as she was with their profession,...

Born and raised in a part of Norway where sport wasn't just another choice, but a way of life, Espen Fadnes grew up roped up and climbing or skiing almost before he was walking. Being on the rock and in the mountains was beyond second nature, as were all the other terrestrial adventures Norway had to offer. Yet with Espen, from a young age, reaching the tops of the peaks he climbed and either hiki...

Back in the can with the Fuckin' co-host Junior Ludvic, he's got some good tips and advice on taking care of your gear while it's down for the winter months, keeping or getting current, dealing with injuries and what the future holds, this time around on The Lunatic Fringe.

A Southern California jumper from go, Nathan Smith didn't realize just how good he had it at the world famous (with skydivers that is) dropzone he "grew up" on.  Perris valley was the beginning of a journey that has since led him to multiple world records and more than 20 countries around the globe, not just competing in, but teaching the sport he loves. Holding camps and organizing boogies year r...

Growing up seeing canopies in the air pretty much his entire life, the idea of going to make a skydive when he turned eighteen seemed like a pretty easy decision. Like more than a few jumpers, it didn't take very long until Timmi spotted the direction he wanted to take his journey in the sport. Seeing what at the time he thought was a fatality in action, but was in reality just another swoop did t...

From a very young age, extreme for Matt Jaskol was common place.  Starting first on two wheels and then to four, racing simply became a way of life, and one that he chased with true passion. Yet just like life, racing and it's pitfalls left him looking for some type of escape and distraction from the negatives, and skydiving became his very unexpected release. From pushing the limits on a path aim...

Fear.  It's the one thing that the best in our sport have had to contend with, but for Luigi Cani it was almost too much.  Having started his skydiving career with static line jumps that terrified him, he couldn't understand why something inside him kept pushing him back into the airplane, regretting it almost every time. Yet it was that same fear that taught him just how valuable and special the...

Ryan Brownlow.  Second generation skydiver with a passion for the sport instilled in him by a father that went big, he grew up packing parachutes and seeing firsthand his Dad's community of jumpers.  As he came into his own in skydiving, he had the opportunity to surround himself with some of the best in the world in their disciplines, eventually leading him to his; canopy piloting. A member of th...