The Lunatic Fringe Podcast

So yeah... A charmed if not short career in skydiving is exactly what Mandy Curry had. Stumbling into amazing situations and lucking her way into rubbing elbows with skydiving royalty, she can't help but look back at her time in the sport with rose colored glasses! A mother of two on a vastly different trajectory, Mandy takes the time to sit and reminisce with me about trips to Eloy, landing on gl...

Proper scared. Kaz Sheekey started out like I imagine a fair amount of us do in skydiving, but for her, just like most of us who decide to make a life out of it, that fear she felt on jump one became a positive driving force, not a deterrent. Immediately attracted to the lifestyle as well as her love of jumping, all it took was a "vacation" to the US to drive her into a 25 plus year love affair no...

Meat Hauler. Not what most people dream of when they think of a career in skydiving. It's not glamorous and it ain't sexy... As a matter of fact, unless you're a first time tandem student, the tandem instructors tend to be the most overlooked of us, but the truth of the matter is, it's an incredible way to spend your time in the air. Rich LaBarr will be the first to tell you that tandem instructor...

Started jumping while in college, Check.  Coach rating, Check.  Tandem Instructor, Check.  US Navy F-18 Hornet Pilot...  Big Fuckin' Check!  Joey Marco started both his career in aviation and his career in skydiving around the same time, and has somehow managed to keep his passion for both!  As a new F-18 pilot, Joey gets inundated with "Fan Boy" pilot questions all over the place that I've wanted...

Hard work and perseverance paid off.  Signed to run and compete for not just one of the best track teams around but precisely who she wanted, Rachel Belmont was headed to college on exactly the trajectory she had planned; then, as seems to happen too damn much, her future was changed by a random injury that left her wondering what came next. Too strong to back down, she was able to push past not o...

You want to know what it takes to become world champions? Curious about how to develop the kind of moves that not only haven't been seen before, but not even imagined? Wonder how in the hell anyone could survive 10 years of hardcore training, competition, travel and pressure AND do it all as a couple? And of course, find out who in the hell is behind those awesome jumpsuits? Well look no further!...

Like a large number of people, Beverly Cosslett's first experience with skydiving came about with a "Sure, why not"; unlike most that more "agree" than "Decide" to skydive, she managed to get herself quickly hooked! Working her way into South Africa's skydiving scene and beyond, she started at a time when the rule breakers and bad boys (and girls) ruled the sport, and stuck with it through its tra...

Intimidated by the sport. In his own words "lacking natural talent"...  Words that only Ernesto Gainza would use to describe himself because nobody I know would use anything other than "Calculated" or "Driven". Maybe "Forward Thinking" or even "Fucking Crazy" (that was me...).  Currently holding the record for the smallest canopy every landed, the man has taken on challenges that very few ever wou...

Hannah Parker PHD.  Fuck skydivers are amazing at themes (life changing course corrections), and this is one of my favorite ones by far!  Well on her way to becoming a full blown Doctor and researcher (did I mention the fuckin’ PHD?), Hannah and her friend decided to make a skydive to jazz things up a bit, at jazz it up it certainly did! Managing to finish off that PHD while fucking around at the...

Wow is all I have to say! First off, Julio Ruiz, the owner and operator of Liquid Sky is doing his part. Having thought not just about his families well being in these crazy times, but of his employees and those around him, he decided to put his design skills to work to put out masks to help stem the forward push of the Coronavirus. Secondly, he tells me about his beginnings in our sport, life in...

On this "Special Report" edition of Lunatic Fringe, I have a whole bunch of recent guests back to take on the YouTube Channel sensation "Hot Ones" challenge as we eat crazy hot wings while discussing great ways to deal with the "social distancing" we need to be observing while the world tries to get over Coronavirus.  Join us, and if you've got the balls, try the challenge yourself, get those vide...

Back in the can to talk about her summer competition season, Olga Namova takes her time to fill us in on pushing canopy limits, traveling for her passion and life outside of skydiving.  Take the time to enjoy a great bonfire chat with Olga, and make sure to check out the amazing photos we talk about on her Instagram at sky_umka today!

As one of the very first people I met in the sport, one of my first co-workers and especially as my first and only competition team member, Mary Tortomasi and I shared many of the same memories, experiences and losses and we started our way down the skydiving path; and even though we ended up going in very different directions, we've both managed long and "blessed" careers.  From her first job as...

Another converted member of the masses, Omar Alhegelan went from just another bean counter to one of modern skydivings most influential figures.  Filled with the feeling that this is what he was meant to do, Omar didn't think twice about walking away from the real world with all its rules and regulations and jump head first (Actually head up and feet first) into the wonderful world of skydiving.  ...

Matt Munting. Nicholas Scalabrino.  Heterosexual life mates, BASE wing suit apex predators and all around great fucking guys take the time once again to sit down with The Fuckin' Pilot to fill me in on what sounds like a pretty epic summer season of "sending it". From seriously intense Dam flare's, 270's into cracks and totems off towers, their idea of a good time is the stuff of nightmares to som...

From a missed shot a military flying career due to a childhood illness, to a desire to skydive which lead to an off the beaten path flying lifestyle, Taihuka Smith has had quite a ride so far. Near death experiences in West Papua, peeing in a bottle over the Mediterranean and looking ahead toward an airline career, This is a fun one to give a listen to! (and he sings and plays guitar... Just sayin...

Beep Beep! Or, depending on your perspective, Meep Meep.  Without question one of the most unique souls ever to walk the planet, he was without a doubt one of the most memorable in skydiving and BASE.  With over 20,000 skydives and countless BASE jumps, Mr. Stanley not only left his mark on these sports with his accomplishments, but he left it with his unique interaction with all those he jumped a...

If you're not the type to stay until the credits have all rolled, then you may just miss her name, but chances are, you know her work!  From an active duty police officer to a UK National and then World 4-way champion turned professional skydiving instructor, Hannah Betts is not a woman scared of change; So when the opportunity knocked, she decided to answer her call to the world of professional s...

In the world of "Air Sports", I have always considered BASE to be just about as hardcore as it gets, and wingsuit BASE to be the apex, but Charley Kurlinkus, Dr. Charley Kurlinkus to be precise takes it to another level in my opinion. ER doctor all night long, dealing with every accident, injury and "oops" imaginable and BASE Wingsuit jumper by day; he's traveled the world doing intense things to...

Back by popular demand! From broken bones and burnt scrotums, Lunatic Fringe received so much feedback on Jim Mathews (one “t”) first appearance that there was no way he wasn't coming back to let out a few more of his outrageous and hilarious stories! You'd be on par with most if you were to think that Mr. Matthews was full of shit with some of the yarns he can tell, but in most cases you would be...

I've said it before, I'll say it again, and I'll stand behind it every time. Manifest has got to be the most difficult job in skydiving.  In a rare behind the window interview, I have the chance to sit down and climb into the minds of two manifest Ladies who know all the little secrets and have all the stories.  With voices altered to protect the innocent (and guilty),  Sparky and Susan give us al...

All things ratings! Interested in what goes in to becoming a tandem or AFF instructor? Thinking about making the jump into skydiving as a job and want to know if it's something that would appeal?  Well then this is the one you're gonna want to listen to. Once again my semi frequent co host Junior, one of the busiest tandem and AFF evaluators sits down to tell me what goes in to a good course, a go...

With over 30 years in the sport he has most certainly seen a few things; but after a paragliding accident that gave him time to really think, he decided it was more important to show a few things to those willing to learn than just chase medals. From X-Game's competitor to Swooper to instructor to canopy designer, Brian Germain has spent his career in skydiving not only experiencing pretty much ev...

Teen climbing instructor and a bit of a lost soul, to a 200,000 a year oil and gas man, Ryan Graney made it pretty big pretty young, and exceeded expectations in more ways than one. A hard charging BASE jumper and professional party guy, you'd be surprised at just how much thought has gone into his crazy antics over the years. Articulating his desire not only to live a life less ordinary but one w...

On this episode of Lunatic Fringe Into the Void, our old friend David "Junior" Ludvik takes the reins, grabs the mic and interviews me for a switch. So this time around its a touch of Fuckin' history with flying, stripping, jumping, and a little about the epic Mount Everest and my bucket list opportunity to go and meet her up close and personal.