The Lunatic Fringe Podcast

Although Dawson and Olivier started their journey in skydiving at the same time, it was the tunnel that first sunk its hooks deep in both of them. Growing up in Canada, all the usual sports were on tap for each of them, from snowboarding to rock climbing, but it was the tunnel that showed them something exciting and new. As with most, finding both the time and money to maintain turned out to be the biggest challenge, and although Covid threw a proper wrench into the machine for everyone, both Olivier and Dawson survived the two year long tunnel shut down, pushed forward with the skydiving side of their journey and into the world of competition in the tunnel. Now have their sights set on helping smooth the way for newer generations of both skydivers and tunnel flyers with a YouTube video series designed specifically with them in mind, helping to pass on the Lunatic Fringe way of life.

Anyone in skydiving for any length of time hears amazing stories, both in the air and on the ground. For those outside the sport, some of them are truly hard to wrap your head around... and Rhino Jon? Well, he has more of those stories than almost anyone. From wealthy beginnings Jon decided to go a different way. His path led him toward the military, then special forces, then covert style operations, drug smuggling, art theft, and of course skydiving. With a 12,000 acre "garden" in Kenya to tend to, he keeps himself busy not just skydiving out of his personal aircraft, but tending to his 270 wild rhinos, elephants, lions and more, as well as ensuring that any poachers are... removed. The author of 5 books including one entitled For the Love of Art, Rhino Jon pretty much wrote the book on the Lunatic Fringe.

The first time Lee Crudgington thought about jumping out of an airplane he was just in search of a plan for the future. He wasn't prepared for the military recruiter telling him paratrooper training was the way to go. Being fit and young, his training went well, all except for being deployed first to his paratrooper regiment in Iraq without having gone through jump school; yet once he did finally earn his wings, it was the fast track for Lee. Becoming a member of the heralded Red Devils from the very start, it was only the beginning. Through years of demonstration jumps and competition, Lee went on to become an incredibly important member of the team, happily pushing the limits. Yet it would be a vacation and a plan to go speed flying that would change everything, and challenge him like nothing before. Now, coming back from years of surgery and the most demanding physical challenges of his life, Lee once again has his sights set on beating the odds, proving that paratroopers never give up, and showing everyone he's a dedicated member of the Lunatic Fringe. 

Another kick ass reboot with Marat Leiras! Originally aired Aug 2020 At 17 he knew. Well, he knew after he talked his mother into signing the release anyway. Marat Leiras showed his dedication to the sport of skydiving almost right away with a 400 kilometer drive one way to the dropzone just to get through AFF. With some serious skill, some wonderful luck and a whole lot of great timing, Marat managed to travel the world, train and jump with some of the best the sport had to offer and even marry the Iowa girl of his dreams; all without ever overstaying his visa!  join us as we talk about everything from wind tunnels and BASE jumps to what a crowd of 70,000 looks like from above.  All on this edition of Lunatic Fringe Into the Void.

From a pretty standard 'that one time I had some money and free time' start to skydiving, to it becoming an almost singular pursuit, Jimmy McCarthy discover in himself not only a desire to pursue his dream of flight, and his passion for teaching, but also an almost core desire to be his own boss. Now a successful load organizer, tunnel coach, and partner with his wife in a budding real estate empire, he's bouncing around from country to country, teaching people to fly and setting aside enough time in his busy schedule to grab a beer in Helsinki with another lifelong member of the Lunatic Fringe.

Another kick ass mid week reboot with Junior! Originally released Jan 2021.  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.

Like anything, being raised within a sport or activity can either draw you in or push you away, and skydiving is no exception; and although skydiving didn't push Anna Moxnes away from the idea of jumping, it didn't exactly call to her. At least not like music did. At a very young age, Anna found herself on the road as a backup singer in a working band, and it wouldn't be until a random opportunity to make a tandem skydive for charity came about that the idea of jumping surfaced. Even then, it would be another year before it really kicked off. Yet from then on, it's been full speed ahead for Anna, setting her sights on everything from becoming world champion, to being a liaison for our sport with the beginning of The EdgE agency back in 2008. Now a world champion, world record holder and successful business woman, Anna Moxnes isn't just a member of the Lunatic Fringe, she's helping lead the way.

Another kick ass mid week reboot with Timmi Thomsen! 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 the trick.  After a fortuitous job offer to go pack nylon in New Zealand, and a few mentors along the way, Timmi once again found himself on the good side of luck when after and impressive swoop with the help of home field advantage caught the eye of event organizers, he found himself doing demo jumps into one of the most impressive arenas skydive has ever seen, the Copenhagen Swoop Freestyle competition in 2015. Join us on this edition of Lunatic Fringe while we chat about nylon, tunnels and the real world with Timmi Thomsen.

Growing up in a kitchen helped toughen up Tom Gunes. Working his way from a sink full of dishes to a chef's knife, there's no doubt in his mind that the fiery environment a chef has to operate in helped prepare him for the stresses of skydiving, and he took to our sport from jump number one. With his beginnings at one of the most prestigious drop zones in the world, he's been able to soak up inspiration from icons in the sport, but long before he'd ever seen a parachute in person, he'd seen skysurfing. Yet it turns out for Tom, the hardest part of skysurfing turned out to be getting on the plane with a board... Now, having proven he can handle himself, he's busy working on his dream of bringing the 90's era discipline back into the mainstream, and with the help of some of skysurfing's OG's, its a goal he believes the Lunatic Fringe is going to embrace. 

Another kick ass mid week reboot with Jeff Weatherall! 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 becoming an international champion behind a boat, he happened to catch a bit of footage of a guy named Frank BASE jumping, and knew it was in his cards. Years after his first glimpse, and long after that very first skydive Jeff made his first BASE jump, and was off on a new trajectory in his life that would eventually lead him on to become a full-time skydiver, wingsuit and BASE coach, and lifelong member of the Lunatic Fringe.

He never could have imagine when at the ripe old age of seventeen and enlisting in the Army that he'd eventually be nudged into pursuing skydiving by open water and a big fish, but that's exactly what happened. Greg Windmiller knew pretty quickly that skydiving was for him. With what he admittedly calls a 'blessed' career, Greg found himself not just jumping with some of the best in the business, but leading the pack. With a passion cultivated between military and civilian operations, he found his perfect path. Now a long time sought after instructor, public speaker and owner/operator of Superior Flight Solutions, Greg is just as busy as he ever has been, redefining what retirement is, and truly enjoying his place with the Lunatic Fringe. 

Another kick ass mid week reboot with The Darmon Brothers! Third generation skydivers, brothers Marcos and Franco were literally born for aviation. Through luck, both good and bad, their grandfather and father built the family airfield and operation literally from the ground up, and these two brothers took to it like ducks to water, although not as quickly as one might think. With Business and Medicine the original goals, it was conscious decision to change course and follow in their fathers foot steps, walking away from the "real" world to instead remain in the one handed down through the generations. Working hard every step of the way doing everything from manifest to packing, driving to jumping, it was not a straight line to the sky, but one that taught them almost every aspect of the sport, leading them towards the instructors, coaches and competitors that they are today, deep inside the Lunatic Fringe.

An absolute trailblazer in the world of freefall photography and the man who can almost single-handedly be credited with blueprint for modern tandem video production, Mike Mcgowan joins us once again to talk not only about his incredible career in our sport, but about a subject that holds just as much importance to him. Addiction. Having faced his own demons in the form of alcohol and drug addiction, Mike speaks frankly about his now forty years of sobriety and what it took to get him from a path of self-destruction to a Lunatic Fringe success story and a pioneering member of the skydiving community.

Another kick ass mid week reboot with Will Lajeunesse! Starting out at Skydive Crosskeys in the early 2000's was a fucking trip! Just ask Mr. Will Lajeunesse...  From the dropzone fix-it-all man so he could jump his ass off, to a fully sponsored athlete, Will had the chance to see skydiving from every angle, both good and bad. From crazy highs to deep lows, he's had the opportunity to taste a bit of it all. Having become infamous for some seriously sketchy shit, to becoming zen in the alps, Will has some wonderful memories to relive and great advise to pass on that you're not going to want to miss.

Drawn to skydiving when higher education failed to engage him and it's social scene held no interest, Nicolas Armstrong couldn't help but feel when he went out to make his first jump on a weekend that also happened to be during the biggest boogie of the year that it simply must be his destiny. With more than 20 years in the sport, working as everything from a camera flyer to tandem instructor to AFF and competitor, he has more than his fair share of stories to tell. On top of that, having to navigate the sometimes difficult landscape of an athlete living with type-one diabetes has made his journey with the Lunatic Fringe one that for him has been well worth the challenge.

Another kick ass mid week reboot with Shannon and Louise! Living mirrored lives on different sides of the planet, Louise Kristensen and Shannon Seyb had a passion and drive for most all the same things. From Horseback riding and yoga, to tunnel flying and a love of the sky and our community, forming a team to spread the love and a positive vibes was the only natural thing to do. Biding their time until they can train for dynamic two way tunnel comps and get back in the air, Louise and Shannon take the time to tell me how they got their starts in the sport, and how they've spent their "down" time lately keeping it interesting here in the Lunatic Fringe.

EPISODE #300! Fourteen years old isn't terribly early to be exposed to the wonderful world of skydiving if you're a second or even third generation jumper, but for someone with no connection to it... James Heck was that kid. Through random circumstance, James found himself packing parachutes almost right away, and even though he'd be required to wait what must have seemed like a lifetime to manage that first jump, he knew it was exactly what he wanted to do. Now a proud camera flying, TI instructing, pleasure swooping  BASE dabbler, James knows what it's like to just decide to go after what you want full force, just like a good Lunatic Fringer should.

Back in the can after way too long, the one and only David Junior Ludvik catches back up with us to talk about his beginnings in the sport, the wild and wonderful ride that was a decade in Dubai, life after the sandbox and a more military take on the sport, and just some all around fun catching up with The Lunatic Fringe. 

Another kick ass mid week reboot with the one and only Mark Norman! In this episode I get the chance to sit down with one of skydivings true ambassadors.  Having come up in the sport during times of great change and innovation, Mark recalls what it was like to be there "when". Through struggles with burnout and addiction, he's persevered to cultivate a love for skydiving, its community and all the lessons he's learned, and freely shares them with me.

Leaving Southern California for the North Shore of Hawaii Sounded like the perfect opportunity for a then 18 year old Robin Jandle, and it was. So when the opportunity to go make a skydive over one of the most beautiful places on Earth came up, she was... absolutely not into it. So, as good friends are known to do, they took her anyway and peer pressured her on to the plane. One grudging tandem turned into a second, then AFF in one of the most challenging places in the world to learn, and before she knew it, she had her sights set on a career in the sport. Now a competing member of the US  Canopy Piloting team and a working instructor for Superior Flight Solutions in North Carolina, Robin Jandle happily embraces her place as possibly be the busiest skydiver in the Lunatic Fringe.