Lunatic Fringe Into the Void

On this edition of Lunatic Fringe, I take a back seat and give my tired stories a rest while Mr Brian Casserly takes over the hot seat to talk all things skydiving with his Pussfoot cohort and load organizer Kevin Boorom.  From which boogies have the most ridiculous parties, to just how many jumps you need to have before you can go out and have fun with them, Brian and Kevin get down to a proper bonfire session to cover all the things that have drawn them to the Lunatic Fringe.

On this edition of The Lunatic Fringe, old friends and favorites to the podcast, Olga and Junior sit down to talk about, among other things, old injuries and new, and how sometimes the ones you thought were no big deal can have a way of coming back to haunt.  With a few suggestions, tips and stories about what not to do, the three of us flop our bent and broken selves into the studio to see what we might have done differently, and what advice we can give on how to be and old and still vital member of the Lunatic Fringe.

Back in the can for another virtual bonfire, Pablito Perazzoli, Master Rigger, Tandem Examiner, world traveler and a curator of one of the most spectacular handlebar mustaches this side of the 1800's sits down to talk a little about rigging, jumping, travel, loss and life. Join us for a fun catch up and informative chat with another wonderful life-long member of the Lunatic Fringe.

Back in the can for round 2, Chris Stewart and I dispense with the more formal "get to know you" podcast, and just go straight to talking lifestyle, parties, close calls, wild times and stupid decisions!  As a test jumper for NZ Aerosports, you might be tempted to think that Chris's close calls all came hanging under untested nylon, but you'd be underestimating his desire to test out daredevil stuff on the ground as well. Join in on this episode to find out about missing teeth, eyebrows and hot times with this lifetime member of the Lunatic Fringe.

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, Scott has gone big, almost from the start. With legends and friends riding along with him, the idea of skydiving went from something he might want to do someday, to his new (and most certainly safer) stoke. Join us as Toppdog and I talk about everything from backflips with 5 on a bike, to playing the old man while hucking a scooter off a ramp and how to avoid shredding yourself with a weak flare at the one and only Funny Farm on this edition of Lunatic Fringe

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 get around to.  Now, splitting his life quite clearly between the "real" world of an IT job, and weekends as a freefly coach and up and coming canopy pilot, Simon takes time to tell us about his rough beginnings in the air, lessons learned through injury, experience and travel and a host of incredible characters and mentors, and how he keeps the passion going in a sport with changing trends and appearances as he balances between the regular world and the Lunatic Fringe.

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 only one answer. Pilot. Unfortunately, as seems to be the case over and over in life, the plan didn't exactly go the way he thought, so on to plan B...  Becoming not only a world champion skysurfer, but the ambassador for skydiving at a time when not only the US but the whole world seemed to be screaming for something extreme. Join us on this edition of Lunatic Fringe as we talk with Troy about more out of your mind tricks, stunts and lucky breaks than anyone could ever imagine, all of which have him forever linked with the Lunatic Fringe. 

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 only one answer. Pilot. Unfortunately, as seems to be the case over and over in life, the plan didn't exactly go the way he thought, so on to plan B...  Becoming not only a world champion skysurfer, but the ambassador for skydiving at a time when not only the US but the whole world seemed to be screaming for something extreme. Join us on this edition of Lunatic Fringe as we talk with Troy about more out of your mind tricks, stunts and lucky breaks than anyone could ever imagine, all of which have him forever linked with the Lunatic Fringe. 

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 skydiving, rigging and BASE jumping. Living life on his terms as a rigging gypsy king, scoring a bit of luck here and there and having an incredible time, he did it all without any real plan. From drougeless tandems and AFF before it was a thing, to living in a VW Beetle while trying to find a home for his sewing machines, to BASE jumping with a tent and then on to Hollywood, Moe Viletto and I only scratch the surface of his fifty years of Lunatic Fringe adventures. From his antics to his rigging, Moe Viletto was a trailblazer in every sense of the word and we aren't likely to ever find another quite like him. On what was suppose to be the first of many installments of "Story Time With Moe", he shared with us just a little of what made him such an incredibly loved icon in our sport.  Recorded not much before his passing, I feel nothing but lucky I had the chance to meet the man behind the Lunatic Fringe legend.

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 part in staying relevant not only to sponsors, but to future generations of skydivers, and how a 2006 Pommero is the perfect bottle of wine to sip while chatting with other lifetime members of the Lunatic Fringe.