The Lunatic Fringe Podcast

Being a champion many times over is amazing. Having a reputation for riding the cutting edge of the sport you love is spectacular. Thinking outside the box and embracing new and bold and daring in a sport full of daring people is wonderful. But let's face it, being the parents your nine year old daughter looks up to and admires makes all that pale by comparison. Dunia Alhegelan, daughter of Omar Alhegelan and Cheri Johnson will be the first to tell you that traveling the world and jumping out of airplanes is something she's wanted to do forever, because well, dad does it, and does it really well! On this episode of Lunatic Fringe I get the whole family in on the act to talk all about life, love, travel, skydiving, mixed up birthdays and piercings. Join in and enjoy Omar and the family!

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.

When you start out your life as a packing weight, you're either going to hate everything about our sport, or you're going to be in it for life. Luckily for Laurie Lubbe the latter is what happened.  The daughter of a French National and World champion in Style and Accuracy, she fell in love with the sport the first time she found herself under her own canopy, and never looked back.  Now herself a sponsored athlete by the French Federation, Laurie takes the time to tell us about what it was like growing up in the sport, her journey to the tunnel life and competitive aspirations, what she believes it takes to chase the title of "Champion", and what life for her has been like in the time of Covid.  Join us for a fun and upbeat chat on this edition of Lunatic Fringe.

Anas Bekkali.  Like a lot of us, he got his start in "Air Sports" almost completely by accident, and like most of us, it totally took over his life, and damn has he made the most of it!  Starting off as a pure "tunnel rat" and transitioning to the sky, he's managed to do a whole lot with his ten or so years in the sport.  From skydiving over Everest with the Moroccan Flag and jumping his countries flag back home (where he was invited to meet the king), to plans for jumping the great pyramids of Giza and an adventure show of Morocco, Anas is working hard to make the most of his time in the Lunatic Fringe.

I've always wondered what non skydiving mom's and dads think about the sport we all love, how they deal with the stress and fear, and how they handle dealing with their kids involvement in the Lunatic Fringe, so to find out, we sat down with Bonnie and Nancy, the mothers of Junior and I respectively to find out how they coped, and still do...  Slightly embarassing and fun, join us for a little family time

Rafael Schwaiger. He likes to fly in tunnels and sometimes he skydives. Perhaps the most ridiculously understated introduction any guest has ever given themselves on Lunatic Fringe.  Unless you pay no attention to what's been happening in the tunnel for quite some time, then you're well aware of just how talented and charismatic Rafa is. World Freestyle Champion and holder of so many other titles and accolades that I won't even begin to attempt to list them, I'll still be the one to tell you that I think his biggest accomplishment is being so exceptional at what he does, while still being a happy, fun and slightly out of his mind guy. Please join us as we talk all about Rafa's path down the Lunatic Fringe, and I describe what I get to see on camera that you can't!

Back again to talk about weird shit during weird times, its Puss Foot's own Brian Casserly taking time out of his crazy busy schedule to just shoot the shit! In true bonfire style we cover everything from Covid to kids, and religion to dildo's in true lunatic style.  Join us for a good laugh in true Lunatic Fringe style.

A Kiwi born and raised, Antz Hansen had been around aviation from a very young age, so when the daydream of making a skydive finally presented itself, the outcome wasn't quite as he'd expected.  As it turned out, round parachutes weren't his thing...  But then, after he'd already established himself as a professional photographer, the chance to try the new "Square" design presented itself, and boom! Working behind the lens his entire adult life, specifically as an "extreme" photographer, Antz has gone out of his way to put himself into some seriously sketchy situations, and is happily not only still here, but happily is sitting down to tell us about his path with the Lunatic Fringe.

From round parachutes to squares. Riding atop busses fueled with beer and coke and dodging power lines. Lodi O.G. jumper. World record big ways. Subterranean BASE in Mexico. Burning Man. Waterfall wingsuiting...  There isn't a whole lot in air sports that Splash Robinson hasn't experienced firsthand! One of the original crew out of Lodi and on to Skydance in Davis, Splash has been going big ever since he wrapped his fathers car around a telephone pole (not how you would imagine). He's been there, done that and was probably the guy who designed the t-shirt. This is the guy that helped put the Lunatic into Lunatic Fringe, and its an episode you're not gonna want to miss! 

Raised in a family of Aviation enthusiasts, pilots and veterans, Jan Kruger had thought the career of a pilot might be the right path for him, but his family aimed him in a slightly different direction.  Taking on the challenge of becoming and A&P, or Mechanic, or Engineer, or as Jan puts it, somebody that fixes airplanes he found his niche, and ended up working with one of the premier companies that helps keep Twin Otters in the air and doing their thing. With skydiving a dream that had always been on the back burner, it jumped to the forefront as soon as he started spinning wrenches for a skydiving operation which has led him happily and inevitably down a path straight toward the Lunatic Fringe.  Join us on this wine filled and aviation enthusiast based episode!