The Lunatic Fringe Podcast

Lunatic Fringe with Max Lesziak

The son of a world traveling diplomat, it was perhaps a childhood filled with fairly constant change and a need to adapt that made it easy for Max Lesziak. Easy to decide as he was about to tackle a fairly intense college environment that he should perhaps take a break for... well, for a while. It may have had something to do with the fact that he had the tendency to get bored easily, or it may have been yet again, that first skydive. Hooked almost from the get go, it went rather quickly from packing mat, to two years doing  tandems, then video and then eventually to competition canopy piloting. Oh, and just to add a touch of spice, wingsuit BASE. Now, it's a mix not only of the work side of skydiving, but venturing into new territory as he uses his skills in camera flying to pass on the knowledge, the drive he gets through competition, and the rather unquenchable charge of a well executed BASE jump that keeps Max deep within the Lunatic Fringe. 

Lunatic Fringe with a tribute to Jarno Cordia

It's been 4 years since we said goodbye to one of the greatest in his field, and it's well worth looking back at just a few of the stories and experiences of the one and only Jarno Cordia.

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 career for the taking, he was able to use his early start in the professional world to put aside time to pursue his passion for flight both in skydiving and BASE, most specifically with wingsuiting. As has been for many a jumper, the drive to fly found a way to push career aside, and almost without thinking, he found that his passion and profession were now one in the same. With his teammate Jenna Gygi, @teamflylikebrick continued to lead him to almost every side of the Lunatic Fringe.

Lunatic Fringe with Zej M'ski and Alix Raymond

Pulling no punches has been Alix Raymond’s style, as anyone who knows her can tell you, and her time on the Lunatic Fringe with our returning host Mr. Zej Mski is absolutely no exception. Finishing our her term soon as the Southeast Regional Director for the USPA, she's got more than a few words to say on the sport of skydiving, the USPA as an organization with all its pitfalls and upswings, it's new leadership and more.  As a full-time "real worlder" as well as flying camera and instructing, the Director's seat not only helped to keep her more than a little busy, but gave her some insights into the Lunatic asylum that has left her with a whole lot to say!

 

Lunatic Fringe with OG Ray Kubiak

Back to talk about everything from the closing of the ORIGINAL Flyaway Las Vegas Indoor Skydiving facility, to the EPIC races in Abu Dhabi, Ray "Ninja" Kubiak shows just how strongly his bodyflight passions run.

Total Fuckin' Ninja. In fact, I'd personally go as far as to call him not only one of the first true tunnel ninja's, but one of the prime players who has shaped modern body flight as much if not more than anyone else. Coming from humble beginnings in one of the first public tunnels in the world, Ray Kubiak went from being one of the most difficult students in the Las Vegas Flyaway tunnel to being a pioneer in teaching true human flight. Overcoming adversity and turning it not only into opportunity but in fact a blessing, Ray is the embodiment of heart and spirit in our sport, and a proper all around lunatic.

Lunatic Fringe with Chloe Kalo

Although she didn’t know it at the time, her father’s Judo style antics throwing her around in the sand may have been exactly what started her down her extreme sports path. That being said, one could argue that Chloe Svolakos’s first foray into the world of extremes may have been working as a therapist and social worker in New York City. Through a chance encounter with a skydiver while participating in her first love jujutsu, the idea of making a skydive came up. Just as 2 follows 1, her first tandem led to AFF, and that was pretty much all she wrote. These days, her true passion lies in combining her many different worlds through Alta Psychotherapy, which she founded primarily to help extreme sports athletes deal with everything from overcoming basic fear, to coping with traumatic injury. A truly passionate member of the Lunatic Fringe community looking to help all those along their own journey.

Lunatic Fringe with JYRO's Zack Rosser

Back in the can to talk about a pretty spectacular 2024, and what is shaping up to be an epic 2025 is JYRO's man for all things FLOCKING, Zack Rosser.

At an age when most kids are still learning to tie their shoelaces unassisted, Zack Rosser was tossing on his kid sized climbing harness so his father could take him up on a tandem paraglide session; and before he was old enough to know he had choices available to him, he'd already made his. With paragliding not as accessible in his area in Australia, his father took him out to the local DZ when he was twenty, and set him up on a tandem skydive to see if that might be a good fit. In no time at all, Zack became the DZ's "anything you need" guy, pushing hard to find his angle into the sport. It didn't take him long at all to realize the canopy side of things was exactly his fit. Working now as a tandem instructor, video guy, and primarily a canopy coach, Zack's passion for nylon has led him to everything from competition Canopy Piloting to organizing flocking dives all over Down Under, with plans to branch out to New Zealand and beyond as soon as travel allows. Bringing a youth and exuberance to everything he does, you'll understand when you listen that Zack Rosser has only just begun his path along the Lunatic Fringe.

Lunatic Fringe with Tailored for Survival

Even though he's been gone for four years, the legend that is Moe Viletto and his brand Tailored For Survival is just as strong as ever. With epic stories for days, if you weren't lucky enough to have known or met Moe, you can still share in a small taste of what an incredible guy he was. Please enjoy one of the most amazing chats we've ever had on 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.

Lunatic Fringe with Vince Jarvis

It's become apparent that "extreme" simply means something different in Australia, and Vince Jarvis is yet another example of that fact. A skateboarder from a young age, he simply wasn't aware that you could take part in a sport that didn't require getting bloody. Wasn't aware until a chance opportunity led him to make his first jump. One of the lucky ones that figured out from the beginning how to manage a real world job with his new skydiving addiction, it wasn't long before he was eyeing working weekends in the sport to supplement his required level of stoke.  As A follows B, it became coaching, AFF, tandems, freeflying, wingsuiting and BASE; and as a self proclaimed Jack of all trades master of none, Vince is exactly the type of example to look to for chasing your passions. Second only to Matt Munting in his Aussie "Frothing" level, Vince Jarvis has the whole Lunatic thing well in hand.

Lunatic Fringe with a bunch of drunks

Because... Happy Fuckin' New Year!

Let's just call this one what it is. We all sat down in a very small room with some microphones and got as drunk as we possibly could while trying to talk about skydiving. Chances are you've probably done some version of it yourself, but If you haven't, we highly recommend you try it sometime. Until then, please enjoy this little Lunatic Fringe bunch of idiots having a wonderful time…

Lunatic Fringe with JYRO's Chris Stewart

Back in the can to bring us up to speed as we enter 2025, it's JYRO's one and only, Mr. Chris Stewart.

He'd let his student down in a major way.  Quite literally the last thing she wanted to hear when asking her attractive, worldly instructor what had driven him to become a professional skydiver was "Google".  From a skydiving school with a "work placement" program, you wouldn't necessarily think big things were on the horizon, but Chris Stewart is flying proof that once that passion takes hold...  Champion competitive canopy pilot, instructor, world traveler, cutting edge test pilot for JYRO canopies, and the Dude to call if you're an athlete waiting to be discovered. An all around good guy, and exactly who to ring in the new year with.     Fuck.     Yeah.