The Lunatic Fringe Podcast

Spending a solid portion of your first skydive trying to figure out how to get back in the King Air might not be how you’d expect a championship skydivers career to begin, but that’s exactly how it went for Richö Butts. A self proclaimed mellow child, it wasn’t until motorcycles entered his life that Richö Started to see the appeal in a slightly more ‘radical’ lifestyle. Even with motorcycles having become a passion for him, one might think an individual whose profession is risk assessment might be a bit more adverse to it in their own life - yet from skydiving to rally car driving, motorcycles to aerobatic aircraft, BASE and more, there’s simply no doubt Richö Butts has a real thirst for the Lunatic Fringe side of life. 

From jump one, Sherry Schlater Butcher wasn't just all about jumping, she was all about the process of learning - and of teaching. For her, skydiving turned out to be a perfect mix of the two, so when she found herself swimming in the deep end almost right away, it was with a real purpose. From static-line to AFF, Tandem Instructor to Skydive University coach, Master Rigger to AFF Examiner and all the way through to National Judge and DZO, there pretty much isn't any role that Sherry cannot fill. Once again on the path to retain her long held an consequential seat on the board, Sherry Schlater Butcher proves that the Lunatic Fringe has much more to offer than a bunch of one trick ponies.  

Boiled down to the basics, Matt Fry is all about the big stuff. Having learned to balance a productive job in the 'real' world against outlets like skydiving, climbing and mountaineering. He may not exactly leave himself a lot of free time to just do his own thing, but that suits him just fine. From state records to the big 200 way coming up in Chicago, Matt sees his drive for adventure sports leading him from massive groups of friends holding hands at 150 miles per hour, to the solo endeavors deep in the mountains he loves so much. Add to that his desire to help those with similar aspirations, and it's easy to see that Matt Fry will be hanging with the Lunatic Fringe for the long run.

At 4 years old he was already hooked. Watching his father make a static line jump, the then toddler Connor Figg was all in - like wearing swimming goggles and jumping off whatever he could, in. The fixation with skydiving never left him, and after graduating college with a degree in engineering (even though his real focus during school was always aimed toward the DZ) he did exactly what his parents hoped he wouldn't. Like so many degrees, it worked on collecting dust, while Connor worked toward perfecting all things body flight. A natural in the tunnel and sky, coaching became his focus - and although he would become a champion competitor, its been his desire to teach and to pass on what he's learned both in the tunnel and in the sky that paints the picture of a long and satisfying journey with his Lunatic Fringe career. 

Back in the can for a second round, Laurie Lubbe sits down to talk about her beginnings in the sport of both skydiving and tunnel flying. How a sport and career that in her home country of France was not, at the time, an easy one to navigate led her to move to a less than obvious choice. With her sights set on the French Nationals of skydiving set to take place at the end of August, Laurie points out some of the differences between competing in the tunnel as opposed to the sky, her true love of coaching, and what the Lunatic Fringe might hold for her in the future.

By the time he graduated high school, Sean Chuma had already made more than a hundred and fifty skydives. Add to that being an avid gymnast and pole vaulter, and you could say that he started mapping out one hell of a future for himself from a young age. Having attended university studying psychology, which would turn out to be yet another tool he would put to use in the future, his life in airports also continued to expand. Although there would be substantial hurdles to overcome before he could begin his BASE career, the course he would eventually attend set him in the right direction, with a focus on safety and responsibility within his new sport. Now, with more than 8,000 BASE jumps, a highly successful BASE course, and one of the pioneers in Tandem BASE, there is simply no doubt that Sean Chuma has been and will continue to be a proper Lunatic Fringe trail blazer, with a long future ahead of him.

Mad John made his fist skydive in 1969. With initial ambitions pushing him towards becoming a nuclear physicist, it would have been easy for his first skydive while attending UC Berkeley to simply be a one off, But that simply wasn’t meant to be. A lack of money to skydive, and grades not quite up to nuclear physicist levels, John ended up going in a different direction. When the opportunity to get his certification as a math teacher presented itself, John was easily able to complete the equation. Teacher equals summers off! Now with more years in skydiving than most jumpers have been alive, Mad John Has become a staple in many skydiving circles. With events like Lost Prairie being what Mad John is best known for, and travels taking him quite literally around the world, at 76 he’s nowhere near done. A lunatic from start to finish, this is exactly what we’re about.

Back in the can for round 2, professional race car driver, professional skydiver and the first ever NASCAR driver to ever skydive into a race, Matt Jaskol sits down to talk his beginnings in the sport of skydiving, how racing led him to our community and the unique opportunities it's presented him with. With days worth of stories that most "normal" people won't ever believe, it just goes to show, the Lunatic lifestyle works just as well with wheels as it does with propellers.

To say it's been a crazy ride for Daphny Morali would be an incredible understatement. It all started as a kid with a blanket and a window. Then it was aerial acrobatics and the circus. Add a tandem skydive to the mix, and you have a pretty good idea of where this story goes. Jumping and flying in the tunnel in Israel, she was told that making it "big" in airsports was going to be difficult, and when she lost her tunnel sponsorship just prior to the world championships a few years back she would have probably agreed... but with one Instagram post, it all changed. Now living, coaching and competing out of Germany, Daphny has no doubt that her next airpsorts Lunatic lottery ticket is just around the corner. 

This guy... It's been quite a while since we've sat down to talk with the one and only "Junior", and man has he been up to a lot… Having transitioned out of his full-time gig in the Middle East, a little bit of luck and a whole lot of skill has taken him in a whole new direction. A Lunatic Fringe OG and sometimes host, he's as experienced a skydiver and instructor as there is - hell... He's got more than 600 rides upfront helping TI's get their ratings. If that's not crazy, I don't know what is...