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We're Travis Pastrana & Jolene Van Vugt from MTV's Nitro Circus – we race things and do insane stunts for a living. AMAA!
Those of you who know us know all about our shenanigans…BASE jumping, NASCAR racing, motorbike stunts, crashing cars, jumping school buses, flipping Barbie cars…and those of you that don't…get ready to!
We (Travis and Jolene) have a TV show, Nitro Circus, on MTV 2 (just got renewed, BOOM!) — and now we're psyched to have our first MOVIE OUT TODAY, Nitro Circus: The Movie 3D (WATCH THE TRAILER!). And now is the time for you to ask us (almost) anything. We're gonna be hanging out for at least an hour, more if we can!
PROOF: https://twitter.com/TravisPastrana/status/231435370007511040
UPDATE: Wow! That was crazy…you guys have a ton of questions! We unfortunately have to go for now…if we can arrange time to come back and answer a few more, we will!
Otherwise, THANK YOU to all of you for supporting us over the years, it means a lot to us – Nitro Circus!!!!
TravisAndJolene371 karma
t. just lucky i guess.. well, in retrospect we do work really hard to be good at being in really messed up situations.
Warlizard167 karma
Seriously, if I were to put myself in the most mellow of your stunts, my wife would divorce me for endangering the family.
I don't think most people realize how catastrophically dangerous the things you're doing are or how easily something can go wrong.
Regardless, it does make for fun viewing, so keep it up.
p.s. Save your money for the years when you're drooling on yourselves and require a 24x7 nurse.
TravisAndJolene405 karma
t. without a doubt i'm very fortunate to have a bad ass wife that enjoys the same lifestyle i do.. Thanks for the advice with the money and hopefully i won't be drooling on myself in the near future. Like my friend matt hoffman says, "live to die happy". It something most people will never understand and it's not a death wish, but rather knowing that when ever your time is up, you lived every day to the fullest and with a passion. Each person weighs risk to reward differently.
TravisAndJolene936 karma
t. are you kidding, my doctor loves me! my friends and i have helped funded his mansion on the water! haha
TravisAndJolene333 karma
J - He doesn't, he rides bikes too. It's all about finding people like yourself in this world.
TravisAndJolene795 karma
T. to be honest you scare the heck out of me and you cost hubert about 48 hours of trying to get his settings back. He found a website of a bunch of people you have stolen their identity. Obviously you are not lazy but i'd recommend a hobby because it has to take a lot of boredom to mess with people the way you do. I guess i should thank you for showing me how easy all my security questions were to get all my personal stuff and that you didn't screw me as bad as you could have.. but i'd like to think that people are generally good and it sucks to have to take these precautions.. every time i am stuck for hours in airport security i think of how stupid it is that we have to protect ourselves from other people blowing us up. my advice for you is to take your talents and do something productive with it.
LeperFriend175 karma
Fires off you guys are awesome, second off whats the biggest scare you've ever had?
TravisAndJolene295 karma
J - First off, Thank-you! Second, my biggest scare actually wasn't doing a stunt myself, it was watching Jim and Tommy's stunt go wrong in the 3D film and not knowing if Jim was going to be ok.
TravisAndJolene247 karma
t. thanks friend! biggest scare of my life is probably every time i BASE jump. I really enjoy it but i enjoy pushing myself and that's not a place where you can make any mistakes.
TravisAndJolene484 karma
J - I just collapsed a lung 2 weeks ago, never done that before...it was a pretty intense pain. When they cut your ribs open and stick a tube in your chest and you say thank-you cause it makes the pain in your chest subside, that's pretty bad. lol
TravisAndJolene251 karma
t. healing wise there is nothing that takes longer then the scaphoid (also known as the navicular) bone in your wrist. It's small and not very painful in comparison to other things you can break.. but the lack of blood flow to the area makes it a 4 month process.
TravisAndJolene204 karma
t. why would we need to revise it? i'm still surrounded by the same people / family / friends as always with the exception of my recent marriage. I don't think i have any higher odds of dying now than i did a year or even ten years ago. If anything, we take more safety precautions and learn more about how to do things right as time goes on.
TravisAndJolene1058 karma
t. one time i fell asleep and woke myself up with a very loud fart which echoed through the church.. I honestly thought my mom was going to kill me.
TravisAndJolene231 karma
t. we both lost track a long time ago but probably me because i've been riding and racing for longer.
TravisAndJolene293 karma
t. My favorite stunt of all time in nitro was launching into the grand canyon on motorcycles with jolene and jim and roner. My favorite stunt in the movie was one we self titled "chopper flopper". In that stunt, we hooked a thousand foot ski rope to a motorcycle and got pulled down a slip and slide at 75mph into a 25 foot tall take off ramp. We would launch 250 feet out and 70 foot high and gut hucked out of control into the air.. some of us landed well but tommy and crum got worked!
DerpWY96 karma
Hey Travis: What did it feel like to wheelie through the whole whoop section at Washougal?
TravisAndJolene126 karma
T. Seriously pumped to get this question. It was one of the coolest things i've ever done in a race but it just about gave roger decoster a heart attack!
TravisAndJolene185 karma
t. i love my house. Built myself a playland in my back yard and it's nice to be in a place where the food and language is familiar.. a close second is costa rica and panama is my third.
TravisAndJolene162 karma
J - I love going to Australia! We have been doing our Nitro Live tour over there for a few years now and I love spending time on the Northern Beaches :)
Blake891 karma
How scary was it letting Ken Block drive under you in the new Gymkhana video? and what happened to Street Bike Tommy?
TravisAndJolene105 karma
t. Ken Block is absolutely amazing at drifting cars and i was more worried about hitting my marks.. he only had the roads closed down for a few minutes so we didn't get many tries. on the second take i actually ended up on his roof when he tried to do a donut around me. pretty comical.
hadrism88 karma
When Is your new show going to air on MTV2? That show was one of my favorites while it was on
TravisAndJolene133 karma
t. thanks! Our show is very difficult to film because all of the crew has other jobs. Tommy works construction. Jim works at a bicycle shop. Jolene is a stunt woman. I drive cars. Roner ski's for a living. Plus there are inevitable injuries in what we do so a lot of the story lines are years in the making. The movie comes out today but the next project will be filmed at the european Nitro circus live show's from november - december this year.. probably hitting tv's on mtv2 early next year.
TravisAndJolene103 karma
T. so much. I never would have believed you could benefit so much from a video game but it's been a really great tool.. and a lot of fun.
the_chris64 karma
Has there ever been a stunt that you refused to do, or simply wouldnt do?
TravisAndJolene98 karma
J - We all have different things we are good at and so we don't step up when it's not something we think we are capable of doing.
You_butt_pirate64 karma
3 Things... 1: HOLY FUCKIN' TITS IT'S TRAVIS AND JOLENE. 2: Do you ever wake up and think "Hot damn, life's good!"? And finally 3: Where can I see the Nitro Circus Movie in Canada? I don't want to pirate it..
Oh and Jolene, had a bit of a crush on you when I was 15...
TravisAndJolene63 karma
J - Hahaha, thanks!! CANADA!!! :) Just keep having fun! And YES, I love my life and my job and my friends :) We get to travel with our best friends and have fun scaring the crap out of ourselves!
graffiti8151 karma
Have you ever watched somebody do a stunt and say "No way I'd try that"?
colbert03750 karma
Hello Travis and Jolene. You guys are seriously my idols and I have been following Travis and what he's been doing for as long as I can remember. I've seen every Nitro Circus episode and plan on seeing the movie this weekend. I would kill to meet you guys even though that will never happen. You guys are awesome for doing this! Anyways, I have a few questions: 1. What was in your opinion, the craziest stunt either of you have done? 2. How did it feel to be the first person to land a double backflip/first woman to land a backflip way before anyone else did? 3. How did you get started in motocross and all of these crazy stunts? 4. Have you ever regretted a stunt you've done? 5. How much money is the Pastrana Compound worth? It looks like heaven on earth to me. Thanks for doing this I really appreciate it and hopefully I'll meet one of you someday.
TravisAndJolene46 karma
t. Truly appreciate your support. 1. anything involving a base jump for me is crazy.. 2. It's a great feeling to be the first to do something. That's what i feel our sports are all about. Without progression, the sport dies. It's awesome to help push the sport. 3. Both of my parents raced motocross and all my uncles rode motorcycles around the family construction site so i started in a go-kart at 2 years old and then a motorcycle at 4 and it just took off from there. Jolene's brother and father both ride (they are very good). 4. Hind sight is 20/20 and it always sucks to get hurt but you can't regret going for something you believe in. 5. We put a lot of money into it and could never get half of that back out of it with all the ramps and trails but it is my heaven on earth and I never plan to sell it! Thanks for coming on this chat and hope to meet you someday as well.
austen_31744 karma
When going into a stunt. Is there often a lot of build up? or do you typically find it better to just say fuck it and go.
Like say...jumping out of a plane with no chute
TravisAndJolene91 karma
t. stunts are three parts. 1 - the idea phase.. this takes time and usually an idea morphs a lot from the initial concept. This is when you do your research and decide what's possible. You have to green or red light a project at this time and once you give the green light there is no turning back in nitro circus. 2 - the build.. I really like to build my own stunts / ramps. A lot of times very slight differences in placement or angles can completely change how manageable the stunt will be. 3 - this is what you see on tv or in the movies.. once everything is built and camera's are in place. I like to get geared up and go for it without any more delays or thinking. this is the "fuck it" phase! so, be careful what you ask for..
wheels25537 karma
What is the craziest/funniest stunt that never made the final cut for Nitro Circus the show or the movie?
Favorite stunt of all time?
TravisAndJolene78 karma
t. see above for favorite stunt of all time. We filmed 3 times the amount of stunts for the movie then actually went into the final version. In my opinion, some of the funniest / scariest / best stunts will only be seen on the bonus dvd. for the movie, if it didn't follow the story line, we had to cut it..
TravisAndJolene55 karma
t. NASCAR is the most competitive motorsport that i believe i have a chance with being successful. It will take a while, but I love the challenge.
TravisAndJolene54 karma
J - Thank-you. I'd say my mega-slip n' slide launch to a 55 foot backslap into the water in Jamaica...
TravisAndJolene34 karma
t. any stunt i'm unprepared for is my least favorite at the time. I hate not having a plan b and possibly even a plan c if things go wrong.
TravisAndJolene3 karma
t. it's really tough to plan for what "might" happen and the story line is constantly changing. I think that's why people are going to really enjoy this movie though. It's not a standard 3 act film.. you never know what's going to happen and it brings people on this emotional roller coaster as they watch.
MrTravesty497 karma
Jolene, which stunts were you involved in in The Dark Knight Rises?
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