Lee’s Summit, Missouri — Richard ‘Lowtax’ Kyanka, the founder of the controversial and influential web site Something Awful, died Nov. 9 at the age of 45. He reportedly took his own life.
Kyanka worked with Rifftrax several times. He was a guest riffer on the riff of “Troll 2,” released Feb. 2, 2007.
He also was among the performers at the very first RiffTrax Live riff, of “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” on August 20, 2009. RiffTrax Live shows were quite a different animal in those early experimental days. The show’s had a host — internet personality Veronica Belmont. There were musical performances by Jonathan Coulton and Kyanka offered several videos.
Kyanka also took part in the Rifftrax Live riffs of “Reefer Madness” on August 19, 2010, presenting several video segments, and the riff of “Jack the Giant Killer” on August 17, 2011.
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RIP to Lowtax Kyanka.
if you or anyone you know is thinking of taking your own life, call this number and they can help:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
800-273-8255
Thanks for posting that.
So he DID die. It’s nice to actually have some confirmation.
And yeah, suicide is no joke, Whether you liked the man or not.
I feel bad for his daughter, Lauren, who wrote narrated some pretty darn funny shorts.
She has to be in her late teens by now. I can’t imagine what she’s going through.
A friend of mine who lost a daughter to suicide put it in terms of her daughter dying from depressive and anxiety disorders. As a lifelong sever clinical depressive I can only concur w2ith her assessment.
It always saddens me to read of someone dying by suicide. I’ve lost several loved ones that way, and it’s a horrible thing for everyone involved.
I feel horrible for his family, especially his daughter who made those hilarious videos with him.
Weird. I was literally just thinking about Lowtax. The guy had some problems in recent years, but I had hoped he would sort them out and get his life back together.