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.
