Richard Kyanka, better known by his nickname Lowtax, is an Internet personality and owner and operator of the Something Awful humor website. The nickname "Lowtax" is a reference to Tennessee politician Byron "Low Tax" Looper, who achieved national notoriety at about the same time Something Awful was being launched. In Kyanka's own words, (w)ay back during my college days at Vanderbilt University, I almost ended up getting a summer job with the Putnam County Tax Assessor (because I was broke and needed to pay for college tuition). He was a very insane little man who legally changed his middle name to "Low Tax".

Originally the page was a largely personal site, in which Kyanka personally reviewed video games, movies, and comics which he felt were "something awful". However in recent years the site has grown massively, and now features numerous writers and columnists, putting Kyanka's own writings in the minority.

In addition to owning Something Awful, he also owns the movie publishing company, "Awful Video" which recently released its first DVD Mega 64. In addition to that, he owns and operates City Name Sports Team , a clothing line that mocks sports fanaticism and team loyalty. And as if that weren't enough, Mr. Kyanka is also working on his very own video game, entitled "Dance Dance Karnov 2".

Kyanka proposed marriage to his longtime girlfriend on his website in 2002, but the couple later split. On February 13, 2005, Rich married[1] his new fiancee, Megan.

Kyanka lives with his wife, two dogs, and two cats in Lee's Summit, Missouri.

External links

• Something Awful