Althouse: "It was really unclear at first what was even happening. Because, you know, it is an open mic and it's a performance."

April 18, 2011

"It was really unclear at first what was even happening. Because, you know, it is an open mic and it's a performance."

Kipp Rusty Walker played "Sorry for the Mess," then "pulled out a knife with a double-edged 6 inch blade and stabbed himself multiple times in the chest in front of a confused crowd of roughly 15 people."

32 comments:

Unknown said...: Hmmm...

I could feel sorry for this twit, but he couldn't just off himself and, in the process, destroy his family and friends. He also had to horrify a group of innocent strangers as part of his weird little ego trip.; 4/18/11, 9:16 PM
traditionalguy said...: Was he re-enacting the Manson family cult murders with himself as the sacrificial offering in place of Sharon Tate? Murder is a mental thought before it is an action. So what was talking him into this?; 4/18/11, 9:26 PM
Anonymous said...: Oregon, of course.

Strictly organic coffee, of course.

Best open mic performance ever?; 4/18/11, 9:26 PM
Dustin said...: Wow.

What a selfish thing to do. edutcher is right. Although, this is such a horrible thing to do to himself that this guy must have been completely scrambled upstairs.

His drug dealer belongs in prison.; 4/18/11, 9:27 PM
chickelit said...: I know it sounds mean but he looks the part.

People have gotten awful used to ignoring warning signs. I guess it's getting endemic.; 4/18/11, 9:39 PM
Christy said...: OT The comments on the alternate view were newest first. Because much of the appeal is the back and forth of your informed readers, newest first is unappealing. Any way around it?

I liked the timeslide and sidebar best.; 4/18/11, 9:40 PM
Harry Phartz said...: So, no tour this summer?; 4/18/11, 9:46 PM
Wince said...: I said, "can't you see that this old boy has been a lonely?"

If I could stick a knife in my heart
Suicide right on stage
Would it be enough for your teenage lust
Would it help to ease the pain? Ease your brain?

If I could dig down deep in my heart
Feelings would flood on the page
Would it satisfy ya, would it slide on by ya
Would ya think the boy's insane? He's insane

I said I know it's only rock 'n roll but I like it
I said I know it's only rock'n roll but I like it, like it, yes, I do
Oh, well, I like it, I like it, I like it
I said can't you see that this old boy has been a lonely?

And do ya think that you're the only girl around?
I bet you think that you're the only woman in town; 4/18/11, 10:11 PM
Anonymous said...: It was an unforgettable performance for those who were there. And the performance made the NY Daily News! Kudos!

We could book him in Woodstock if he weren't... uh... dead.

traditionalguy asked...

Murder is a mental thought before it is an action. So what was talking him into this?

There's a big difference between murder and self-murder. It is dishonest to use word games to conflate the two because that conflation is convenient for your own personal philosophy.

To answer your question, however: What was talking him into this is looking ahead and seeing no possible path in life. Generally, that's the way teenagers see it, and they are right-- there seems to be no way for them to be involved in society, no path available for them to achieve family and love and the good things in life, no outlet for their energies, and no guidance other than the mindless shoving of our authoritarian cultural and political system.; 4/18/11, 10:32 PM
traditionalguy said...: Julius...Rejection and despair of all hope for a loving relationship is only one voice. The Christian Churches are supposed to be the purveyors of another good news voice that overcomes depression. Which reminds me, this Sunday is Easter.; 4/18/11, 10:46 PM
Anonymous said...: @traditionalguy-

Yeah, well, the Christian churches ain't doin' a very good job of guiding young people. I'm sure they could if they tried. They probably even used to back in the ole' days. Or at least it's nice to think that they did. Now they just seem to demonize the young, when instead they ought to see young people as inexperienced and searching... something that they ought to empathize with, and have compassion for.

The Underworld offers empathy and compassion, and wisdom too. But it is a hard place to reach. The Eleusinian Mysteries once offered a way to tap into it that many found effective, but the Christians shut that down...

New Ago offers empathy and compassion too. That seems to me to be a very dark path, not good at all to go down. But I understand why young people turn to it when the Christians turn them away and nobody tells them about the Underworld.; 4/18/11, 11:01 PM
Phil 314 said...: he warned Walker that killing himself would have lasting implications.

Understatement of the year!; 4/18/11, 11:09 PM
Icepick said...: Maybe he was just a dedicated fan of G G Allin.; 4/18/11, 11:24 PM
Luther said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/18/11, 11:33 PM
Palladian said...: Too bad, he was cute.

Even as a depressive, I've never understood the suicide. As horrible as life often is, the flashes of pleasure and happiness are better than the uncertainty and finality of death. Rest in peace, poor boy.; 4/19/11, 12:51 AM
vbspurs said...: Palladian is right, twice. He was cute, and death is no excuse to stop living (that made sense when I was typing it, honest).

Looking at his requisite Oregon attire of grunge shirt, black winter hat and zonked out expression, it reminds me too eerily of another suicide, Mr Kurt Cobain.

Thankfully, that was one performance the artist denied the public the horror of watching.; 4/19/11, 2:21 AM
windbag said...: Yeah, well, the Christian churches ain't doin' a very good job of guiding young people...Now they just seem to demonize the young...

So, Christian churches fail to guide young people, yet they are at fault when they try to give guidance to young people?; 4/19/11, 4:20 AM
Toad Trend said...: @Julius

"Yeah, well, the Christian churches ain't doin' a very good job of guiding young people. I'm sure they could if they tried. They probably even used to back in the ole' days. Or at least it's nice to think that they did. Now they just seem to demonize the young, when instead they ought to see young people as inexperienced and searching... "

Um, Julius, you really don't know shit from shinola. This, and the rest of your horseshit streetcorner philosophy probably played more of a role in this kid's decision than any 'failure' of Christianity. What a crock. Idiot.; 4/19/11, 5:32 AM
AllenS said...: Well, at least he didn't take anybody with him.; 4/19/11, 6:19 AM
Anonymous said...: Yeah, well, the Christian churches ain't doin' a very good job of guiding young people...Now they just seem to demonize the young...

Try St. John's Catholic Church in Woodstock.

Father George is doing a great job of ministering to the needs of young people.

See you there. I'll be attending Easter Eve services.; 4/19/11, 6:26 AM
KCFleming said...: ""I actually told him, I was like, 'Dude, this is going to mess a lot of people up," the friend told the TV station."

Killing himself in this way, he intended to cause harm to others. It was selfish and beyond cruel. Some of those watching will be messed up, and for a long time.

I've taken care of one such person; it led her to years of narcotic abuse.

I have great sympathy for his family, but little for him. More, I think the way we tend to glamorize suicides encourages even more, mainly among adolescents owned by their emotions.

Invoking shame, however painful for the survivors, seems wiser.

But we tossed out shame long ago.; 4/19/11, 6:41 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Maybe he was just a dedicated fan of G G Allin."

The Geeg was just a no-talent hypocrite and coward by comparison to this poor young man. For all Allin's boasts that he would "one day" (sure, G.G.) off himself onstage and "take a bunch of his fans in the audience with him", (right, G.G.), all he ever managed to do was to beat himself up, smear himself with his own excrement, and get thrown off stage before finishing even half a set.

I guess that's the difference between being truly disturbed and unhappy and being a schmuck with as little brains as talent but who has discovered a shtick that will insure his notoriety and a fan base among the dregs of the dregs and the dumbest of the dumb.; 4/19/11, 6:53 AM
Anna said...: Suicide is one of the most selfish acts a person can do. He was only thinking of himself, it was just about him. And he decided to make his selfish act memoraible. Again only thinking of himself.

But his action before strangers just horribly affected all those strangers. No one knows all the pain he has caused now and in the future, he will be gone but his selfish act will still be hurting people.

I have no sympathy nor forgiveness for this spoiled self-centered twit. He is now answering a higher authority for his ill-thought action.; 4/19/11, 7:02 AM
The Dude said...: I cannot know how I would react to seeing such a show on stage. Maybe I would be scarred for life, maybe I would laugh it off. Probably somewhere in between, along the lines of - I sure wish I hadn't seen that poor crazy bastard kill himself.

But what about an encore? What about the adage - leave them wanting more? This guy truly didn't think about his show biz career.; 4/19/11, 7:33 AM
tree hugging sister said...: Pogo, "Killing himself in this way, he intended to cause harm to others. It was selfish and beyond cruel. Some of those watching will be messed up, and for a long time."

Yup. Selfish little bastard. They'll be tortured by the "woulda, coulda, shouldas" and one or two tender hearts may very well break under the strain. How DARE he.

Miserable prick.; 4/19/11, 7:50 AM
Big Mike said...: Since when is 15 people a "crowd"?

Anyway, I agree with Julius -- my son changed congregations because his old church was trying to be clever and "relevant." What he wanted, and seems to have finally found, is a church that stands for something. This is right, that is wrong, a moral bedrock against which one can measure one's actions. He had to "shop" for a while before he found a congregation that provided what he needed.

And yet, from other posts, of yours, Julius, I strongly suspect that the type of church my son wanted, and found, is very different from the type of church you would prefer. Of course I could be wrong.; 4/19/11, 8:28 AM
Fred4Pres said...: How do you save someone willing to do something like this to themselves? It is sad but life goes on. I feel very bad for his friends and family.; 4/19/11, 8:32 AM
Sofa King said...: Sorry About The Mess?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSgHbW-pvDY; 4/19/11, 8:58 AM
Carol said...: "the type of church my son wanted, and found, is very different from the type of church you would prefer"

Julius prefers a church without God, miracles or any of that other troublesome stuff. Like Unitarian-Universalist. Now there's a church for the enlightened! Populated by old ladies and beta males who take turns talking about themselves and their trials. Yeah that's the ticket.; 4/19/11, 11:37 AM
Trooper York said...: Smells like team spirit.; 4/19/11, 11:56 AM
Amartel said...: At first I thought this was going to be a post about Obama's recent open mic performance. Well, it is symbolically similar. OTOH, President Awesome didn't intend to hurt himself and certainly didn't apologize for his mess either.; 4/19/11, 2:49 PM
Anga2010 said...: I can't imagine doing that to myself, unless I was too high to know the difference betweeen pain and experience. He was probably wanting the attention.
"It was a mistake" I channel him from the grave to say.; 4/19/11, 10:56 PM