It's simply titled "Slomo." Joshua Izenberg directed the film after his father told him about Kitchin's transformation into Slomo. "I lived in a mansion," he explains in a new documentary short chronicling his life and love of skating. John Kitchin, a hardworking neurologist who made a lot of money, which he spent on things like a BMW, a Ferrari, and an exotic animal farm. It looks like he’s skating in slow motion, which is how he got the nickname "Slomo." He's often grinning and listening to music as he weaves in and out of the crowds. Our time with Slomo was an absolute privilege, and completely surreal.He skates there every day – arms outstretched, gliding on one leg, the other lifted behind him. We had a quick ride, he gave an admiring look, as one does when a grandchild takes its first steps and we said our goodbyes. To our amazement it worked, resurrected from the dead by the power of Slomo. Even without our tandem ride, we did not feel cheated in the least, we had gotten so much more than we could have ever expected from this mercurial character.Īfter another 15 minutes on life, love, philosophy and spirituality, and just before we went our separate ways, I tried the board one last time. He circled back and noted the problem with an understanding chuckle.
After 45 minutes of sermon we had reached a spiritual riding crescendo the moment was here and there was Slomo gliding on down the boardwalk without us. At that moment I rushed to turn on the board, hurriedly stepped onto it and…. “We worship the same god, this is a type of worship, and what this machine is, is one more way to get you into this type of worship.”įinally Slomo turned on his music, a Wagner sounding composition which he made himself, froze instantly in a heroic pose, eyes staring into the future, and took off, very, very, slowly. It has a way of locking him into the present allowing him to enter a state of acute awareness and heightened consciousness it is a form of meditation. The problem is that the euphoric experience ends with the inevitable deceleration.Īccordingly, Slomo has created his skating technique around perpetual motion. It’s the reason we jump out of airplanes, become ski bums, or wait in absurdly long lines to get on roller coasters. Slomo explained that there is something about the feeling of acceleration that people love, so much in fact that it has the power to change them (check out the documentary for the scientific explanation). When I say its an art I mean its done inside yourself (pointing to his head), a sport is done out here (pointing towards the street)” “This is all an art,” Slomo explained of his roller blading, in a slow pensive southern drawl, “it’s not a sport. He began expressing his desire to go for a ride and then launched into a 45 minute introduction to his gliding philosophy. Amidst the crowded boardwalk he barely saw the board rolling up, we got off as he examined it with considerable interest, enthusiasm, and admiration. Honestly, we were star struck and needed a moment to collect ourselves as he came into view, clad in his classic blue tank top, fishing cap, and of course, skates. We met Slomo on the Pacific Beach boardwalk after a long morning shooting video footage at dawn. It turns out he is also a big Onewheel fan, and after an impressive demo session at our shop, he connected us with the man, the myth, the legend, Slomo. We were blown away after watching the documentary and shot an email over to Josh expressing our kudos. John, who is now known only as Slomo, has spent every day of the last 16 years perfecting his unusual signature skating style and has grown into a folk hero and local legend. Slomo chronicles the life of John Kitten, a man who left a successful medical practice for a simple existence slowly gliding down San Diego’s Pacific Beach boardwalk on a pair of trusty roller blades. A couple months back we stumbled upon an award-winning documentary produced by Josh Izenburg titled Slomo.
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