Joe Cappa Never Intended Haha, You Clowns to Be So Wholesome

I’ve been following Joe Cappa’s work for years, and I’m so excited about *Haha, You Clowns*! It feels like everything he’s been building towards with his unique brand of humor. The show centers around this wonderfully bizarre family – a dad who’s seriously in shape and his three grown sons – as they navigate life after losing their mother. It started as a series of short, surreal clips for Adult Swim’s *Smalls* and has blossomed into a full-blown world. He’s really expanded things in this first season, giving the dad a job as a weatherman, bringing in the amazing June Squibb as a coworker for one of the sons, and even featuring professional pool player Jeannette Lee as a neighbor who offers the family some surprisingly good advice. It’s just brilliantly weird and I can’t wait to see where it goes!

The animated comedy *Haha, You Clowns* draws inspiration from both *The Simpsons* and the dramatic storylines of *Seventh Heaven*. It’s visually unique, with a quirky, experimental style similar to early Adult Swim shows. The show’s heartfelt silliness is perfectly captured by a comment from the first episode’s YouTube release: “I love how giant the boys are and how often everyone cries it’s amazing.” Creator Joe Cappa recently discussed the series with Vulture before its television debut on October 19th.

I started creating short animations and quirky videos with papier-mâché heads on Instagram. One of those videos unexpectedly went viral on TikTok, and it caught the attention of Dave Hughes, an executive producer at Smalls. Smalls is a program that gives opportunities to new artists to develop shows. Dave reached out and asked me to create a longer version of the papier-mâché head video for Adult Swim, and he also told me about Smalls. All I needed to do was pitch an idea. At the time, I was playing with the concept of three boys who deeply admired their dad and thought he was amazing. I thought that idea had comedic potential. I actually developed the personalities of these characters as I created the short films.

I don’t understand why you find it amusing that three boys love their father. Before working with Adult Swim, people often described my animations as ‘wholesome,’ but that wasn’t my intention. I simply wanted to create something different from a lot of adult animation at the time, which often felt overly sarcastic or negative. I enjoyed that style, but I was looking for a change of pace.

It’s difficult to notice, but I do voice the three boys differently. In the *Smalls* shorts, their voices are almost identical. However, for the show, I made some distinctions. Duncan has a slightly higher, more innocent tone, Tristan is always a bit goofy, and Preston, as the leader, has a much deeper voice. The dad’s voice is even lower. When I record them in the studio, I usually start with Duncan, then Tristan, then Preston, and finish with the dad, whose lines I record last after my voice is already rough from a full day of recording.

As we started developing these short clips into longer episodes, we had to build out the characters more. They all look pretty similar, and we hadn’t even decided how old they were! We didn’t figure it out until late in the process, when Cam Tang from Adult Swim asked us directly. I just said, ‘I guess they’re in high school.’ We decided Preston could drive, but Duncan couldn’t. Honestly, we don’t plan on showing them actually *in* high school. The core of the show is really just about their youth and their relationship with their dad.

You won’t find anything else like this on television. What sparked the show’s unique style? I’ve always loved the humor in amateur celebrity portraits – the ones where you can tell the artist is trying, but it doesn’t quite come out right. There’s comedy in both polished artwork and in work that’s a little rough around the edges, and I wanted to capture that. When bringing new artists onto the team, we explain that the show is like an animated series being directed by someone who isn’t a strong artist. They’re trying to bring their vision to life, but it comes out a bit clumsy and unrefined – and that’s intentional.

The short story really captured the mother’s presence, making you feel like she was still there. In the TV show, she’s mentioned, but that feeling is missing. I wonder why they changed that? I’m a fan of horror that’s more atmospheric and doesn’t over-explain things. With anything supernatural, it’s better to build the mystery slowly. To keep a show engaging for multiple seasons, you need to take a slow and deliberate approach.

People are always asking about my writing partner, Dave Cappa – yep, he’s my brother! When the show got the go-ahead, I immediately thought of him. Honestly, the whole thing is kind of inspired by my dad and the relationship I have with Dave. It’s been amazing working with him on the scripts, even though he’s all the way over in England – we’ve been collaborating across the Atlantic!

June Squibb joined the voice cast after I reached out to the director, hoping to get her and him involved. I’ve been a fan of hers since *About Schmidt* and was really impressed by her in *Thelma*. Luckily, Adult Swim contacted her, and she agreed to participate. I’m not sure what specifically made her say yes, but she was amazing – she nailed her part in just one take! She was absolutely perfect for the role.

I really miss when people described content as simply ‘wholesome,’ and that’s what I love about this show. It’s great to see these big, strong characters who are genuinely kind and open with their feelings.

They’re just really funny to write for. Their unique perspective and how they connect with each other feels relatable – everyone knows someone like that. They lack self-awareness and don’t worry about appearing awkward, but they genuinely want to be good people, which leads to these surprisingly sweet and emotional moments.

I think the dad cries every episode.
His eyes definitely go red every episode.

Did Dad get a chance to watch it? I believe he’s seen all the storyboards. He’s really happy we’re working on a show together, especially since it’s inspired by him – he thinks it’s hilarious!

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2025-10-20 18:55