Joe Cappa, creator of "Haha, You Clowns"

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

NPR

Society & Culture

4.7 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2026

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Joe Cappa is the creator and primary voice actor of the show Haha, You Clowns. Like many Adult Swim shows, it features a very distinct style of animation. However, underneath the somewhat disconcerting visuals is a wholesome and sweet show. Cappa joins Bullseye to talk about his fascination with comedically buff characters, learning animation while working at an ad agency in Oklahoma, and borrowing from real life to create his first show.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of Maximum Fun.org and is distributed by NPR.
0:20.0	It's Bullseye. I'm Jesse Thorne. So I want to tell you about a new television program. It is called
0:24.4	Ha Ha! Ha! You Clowns! If you haven't seen it, you can watch it on Adult Swim or stream it on HBO Max.
0:31.5	And like a lot of Adult Swim shows, it is animated. And like a lot of animated adult swim shows,
0:36.7	the animation is presented in a very
0:39.4	distinct way. Everyone is a little bit grotesque. They have tiny, uneven eyes. When they talk,
0:47.1	their mouths open in slightly unsettling ways. Also, on this show, every character pretty much is absolutely yoked, just the beefiest
0:58.6	bunch of cartoon characters this side of He-Man. I say that possibly more beefy than He-Man.
1:05.4	But unlike most adult swim shows, all that off-kilter animation belies, ha-ha-you-clown's true nature,
1:13.8	which is basically the sweetest thing on television since maybe Joe Para talks with you,
1:19.3	possibly even sweeter than that show? I love ha-ha-you-clowns. It's about the Campbell boys. They are
1:25.9	three, again, monstrously beefy brothers who are
1:30.0	maybe like late high school, early college age. It's hard to say. The Campbell Boys lost their
1:37.3	mom before the show began, and they live with their dad, Tom. He is a television weatherman.
1:43.9	He is also big and beefy. The four of them together
1:48.1	navigate life and its challenges in a way that is very wholesome, healthy, and supportive.
1:55.0	Like when one brother gets sad because he lost his beloved bomber jacket, the whole family rallies to his aid to cheer him up and
2:02.8	help him recover it. When they need some outside help, maybe they ask their girlfriends,
2:07.5	or maybe they just chat with their next door neighbor. Real life billiards professional,
2:13.2	Jeanette Lee. The show is created by and mostly voiced by my guest Joe Kappa. I'm so thrilled to get to talk to him about one of my favorite new television programs. Let's get right into it.
2:31.3	Joe Kappa, welcome to Bullseye. I'm so happy to have you on the show, and I'm such a fan of your show.
2:37.4	Thanks so much, and thanks for reaching out.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.