Performed by Denver comedy troupe Phantasmagoria, the Gabbagooblins have also made some live appearances. What’s it like seeing your characters step out of the screen and into the real world? Yeah, that was a surreal time! Meow Wolf discovered the Gabbagooblins from TikTok and asked if I’d be interested in making a video for them. They had just opened a location in Denver so it was serendipitous. My friends from Phantasmagoria walked around Meow Wolf like some avant-garde mime troupe and it was a big hit. I overheard a kid say, “Whoa, it’s those dudes from TikTok!” Yo, I was tiiiiiiiiickled. In 2023, the first episode of Haha, You Clowns debuted on Adult Swim. How did this connection come to fruition? And what was it like seeing your art air on this iconic channel for the first time? It was crazy. I had my parents record it, obviously. Adult Swim is truly the last bastion for weird stuff on TV. Like even borderline weird stuff. It’s such a dang honor to work with them. Adult Swim discovered me through the Gabbagooblins video as well. I was then commissioned to make another Gabbagooblins video for their OFF THE AIR program. It’s basically a curated clip show. The guy who runs OFF THE AIR also runs something called Adult Swim Smalls for their YouTube channel. It functions as a testing ground for up-and-coming artists. I pitched a series of shorts about three teenage sons who absolutely adore their dad. The episodes did well and they asked for more. It then led to a development deal with Adult Swim. Again, I can’t stress how great it is to be working with Adult Swim. Haha, You Clowns has been described as a tip of the hat to 90s sitcoms. But was your original inspiration for the series? It’s definitely inspired by shows like 7th Heaven with an emotional underpinning. I come from the Midwest, and I think that also plays a big part of it. Haha, You Clowns is a show centered around a Dad and his three sons navigating everyday life in the midst of grieving a loss in the family. But yeah, it’s all tongue-in-cheek. The three boys are sweetnatured people — almost to a fault. They lack self-awareness while at the same time express intense empathy for one another. They are fun characters to write. Their outlook on life is hilarious to me. In such a divisive time, it’s so refreshing to see a heartfelt show that has found it’s own lane in a space devoid of cynicism and hate, while still being wildly strange and funny. Was this counter narrative to this turbulent time intentional when you were creating the series? Oh yeah, Haha, You Clowns is definitely a reaction to the stuff I see being made right now. It goes back to what I was saying earlier about feeling so frustrated by movies, TV and social media content. I think humor based in cynicism works and it’s funny, but man … we can’t eat it breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s not healthy. Shows with characters saying snarky lines to one another in 2025 just gets the biggest eye roll from me now. Are we still doing this? Even the term adult animation is so childish to me. Like, wow, you guys get to watch shows with cussing and sex? Cool. Wow, you’re so grown up. Look at you! There’s such a stark juxtaposition of how physically imposing
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