Blake Vogt Welcome to Inventing Magic, Episode Nine. This month’s guest is the one and only Eric Stonestreet. How are you?
Eric Stonestreet Very good, sir, very good.
BV I normally don’t give background on people, but I feel like it’s maybe appropriate for this episode. People are going to wonder how we know each other.
ES My personality is magic?
BV I would just say we met at a Modern Family wrap party I was doing magic at and you started talking to me about magic in a way that the average human being does not talk about it, which raised suspicion to me.
ES I asked if I could “put pocket” anyone for you.
BV Yes! I was completely thrown off. And I think we did a Card to Pocket where I gave you a card and you made it appear in your pocket, and it was the hit of the party, but it was so convincing I couldn’t talk to you anymore after that, because it would seem like we were in on it…. I’ve done Big Slick in Kansas City thanks to you.
ES Thanks to you! You’re always the hit. My advice to anyone listening, if you ever have to visit sick children in the hospital who are having some of the worst moments of their life, take a magician and take Blake if you can. It’s an incredible moment to see kids’ frowns turned upside down.
BV Thanks, man. Well, this is a good segue into your skill set, too. As an actor, a lot of people know this from watching Modern Family with Fizbo [a clown character played by Stonestreet’s character, Cameron], but you have a background in clowning. And that is an amazing skill set in the rooms as well. And I’ve seen kids close their eyes and recognize your voice from The Secret Life of Pets, which is the coolest thing ever. It would be amazing to just jam on your background as a clown and also an actor, because there’s the famous quote from Robert-Houdin that a magician is “an actor playing the part of a magician.”
ES I always said my first role as an actor was playing the role of an actor, because I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.
BV Some people don’t know that Fizbo is real. What was your development of Fizbo like?
ES When I found out clowns were just normal people with makeup, I was like, “That’s what I want to do.” The writers of Modern Family ripped that line off from my literal life. Fizbo was created by me, and when I was 11 or 12, named by my dad. We had a famous clown here in Kansas City named Wizzo, and of course, there’s Bozo. So I guess my dad thought Z’s needed to be in every clown name. So I became Fizbo. And then when they heard that on Modern Family, they’re like, “We’re going to need to see some pictures.” So I brought them pictures. And I had lots of my props, and my wardrobe, and my costumes that my grandma built. So I brought it all in and they wrote an episode called “Fizbo the Clown.”
BV And you still have some of this stuff.
ES I have so much of it. I mean, the suitcase that you see me carry on Modern Family is a red Samsonite that was my dad’s luggage. I used that on the show and still have it right here. [Takes out suitcase.] How much time did you say we had? Because I have plenty of time here. [Holds up sponge letters spelling the word “Time.”]
BV Would you change what you carried in that briefcase? Or would it always generally be the same things?
ES There was a great magic store here in Kansas City, within U.S. Toy. The local magician that ran it is somebody that everyone’s going to know, Tom Burgoon. So I’d go in there, and I would focus on clown magic. And, you know, try to get new things and learn new things. I was a 14-, 15-year-old kid getting dropped off at U.S. Toy by my mom, going into the magic shop, trying to find new props for the act. [Takes out Rocky Raccoon.]
BV Would you do formal shows as Fizbo?
ES I would roll in, set up for the audience in the living room, and start doing some magic tricks, all audience participation, obviously. And then I would do balloons. I would start to do a balloon trick at the end. And then that would work into doing balloons for the kids and entertaining them. [Takes various items from the briefcase including a Break-Away-Wand.]
ES This was always one of my favorites as I was looking for my next trick. This is a genius little thing. I would rest this up on my suitcase as I was looking for my next trick, and then it would fall…. Oh, here’s something.
BV For the listeners, Eric just held up a sponge with the word “Something.”
ES Oh, that’s nothing. [Holds up a sponge with “Nothing” on it.]
BV I wonder if there’s a thing to make this versatile for everyone who might not have mouth coils or balloons. Like everyday objects that you could conversationally perform a clown-esque gag.