1 ‘Modern Family’ Character Is Deathly Afraid Of Clowns, (Even Cam in His Fizbo Costume)

Everyone is afraid of something. For Mitchell Pritchett, it was birds. For Phil Dunphy, it was clowns. That proved to be a serious problem when Cameron Tucker, Mitchell’s husband, revealed that he was a professional clown named Fizbo. 

Here’s what we know about these Modern Family characters.

‘Modern Family’ explored a few fears of its characters

Over several episodes, fans got to know members of the Dunphy-Pritchett-Tucker family. During the “Family Portrait” episode, fans learned that Mitchell Pritchett is afraid of small talk. He’s also very afraid of birds, which proved to be a serious problem when a bird flew into his house. 

During the “Fears” episode of the sitcom, fans learned that both Manny and Jay were afraid of riding a roller coaster. After running out of excuses, Gloria made the rest of her family face their demons. 

‘Modern Family’ character, Phil Dunphy, is deathly afraid of clowns

He’s a fun-loving dad, realtor, and former cheerleader. The character Phil Dunphy of Modern Family is afraid of clowns. He even fainted because of his own clown-esque reflection in a funhouse. 

This fear became a huge problem whenever Cameron Tucker appeared as his clown person at family gatherings, including Luke Dunphy and Lily’s birthday parties. Phil Dunphy would have to run away from his brother-in-law, often causing chaos in his path. 

Cameron Tucker sometimes appeared as a clown named Fizbo

Phil is afraid of all clowns, including his brother-in-law, Cameron who appeared as a professional clown. Over several episodes of Modern Family, fans saw Cam’s character, Fizbo, perform at family parties and even at a children’s birthday party.

Eventually, Cam’s daughter even took on a clowning persona, named Lizbo. (They were still working on her name.) After explaining to her father that she didn’t want to be a clown, Lily stopped doing tricks. 

Fizbo, on the other hand, appeared in several other episodes of this comedy series. That is, until the series ended in 2020, after over a decade of content released on the television network, ABC. The actor behind Cameron Tucker, Eric Stonestreet, wrote a formal goodbye to Fizbo for fans to read.

“From as far back as I can remember, all I ever wanted to be was a clown in the circus. My dad named [me] Fizbo, my grandma made all my clown suits…” Stonestreet said of his character, according to Cinemablend. “All of that led to the moment in 2009 when two writers, Brad Walsh and Paul Corrigan wrote a draft of Modern Family called, ‘Fizbo’ and you were introduced to Fizbo the ass-kicking clown that will twist you like a balloon animal.”

Episodes of Modern Family are available for streaming on Hulu.