.jpeg "What Is A 'Pink Tote Lid Moment'? How A TikTok About A Girl's Fight With Her Mom Created A New Slang Term"){kind=icon}
But Doctor, I Am Pagliacci
Part of a series on Watchmen. [View Related Entries]
About
"But Doctor, I Am Pagliacci" is the punchline of a joke delivered by the character Rorschach in the comic book series Watchmen when discussing the character The Comedian.
Origin
In September 1986, Watchmen was first published by DC Comics as part of a 12-issue miniseries, released monthly until October 1987. In the comic, the character Rorschach tells a joke about Pagliacci the clown following the death of the vigilante The Comedian (shown below).
"Heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says, 'Treatment is simple. Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up.' Man bursts into tears. Says, 'But doctor…I am Pagliacci.' Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Curtains."
Precursor
The joke bears many similarities to a 1820s story about Grimaldi the clown, who visits a doctor to treat his depression.[1][7]
"A story is told that in 1806 a man goes to visit adoctor who is acclaimed for his ability to treat melancholia. “I can’t eat, I can’t sleep,” says the man. “I feel constantly miserable. Please help me, doctor.”
“Laughter is the best medicine, my friend,” says the doctor. “Take yourself off to Covent Garden Theatre* where you will find The Great Grimaldi performing in Harlequin and Mother Goose; or the Golden Egg. It is exquisitely funny and will cure you of all your ills without any pills or potions from my cabinet.”
The man looks at the doctor for a moment. “Ah,” he says. “That won’t help.”
“Why not, sir?”
The man shrugs. “I am Grimaldi.”
Spread
On August 13th, 2014, Redditor YouJustGotSmurfed submitted a picture of Robin Williams captioned with the Rorschach quote to /r/wallpapers[2] (shown below).
On February 18th, 2018, Twitter user @spacetwinks[4] tweeted a parody of the joke in which the doctor calls Pagliacci a "downright dogshit of a clown" (shown below). Within one year, the tweet gained over 34,000 likes and 11,300 retweets.
On November 26th, Twitter user @MDKII[3] tweeted a parody ending with the punchline "But doctor, I am Tony Hawk," receiving upwards of 5,600 likes and 2,000 retweets within three months. On November 29th, a screenshot of the tweet reached the front page of the /r/TwoBestFriendsPlay[5] subreddit.
On February 12th, 2019, the "4chong page that actually posts stuff from halfchan" Facebook[6] page posted a picture of Clown Pepe accompanied by the Rorschach quote (shown below).
Search Interest
External References
[1] FirstNightHistory – Grimaldi the clown
[2] Reddit – /r/wallpapers
[4] Twitter – spacetwinks
[5] Reddit – /r/TwoBestFriendsPlay
[6] Facebook – 4chong page that actually posts stuff from halfchan
[7] Public Domain Review – The Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi
Top Comments
sborbl
Feb 25, 2019 at 04:29PM EST
Nightfury Treann
Feb 25, 2019 at 05:01PM EST in reply to