Pagliacci (joke format)

A Pagliacci joke is a format of joke whose punchline is that a clown recommended by a doctor to cure his patient's depression is, in fact, the patient himself.
Origins and variants
One of the first forms of the joke can be seen in the Spanish poem (Laughing While Crying) by the late 19th century Mexican poet Juan de Dios Peza. The poem tells of an English actor called 'Garrick' that a doctor recommends to his patient as the only cure for his loss of interest in life, whereupon the patient reveals that he indeed, is Garrick. It has been suggested that this Garrick was the entertainer Joseph Grimaldi.
The poem was then seen as a story in the 1910s, again, with the performer called 'Grimaldi', and again from the 1930s, featuring a clown called 'Grock', suggested as being the Swiss clown Charles Adrien Wettach
Stand up comedy
Comedian is well-known for his love of the Pagliacci joke format, creating dozens of such jokes on his Twitter profile, often subverting the format to dark effect.

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