15 Jokes For The Hall of Fame: Comedian Quotes And Jokes About Depression

If you’ve consumed pop culture, you’ve likely heard the Pagliacci the Clown story. The story is that a guy goes to a doctor’s office discussing his depression and the doctor recommends the patient go see Pagliacci the Clown to cheer him up, with the kicker being the patient is no other than Pagliacci himself. Essentially, the purpose of the story is how even the people who bring the most cheer into other people’s lives also have pain and depression that they need to process.
This is well known and well trodden territory among current comedians. Many stand-ups are open about their mental health struggles because several people in the audience can relate to those battles. Plus, sometimes their depression takes over and it’s all that they can actually joke about, to take the bite out of their constant mental fight. During the heat of their battles, some funny stuff was forged. Here are some quality bits about depression.
Daniel Sloss

HBO
Taylor Tomlinson

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Rebecca O'Neal

Comedy Central
Patton Oswalt

Tig Notaro

Jake Weisman

Jim Norton

Aparna Nancherla

Marc Maron

Gary Gulman

Chris Gethard

John Fugelsang

Mike Drucker

Neal Brennan

Maria Bamford
