Quotes / Sad Clown

Anime and Manga

Wolfwood: Well, I'll be. I'm actually surprised that you can smile like that.
Vash: Huh? What do you mean?
Wolfwood: Ya had me kind of worried. I noticed that you always smile and seem really friendly. But the way you smiled was so empty, it hurt to watch you. You're hurting like crazy on the inside, yet you grin and bear it.

— Trigun

Comic Books

Rocket: Listen... I got good ears, okay. I hear stuff. Little pauses. Tremors, inflections, stuff like that. And... well, I guess... Aw, flark. Are you okay, buddy?
Deadpool: [narrating] And I really want to make a joke. Make a funny. Be the funny joke, so nobody knows, so nobody can see... But that's the rule, isn't it? No funny in the gutter.

—Rocket (2017)

I lose a lot, guys. No matter what I do, I always seem to lose. But I refuse to be beaten. So I make jokes. I get up right in life's face and mock it into oblivion. Because when I do that, I show life that it won't beat me. Ever. [...] Also, my jokes are amazing and it would be a crime against the universe not to utter them. Wolverine thought I was hilarious. He's dead now, so you can't ask him, but he said it all the time.

— Spider-Man, Inhuman Special

Everybody assumes that if you make jokes, you're happy. Why? Why is that?

— Swerve, The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye

Fan Works

Cloud: Come on, let's head into the arena and ask if anyone's seen aaaanythinnnnng...
Cait Sith: Well geez, don't all speak up at once! Hahahaha! I am sorry, sometimes you just gotta laugh at death.
Mog: And cry at life.

— Final Fantasy VII: Machinabridged

Yes, it's all true. You can see behind Mitsuzane's smile are stained with a clown's tears.

— Takatora Kureshima, Metroid: Kamen Rider Generations

Kirito: You, uh, you okay, buddy?
Corvatz: Do not fear, my friends... Corvatz... can never... d- (shatters to one last guitar strum)
Kirito: H-huh, wow, I guess you could say... he went out on a high note?
Klein: Really, man?! A pun?!
Kirito: What, what's- what's wrong, I'm, I'm a funny guy, it's what I do...
ALF Red Shirt: Someone help me! Please!
Kirito: I-I mean, what do you expect from me? It's not like I care about any of this.
ALF Red Shirt: Please, I don't wanna die!
Kirito: I mean why would I care, I shouldn't care, I DON'T CARE!
ALF Red Shirt: Noooooooo!
Kirito: RRRRGGGHHH!!

— Sword Art Online Abridged

Film — Animated

I would rejoice
At the top of my voice
I'd be a true warlock
But I had no choice.
Sister was frightful
And spitefully made me a clown.

—The Jester, in his Villain Song in Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return.

Glinda: My, but you're... silly.
Jester: Silly! By silly, surely you mean diabolical?
Glinda: (laughs)
Jester: No? (laughs mirthlessly) You're laughing. It's the costume, isn't it? I know, I know. Hard to take me seriously. It's my curse... literally. I. Can't. Take. This. Off. Ever.

—Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return

Film — Live-Action

Mr. Silky String: And just who is this "Phantom Lady"?
Patrick "Kitten" Braden: Well, it's my mother really. I call her that... to pretend it's a story. That's happening to someone else, you see.
String: Why do you pretend that?
Kitten:: Because otherwise I might cry and never stop.

— Breakfast on Pluto

Deadpool: Ripley! From Alien³!
Negasonic Teenage Warhead: Fuck, you're old.
Deadpool: Ha ha! Fake laugh... hiding real pain.

— Deadpool

Literature

I've taken a good, long look at the world, and I've concluded that if I didn't laugh I'd probably break down crying.

— Silk, The Mallorean

If you can't keep the bad thoughts out, at least you can make fun of them while they're there.

— Harry Dresden, Turn Coat

For your race, in its poverty, has unquestionably one really effective weapon — laughter. Power, Money, Persuasion, Supplication, Persecution — these can lift at a colossal humbug, — push it a little — crowd it a little — weaken it a little, century by century: but only Laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast. Against the assault of Laughter nothing can stand.

— Mark Twain, "The Chronicle of Young Satan," Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts

In a cruel land, you either learned to laugh at cruelty or spent your life weeping.

— A Crown of Swords

The others didn't know that Visser One was my mother. They all thought what I had thought for the past two years: that my mom had drowned. That her body had never been found. I hadn't wanted the others to know the truth. That my mother had been made into a Controller. That the Yeerk inside her head was the original commander of the Earth invasion.

I didn't want their pity. I still don't. I'm a joker. I'm a comedian. That's how I deal with life. See, I've always believed that to some extent you get to decide for yourself what your life will be like. You can either look at the world and say, "Oh, isn't it all so tragic, so grim, so awful." Or you can look at the world and decide that it's mostly funny.

—Marco, Animorphs #15: The Escape

[Riley] lets her emotions show more than me. Because I'm Jacky Ha-Ha. And no one likes a sad clown.

—Jacky Ha Ha

Live-Action TV

What do I "think"? I think I'm tired. I think I'm sick and tired of wearing bells on my toes and making like everything's gonna be O.K. I think it's pathetic that lately I'm too scared and sad to tell people the truth so I just say what they wanna hear instead. Most of all, I think the term 'Happy Hour' should be banned from the English language. There's nothing happy about this hour or any other. What I know is I started drinking the moment that I found out that a girl I loved was gonna die. Every time I get to the bottom of the glass, I hope that that last drop is gonna take me the distance. A simple plan that failed utterly, which is why I'm gonna heave my tuchus off this stool, strap the bells on, and with a smile and a quip, go back into the belly of a very ugly beast and pretend like I can help. 'Cause that's what the green guy does.

—Lorne, Angel, "Underneath"

You're quite the funny man — and yet, I think, laughing on purpose at the darkness.

— Mrs Finnegan, Doctor Who, "Smith and Jones"

Chandler: Oh, that’s great. With my luck, that’s gonna be him.
Phoebe: Him? Him, Ross?
Chandler: Nope, hymn 253, His Eyes Are On The Sparrow! (off their looks) When my parents got divorced is when I started using humour as a defence mechanism.

— Friends

And the punchline was the Blackout. When the world went back to being one giant schoolyard, and the Billy Underwood’s are in charge and I am weak and afraid.

— Aaron Pittman, Revolution, "No Quarter"

"You see Doctor Wen in there? He's explaining to the family that something went wrong, and the patient died. He's gonna tell them what happened. He's gonna say he's sorry. And then he's going back to work. You think anybody else in that room is going back to work today? That is why we distance ourselves. That is why we make jokes. We don't do it because it's funny. We do it so we can get by. And because sometimes it's really funny. But mostly it's the getting by thing."

— Doctor Cox, Scrubs

Yeah, I find I have to be the sad clown: laughing on the outside, crying on the inside.

— Tony Soprano

Joking about it is the only way of opening my mouth without screaming.

— Hawkeye, M*A*S*H

I thought, "It must've so much fun to be a Little Rascal". Then I looked it up. It was not very fun to be a Little Rascal.

— Melissa Villaseñor, Weekend Update

Music

Although I laugh and I act like a clown
Beneath this mask, I am wearing a frown

— The Beatles, "I'm a Loser"

Five days a workweek
It's in my face
Pie in my face
It sucks to be a clown

— Jonathan Coulton, "Bozo's Lament"

'Ha! Marshall you're so funny man
You should be a comedian, God damn!'
Unfortunately I am
I just hide behind the tears of a clown

— Eminem, "Beautiful"

Tomorrow comes tomorrow goes, but the cloud remains the same.
Wonder why he’s feeling down? Tears of a clown.
Maybe it’s all just for the best, lay his weary head to rest.
He was forever feeling drowned, Tears of a clown.

— Iron Maiden, "Tears of a Clown"

The children love the show, but they fail to see the anguish in my eyes

— Marilyn Manson, "Dope Hat"

Inside, my heart is breaking
My makeup may be flaking
But my smile still stays on...

— Queen, "The Show Must Go On"

There's some sad things known to man
But ain't too much sadder than
The tears of a clown
When there's no one around.

— Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, "Tears of a Clown"

Come and watch the skinny kid with
A steadily declining mental health
And laugh as he attempts to give you
What he cannot give himself.

—Bo Burnham, "Can't Handle This"

Goodbye, cruel world
I'm off to join the circus
Gonna be a broken-hearted clown
Paint my face with a good-for-nothing smile
'Cause a mean, fickle woman turned my whole world upside down.

— James Darren, "Goodbye, Cruel World"

Dear Mister Fantasy play us a tune
Something to make us all happy
Do anything take us out of this gloom
Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy
You are the one who can make us all laugh
But doing that you break out in tears
Please don't be sad if it was a straight mind you had
We wouldn't have known you all these years

— Traffic, "Dear Mr. Fantasy"

Theatre

"Put on your costume, powder your face.
The people pay, and they want to laugh.
And if Harlequin shall steal your Columbina,
laugh, clown, so the crowd will cheer!
Turn your distress and tears into jest,
your pain and sobbing into a funny face – Ah!

Laugh, clown,
At your broken love!
Laugh at the grief that poisons your heart!"

— Canio, Pagliacci ("Vesti la giubba", English translation)

There's always a funny man in the game,
But he's only funny by mistake.
But ev'ryone laughs at him just the same.
They don't see his painted heart break.

— Cocky, The Roar of the Greasepaint—The Smell of the Crowd, "The Joker"

Though your wife ran away with a soldier that day,
And took with her your trifle of money;
Bless your heart, they don't mind —
They're exceedingly kind —
They don't blame you — as long as you're funny!

— Jack Point, The Yeomen of the Guard

Video Games

Warden: This is the part where you deflect questions with humour?
Alistair: I'd use my shield, but I think you'd actually see me hiding behind it.

— Dragon Age: Origins

I mean, when you look at me, you wouldn't think that I'm anything but a fun-loving, happy-go-lucky joker. But that isn't the real me. Behind all the quips and laughs, I'm a mess of hang-ups.

— Prompto Argentum, Final Fantasy XV

Dazai: From birth, as I grew, I began to realize I wasn't the same as those around me. To everyone else, the confusion of life made perfect sense. Upon learning this, I became afraid of how different I was. So, I decided to become a clown.
MC: You... became a clown?
Dazai: A clown is just a role. But every group has one. If I played this role well, I might be able to blend in with real people. For he who can't be human like the rest, but he who can't go without them. It was a foolish choice. Then again, he was a clown.
[beat]
Dazai: (cheerfully) ...Did you enjoy that story, Toshiko-san? I simply couldn't puff out my chest and declare myself good at making up stories without making up one for you.
MC: [thinking] (...I don't think that was made up. I think what he told me was true. His past. But I also think he's trying to tell me not to delve any deeper than that.)

— Ikemen Vampire

Can I tell you something? I admit. I have not been taking anything seriously since the takeover. I do not want to accept that this is happening. That our lives are being ruined by some BUTThead. And the more I keep acting like all of this is a joke. The more I can forget about her big FAT STUPID-

—Mary/Brains, The Brains And The Brawn

Otto: DAMMIT! This is all your fault, Norman, you son of a—
Peter: Well, I know who YOU'RE not voting for in the next election.
[Otto looks at Peter]
Peter: Sorry. I, uh, have a habit of making bad jokes in tense situations.
[brief silence]
Otto: [laughs] It was a good joke, Parker.

—Spider-Man (PS4)

Web Original

By now you know that Robin Williams has committed suicide, but I'm not here to talk about him. He's gone, and you're still here, and suicidal thoughts are so common among our readers and writers that our message board has a hidden section where moderators can coordinate responses to suicide threats [...] Now do you want me to tell you how many messages/comments/emails we get from fans telling a writer to 'kill yourself' because said writer wrote a joke they didn't like? When I ban them, they always act confused as to why.

— Cracked, "Robin Williams and Why Funny People Kill Themselves"

It's terrifying to think that Williams could accomplish so much and yet find himself driven to suicide. He reached the pinnacle of both the comic profession and the acting profession. He was wealthy. He invented the blueprint for comic acting longevity (comic movies, then a gradual transition to serious fare) that many actors have followed since. He fulfilled every show business dream that you or I had as a child, and yet it wasn't enough. I am trained as an American to believe that career success and financial success are twin salves that can cure all wounds, but Williams's death is a harrowing reminder that it's all a lie. The idea that you can fall into a despair that trumps all that is scary as hell.

And frankly, I'd prefer not to think about it. I think I'd prefer to shut that all out and have a laugh instead...It's a fantastic distraction from pain and loss, and Robin Williams probably knew that better than anyone.

— Drew Magary

Oh, why so serious? You're supposed to be the man who laughs, but those jokes were like your new movie: (aha!) mostly really sad.

— Pennywise the Dancing Clown ripping on Joker (2019), Epic Rap Battles of History

Western Animation

"The helper seeks to help, because he knows what it's like to be helpless."

— Zen Wander, Wander over Yonder, "The Wanders"

Real Life

Wanting to please people, to only tell them what they wanted to hear, became very deeply a part of me, as it probably did with most children who felt uncertain of the tactic needed to avoid a blow. [...] That's how it is with incomplete personalities.

— Tom Baker, Who On Earth is Tom Baker?

As a great admirer of the late Benny Hill, I was looking forward to working with him and getting to know him. The first part was a pleasure but the second part was impossible. Benny was very pleasant to all of us — unfailingly courteous, kind and professional, but it was not possible to make any real contact with him. He was a truly solitary soul and never mixed with the cast socially, even when we were all staying together at the same hotel. Like a lot of comedians I have known, Benny seemed a sad person.

— Michael Caine on the making of The Italian Job (1969)

Being funny is not the same as being happy.

— Dana Gould

I adored Sammy, but he was wary of that kind of affection; He came with a lot of baggage. Onstage, he was a star. Offstage, he had to use a maintenance door to get into his hotel room at night.

—Alan King on Sammy Davis Jr., Name Dropping

With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die.

— Abraham Lincoln

Comedy is the blues for people who can't sing.

— Chris Rock

...look at the blood on the man’s hands. 900 years, countless very selfish choices, and he’s literally blown planets up. His own race, you know, that’s all on his hands. Which is why I think he has to make silly jokes and wear a fez. Because if he didn't, he’d hang himself.

— Matt Smith, on The Doctor

The secret source of all humor is sorrow.

— Mark Twain

One night a few years after "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" was released, I came upon John Candy (1950-1994) sitting all by himself in a hotel bar in New York, smoking and drinking, and we talked for a while. We were going to be on the same TV show the next day. He was depressed. People loved him, but he didn't seem to know that, or it wasn't enough. He was a sweet guy and nobody had a word to say against him, but he was down on himself. All he wanted to do was make people laugh, but sometimes he tried too hard, and he hated himself for doing that in some of his movies. I thought of Del. There is so much truth in the role that it transforms the whole movie. Hughes knew it, and captured it again in Only the Lonely (1991). And Steve Martin knew it, and played straight to it.

— Roger Ebert on Planes, Trains and Automobiles

If you can, make your depression look like this street. Bleak and rainy but there’s music and art, and even comedy hiding in its lonely cafes and you can use those to escape.

— Patton Oswalt

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