First the doctor told me the good news: I was going to have a disease named after me.

The line is a compact example of Steve Martin’s deadpan, logic-twisting humor. It hinges on a reversal of expectations: “good news” from a doctor typically signals recovery, but here it introduces the prospect of illness. The punchline then reframes that illness as a perverse honor—having a disease named after you—mocking the human desire for recognition even in grim circumstances. The joke also satirizes medical eponyms (conditions named for people), treating them like celebrity branding. Beneath the absurdity is a commentary on vanity and on how language can cosmetically repackage bad outcomes as status.