facepalm

Derived from the Comedie de L'arte, the facepalm gesture signified a change of humour based on a realization, a change of mask, to put on a new face. The gesture became a standard trope of grief or weeping in theatre but when used comedically, indicated a shared misfortune. Imported into Vaudeville, the Three Stooges' innovated the gesture as a surrealistic form of violence, indicating surprise, fear and disdain. The completed gesture was a stock expression in newspaper comics and used in animated films, exaggerating a sense of mock tragedy or comic disbelief.