'...I am Flik.'

In the scene where Tito visits the neurologist who advises him to cure his condition by going to see Flik ("There's the fellow who will make you laugh! He's making all Rome laugh...!") and Tito tells the doctor, "Flik can never make me laugh! Because I am...Flik!" does anyone know if this situation is pure invention, or drawn from an actual occurrence? I remember reading years ago about an incident exactly like this, in which a famous clown or comedian visited a doctor who advised him to go see the clown/comedian without realizing who he was talking to. On the one hand it's quite possible that it actually happened, but on the other hand it sounds like a story almost too good to be true, if you know what I mean. Just wondering if anyone else had heard this before.