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Explanation
The Joke
Two men in Victorian-era clothing are having a conversation. One observes, "My favorite thing about 19th century British novels is how alcohol is considered a cure for everything." The other demonstrates this by playing a scene: "I'm afraid he has a serious case of alcoholism." The prescribed cure? "A bracing draft of brandy should put things right!"
The joke is a simple but effective observation about a genuine quirk of 19th-century British literature (and medicine). In novels of that era, brandy or whisky is routinely administered as a restorative for shock, fainting, grief, cold, illness, and virtually any other ailment. The comic takes this trope to its logical absurd extreme: if alcohol is the cure for everything, then it must also be the cure for alcoholism -- creating a perfectly circular and self-defeating prescription.
The Humor
The humor works because it highlights a real pattern in Victorian fiction that modern readers find both charming and absurd. Characters in Dickens, Conan Doyle, and countless other authors are forever being revived with a stiff drink. By applying this cure-all mentality to alcoholism itself, the comic creates an irresistible paradox -- the literary equivalent of dividing by zero. It also works as a gentle satire of how different eras have wildly different medical norms, and how literature often reflects those norms uncritically.
References
The comic references the genuine literary convention in 19th-century British fiction where spirits (especially brandy) were prescribed as medicine for nearly every condition. This reflected real medical practice of the era, when alcohol was considered a stimulant and therapeutic agent. The temperance movement was simultaneously gaining strength during this same period, making the contradiction even more historically resonant.