The Zeigarnik Effect & Stand-Up Comedy
The Importance of Creating Suspense
Okay, I’ve been on a “theory” kick lately here on the blog and, frankly, I’m having fun with it so I’m probably going to keep writing similar posts for a while. At some point in the past, in fact, I had a running document with nothing but a list of theories and explanations. I was thinking I might write a fun little book about theories. I probably won’t, but I still find them fascinating.
As I said previously, I’m a sucker for theories! I love how theories can help us frame or reframe things. So, here’s one for you—a psychological principle called The Zeigarnik Effect. Ever heard of it?
Well, whether you know it by name or not, you’ve definitely experienced it. Let me prove it to you. Ever had a cliffhanger keep you binge-watching a show? The Zeigarnik Effect. Has an unfinished task ever nagged at your brain? The Zeigarnik Effect. Ever been unable to stop thinking about that thing you were just about to say before someone interrupted you so you kept trying and trying to recover it? The Zeigarnik Effect.
At the heart of The Zeigarnik Effect is this belief: our brains remember unfinished things more than completed ones.
That might seem odd and counterintuitive. It is! But the truth is, this concept has a role to play in comedy, especially when it comes to building tension and delivering a punchline that lands hard. Every comedian knows that a good joke thrives on anticipation. The setup builds a little world, creates an expectation, and then leaves the audience in limbo for just long enough to make it worth it. Enough time passes so their brain starts filling in possibilities before the punchline hits—and that’s where the magic happens.
Think about a classic misdirection joke like this one: Setup: My grandfather has the heart of a lion…
The setup does its job well: it forces the person reading it (you!) to make an assumption or a set of assumptions like grandfather is a good man, he’s brave, he’s courageous, he’s a fighter, etc. Your brain gets to work because the setup has provoked it to do so. And in the time that your brain works, suspense is created. Your brain actively tries to “complete” the sentence in a logical way, and when the joke flips the expectation with a punch, it triggers laughter, it pulls the rug out from under you like this: Punchline: And a lifetime ban from the zoo.
Boom! See how that works? The longer a comedian can stretch the audience’s anticipation (without losing them), the bigger the laugh. The key there is not losing them! It’s easy to add in irrelevant details that muddy up the joke/story. Even so, this is worth remembering: the bigger the surprise (NOT the more words!), the more the comedian can get away with. I love how The Zeigarnik Effect keeps the audience’s brain hungry for resolution and basically forces them to NEED the punch to feel complete.
This is also why pauses in joke delivery are so powerful and sometimes just waiting an extra beat right before the punchline makes it explode in a completely different way. This also sheds light on why callbacks work so well. If a comedian references something from earlier in their set, the audience’s brain suddenly reopens the mental tab from before. They might not have been consciously thinking about it, but their brain held onto the unfinished thought—so when the callback lands, it feels even more satisfying.
The best comics use this instinctively and great comics use it knowingly. They know that a great joke isn’t just what’s said, but when and how it’s said. They know that pacing, misdirection, and tension-building can turn a decent joke into a killer one. This is a great reminder to me when I’m writing and performing to ask myself: Am I letting the audience’s brain do some of the work? Am I a) making them lean in, b) anticipate, and then c) surprising them? If not, maybe I’m completing the thought too soon or doing too much of the work for them. Maybe I need to leave the sentence hanging just a little longer. Maybe I need to use the Zeigarnik Effect…
and make them..
wait for it.