Basic Trope: A character is about to make a joke with an obvious punchline, but doesn't say the punchline.
- Straight: Alice asks what's black, white, and red all over but then says, "A sun burnt panda" (rather than the obvious pun of "a newspaper").
- Exaggerated: The punchline doesn't even make any sense regarding the original joke: "What's black and white and red all over? By pushing it!"
- Downplayed: Alice tells the Chicken Joke and doesn't say, "To get to the other side", but that's kind of understandable since the chicken joke has many alternate endings.
- Justified:
- Alice was trying to be subversive.
- Alice is dumb or forgetful and couldn't think of, or remember, the punchline.
- Alice was about to tell the newspaper joke, but then she sees Bob in the audience who always complains about jokes she's heard before, and she thinks the joke is too old to tell Bob.
- Alixe's joke got trainwrecked by her poor grasp on english.
- Inverted: Alice randomly shouts, "By pushing it!" without telling the setup.
- Subverted: "Just kidding, it's a newspaper."
- Double Subverted: "But how do turtles talk to each other? Quietly!"
- Parodied:
- Zigzagged: "What's black, white, and red all over? A sun burnt panda... or a newspaper... or a novel with no pictures... or a..."
- Averted:
- Alice doesn't even try to tell the joke.
- Alice tells the newspaper joke.
- Enforced: "We don't want to have Alice tell the oldest joke in the book because then the viewers will complain! Let's spice it up!"
- Lampshaded: "That's... not what I expected the punchline to be."
- Invoked: "Just say the setup to an ancient joke, with a new punchline! That kills 'em every time!"
- Exploited:
- Defied: "Ah, what the heck. A newspaper!"
- Discussed: "Should I just tell the joke, or should I use a different punchline?"
- Conversed: "I know this comedian who never says what you'd expect."
- Implied:
- Deconstructed: Soon, people come to expect the 'sun burnt panda' joke from Alice.
- Reconstructed: She decides to change it every time.
- Played for Laughs: The joke is put in there for subversive comedy.
- Played for Drama: Alice couldn't remember the punchline because she has amnesia.
- Played for Horror: "What's black, white, and red all over? Your faces when I'm through with you!"
Why did the chicken cross the road? To get back to Subverted Punchline.
