History Main / DramaticPause

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* ''WebVideo/TheHappyVideoGameNerd'': Every once in a while; often, he smiles creepily right after one.
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** "[[Recap/InterviewWithTheVampire2022S1E1InThroesOfIncreasingWonder In Throes of Increasing Wonder...]]": The dinner conversation at the de Pointe du Lac mansion comes to a halt after Paul demands to know what Lestat de Lioncourt's intentions are towards his brother Louis. As Lestat struggles to think of a reply that would diffuse Paul's homophobic implication, the only sound that can be heard is the faint chirping of crickets.

** "[[Recap/InterviewWithTheVampire2022S1E3IsMyVeryNatureThatOfADevil Is My Very Nature That of a Devil]]": In the first scene, both the BackgroundMusic and the dialogue stop for two seconds after Louis de Pointe du Lac informs Lestat de Lioncourt that Jackson Square used to be the site where runaway slaves were decapitated and their heads were placed on the iron gates as a warning.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': In the first scene of "[[Recap/InterviewWithTheVampire2022S1E3IsMyVeryNatureThatOfADevil Is My Very Nature That of a Devil]]", both the BackgroundMusic and the dialogue stop for two seconds after Louis de Pointe du Lac informs Lestat de Lioncourt that Jackson Square used to be the site where runaway slaves were decapitated and their heads were placed on the iron gates as a warning.

* [[ComicBook/KlarionTheWitchBoy Klarion...bumbumbum...the Witch Boy]], obscure DC Comics character ([[DependingOnTheWriter with almost no concrete characterization]]), given an unusual VerbalTic by Creator/PeterDavid.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING YOU MOTHERFUKERS!”\\

* An episode of ''Series/HoneyIShrunkTheKids'' (yes, it was a TV series briefly) has the punctuated sting performed by a trio of trumpeteers who always happen to be in the scene when it's called for. At one point, Wayne got so fed up he confiscated their trumpets, only for them to replace them with ''kazoos''.

* Played dead straight in game shows like ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'':
-->'''Contestant:''' "A, final answer."\\
(Dramatic Pause, shot of concerned host, shot of nervous guest, shot of terrified loved one in audience, another shot of nervous guest)\\
'''Host:''' "A... is... correct, you're up to $5000!"
** Occasionally the host in this situation will actually begin this last statement with something that implies that the contestant got the answer wrong ("You've done a great job..." etc.), before switching back and declaring the answer correct.
*** This was parodied to shreds in ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway?''; after ''every'' question the "host" would ramble on about how it's such a crying shame that the guest went all the way to New York just to '''win a million dollars!'''
** And if there's a commercial break coming up, they'll often keep the dramatic pause up to end on a CliffHanger, then start a ''new'' dramatic pause on the return and have even made answering the question an ''episode''-ending CliffHanger, though.
*** Obviously, this is also used in ''Film/SlumdogMillionaire''.
** Also (over)used in ''Series/DealOrNoDeal'' before opening a case, or just about any other GameShow where they need to stretch a dozen questions or decisions into an hour of programming.
*** If they didn't use all the dramatic pauses, the episode could be over in just [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmZFHjQfx-o 2 minutes and 46 seconds]].
* Also done to death on "results shows" for talent (or any other reality) programming. You can just tune in in the last five minutes of ''Series/AmericanIdol'' to see who's going home, and even then, Ryan's going to say "The person going home this week is..."
** Parodied in an episode of ''Roger Mellie, the Man on the Telly'' in the adult comic ''ComicBook/{{Viz}}''. In the first panel Roger is standing with the contestants. He says: "And the winner is..." He then walks off stage, drives away from the studio, spends the night in the pub, goes home to bed, gets up the next morning, eats breakfast, drives back to the studio and walks back on stage to announce the winner's name in the last panel.
* Jeff Probst also uses the pause on ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' when an elimination comes down to the last vote in the urn. When it doesn't, he just flips around the deciding vote while saying "Nth person voted out of Survivor..." which pretty much kills the drama of the vote. In earlier seasons, he would simply flip over the vote silently and let it speak for itself, which was much more climactic.
* Horatio Caine from ''Series/CSIMiami'' is ([[{{Narm}} in]])famous for doing this in the middle of his [[QuipToBlack one liners]].
** Not to mention he punctuates the dramatic pause even further by taking the opportunity to don his Sunglasses of Doom. ''Every. Single. Time.''
** Parodied in some comedy show: "Help me. I'm starting to talk crap...in...short...compact...sentences!"
* ''Series/TheAmazingRace'' host Phil Keoghan does it quite a lot, both in his narration and his appearances at the end of each episode telling contestants whether they're eliminated or not. One time, a team actually broke down in giggles in the middle of his pause and told him to just get on with it already.
* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in the ''Series/{{Friends}}'' season 9 episode "[[IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming The One with the Mugging]]" when Joey is auditioning for a part in a play directed by (and starring) Jeff Goldblum's character, and reads the stage direction 'long pause' aloud, thinking it's the name of the character he's addressing.

** That lurching sensation, mentioned before ... was further heightened by having the actors ... pause at just the right point in the sentence that the apparent meaning being expressed ... seemed to change after the pause.
--> '''Angela-V.O.''': I felt like a really shallow person, because I ''was''. (long Dramatic Pause) Hungry.

** The awesome (and awesomely repeated in IronicEcho later on) line, [[Film/Batman1989 "Remember--YOU...are my NUMBER-ONE...GUY."]]

** Clarkson once criticised Harry Enfield's impression of him by saying that he left out the ellipsis in the catchphrase.
* Christmas 2009 had a well publicized battle for the Christmas number one spot in the British music charts between ''The X-Factor'' winner's cover of Music/MileyCyrus' "The Climb" and Music/RageAgainstTheMachine's "Killing in the Name". Radio 1 milked it for all it was worth, including a ten second long pause before they announced the #2 song (and thus, the #1 song).
* Parodied one year at Creator/{{MTV}}'s Movie Awards, hosted by Lisa Kudrow, when a category was announced as Best Dramatic Pause. After airing the nominees, Kudrow opened the envelope, and then began a Dramatic Pause that lasted until the next commercial break.
* Every episode of ''Series/{{Justice}}'''s short run did this before announcing the verdict.
* Played with in ''Series/TheVicarOfDibley'', when the characters are rehearsing for a scene from the Nativity in which the angel (played by Geraldine) comes down to the shepards to tell of Jesus's birth. The comedy comes from Owen and Frank mistaking Geraldine's dramatic pauses for forgetting the lines and prompting her, causing her to lose her temper.

-->'''Geraldine:''' (in angel costume) Be not afraid, for I am an angel of the Lord, and I bring tidings of great joy.(Pauses dramatically, whilst her halo appears over her head.)\\

* This happens quite a few times in ''Series/{{Reba}}''. One example: Reba's comment regarding her dress for a beauty pageant she attended: "I feel overdressed... for Vegas."
* {{Lampshaded}} by Señor Chang in ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode [[Recap/CommunityS1E12ComparativeReligion Comparative Religion]]:
-->'''Chang:''' "[Everybody passed] Except... pause for dramatic effect..."
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. In "Hush" the voices of everyone in Sunnydale are stolen by some demons, so [[MrExposition Giles]] has to give his usual exposition via overhead transparencies, including one saying only "then" in order to include a suitable dramatic pause.
* In the TV adaptation of ''Film/{{Hogfather}}'', actor Marc Warren gave Mr. Teatime a VerbalTic of pausing before the last word of every sentence ("I guess I just see things...differently."). This added a level of creepiness to Teatime's soft-spoken PsychopathicManchild characterization.
* In the next-to-last episode of the ''Series/TheShield'', there is a pause that lasts almost a minute right before Vic Mackey [[spoiler: confesses all of his crimes to Olivia under ICE's immunity]].
* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': In the first scene of the third episode, both the BackgroundMusic and the dialogue stop for three seconds after Louis de Pointe du Lac informs Lestat de Lioncourt that Jackson Square used to be the site where runaway slaves were decapitated and their heads were placed on the iron gates as a warning.

Often used in ArsonMurderAndLifeSaving.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe1'', Gru tells the minions "We are going to steal... [-[[ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud (pause for effect)]]-] ...THE MOOOOOOOON!"

* "[[Wrestling/TheUndertaker Rest.]][[...]][[CatchPhrase In.]][[...]][[PunctuatedForEmphasis PEAAAAACE]]."

* Dr. Weird from ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' is fond of this. [[CatchPhrase "Gentlemen... behold!"]]

* ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' has one of the most terrifying uses of the dramatic pause ever at the end of episode 2.

* ''LightNovel/InfiniteStratos'' does this when [[spoiler: Laura steals Ichika's FirstKiss.]] The frames then show Cecilia's, Ling's, and Houki's faces.

* ''Literature/WetDesertTrackingDownATerroristOnTheColoradoRiver'': InUniverse, when Grant asks the people handling the crisis at Hoover Dam whether Lake Mead should hold all the incoming water. Nobody dares to answer positively.

-->[[spoiler:wait for it...]]
-->[[spoiler:wait for it...]]
-->[[spoiler:OverlyLongGag]]
-->in the ''world''.

The Dramatic Pause is a beat or two of silence with no dialogue and little or no music/background sound. Usually done to heighten the anticipation before TheReveal. Also called a "Pregnant Pause", it can also ''follow'' the reveal... it's just ''that'' shocking! It's fairly common in situations where it [[DelayedReaction takes a moment for the joke to sink in.]] In sequential art, it is often depicted by a BeatPanel.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'', Gru tells the minions "We are going to steal... [-[[ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud (pause for effect)]]-] ...THE MOOOOOOOON!"

* The great comedian Jack Benny used this trope all the time for comedy, as well as its sister tropes the {{Beat}} and MelodramaticPause. In his thirty-year career on stage, radio, and television, Benny honed his comic timing to such a fine edge that sometimes the pauses in his routines were as funny as the punchlines. An excellent example is the "Jack and the Mugger" skit: knowing his character's reputation for cheapness, the audience would start chuckling even before the pause ended.

* In music of all types, there is often a ritardando (slowdown) at cadences, the points where the harmony comes to rest on a tonic chord. In some final cadences at the end of a piece, performers and conductors may add a pause before the final tonic chord. The moment of waiting and expectation followed by the release when the tonic sounds can create an exquisite effect.

* Played for laughs in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', whenever Anthony reveals the [[HornyDevils new object of his affections]]. The Protagonist apparently considers this [[AssPull so shocking]] even the ''background music'' stops for a few seconds (Anthony quickly learns to anticipate this reaction and complains about it.)

* In ''{Star Ocean: Till the End of Time'', one of Fayt's battle quotes is "Blade...of Fury!"

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': Aw, look at poor, blind, disabled [[IllGirl Nunnally]]. *sad violin* [[spoiler: ...and then she opens her eyes. Sad violin theme vanishes.]]

--> "It's me, Kaiba. And this time you don't stand (dramatic pause) a '''[[IncrediblyLamePun ghost]]''' of a chance."

* In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau employed this move when asked to comment about President Donald Trump's heavy-handed addressing of raucous protests after the police murder of George Floyd. To emphasise the point of the difficulty of dealing with a President of a neighboring nation who has been known to be highly mercurial and angrily sensitive to any perceived insult, Trudeau kept silent for 21 seconds before giving a carefully worded diplomatic answer. For the most part, the media and public, while recognizing it was probably prepared, responded positively as a well-considered response in the face of such a delicate matter. Though it didn't stop comedians, particularly in the late-night talk-show realm, to mock him for it.

* In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau employed this move when asked to comment about President Donald Trump's heavy-handed addressing of raucous protests after the police murder of George Floyd. To emphasise the point of the difficulty of dealing with a President of a neighboring nation who has been known to be highly mercurial and angrily sensitive to any perceived insult, Trudeau kept silent for 21 seconds before giving a carefully worded diplomatic answer. For the most part, the media and public, while recognizing it was probably prepared, responded positively as a well-considered response in the face of such a delicate matter.

* Played for laughs in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', whenever Anthony reveals the [[HornyDevils new object of his affections]]. The Protagonist apparently considers this [[ShockingSwerve so shocking]] even the ''background music'' stops for a few seconds (Anthony quickly learns to anticipate this reaction and complains about it.)