History Main / EscalatingPunchline

-->[=GLaDOS=]: Still, what does [an engineer] know? Oh wait, it says she has a medical degree. In fashion. From France!

--->'''Burns:''' It's as big as a football field and weighs as much as the state of New Hampshire. I only flew it once at an altitude of six feet for a distance of four feet. [[EpicFail Then we discovered that rain makes it catch fire.]] [[ThoseWackyNazis Then the Führer fired me.]]

-->'''Burns:''' It's as big as a football field and weighs as much as the state of New Hampshire. I only flew it once at an altitude of six feet for a distance of four feet. [[EpicFail Then we discovered that rain makes it catch fire.]] [[ThoseWackyNazis Then the Führer fired me.]]

-->'''Judge:''' This verdict is written on a cocktail napkin! And it still says guilty! And guilty is spelled wrong!

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': "Midnight Rx" has Mr. Burns and his anecdote about the "Plywood Pelican".

-->'''Peter:''' Hi. Excuse me, you guys. I'm here to pick up my son, Chris Griffin. He's here to finger the guy who held up that convenience store. Maybe you've seen him. His name is Chris Griffin. I think I got a picture of him, somewhere. ''(Peter pulls out a picture)'' Here you go. Yeah, you can go ahead and hang on to that. I got a ton of them at home. In fact, I was gonna throw that one out anyway, 'cause Chris messed it up by writing his school schedule and a list of his fears all over the back of it.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "To Love and Die in Dixie", Chris bears witness to a crime. [[TemptingFate After Chris is assured anonymity]], Peter walks into the PoliceLineup and gives his son's identity away in an increasingly absurd fashion.

Jokes like this usually rely on CrossesTheLineTwice, where it gets progressively funnier as the punchline is exaggerated. Compare to ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and BreadEggsMilkSquick, where all the escalation occurs in one section of the punchline, usually with the last part; also see OneTwoPunchline. Compare SerialEscalation and WorseWithContext.

** In "montage", Strong Bad's reaction to an emailer asking him to "creat" a montage is to say (in a mocking, high-pitched voice) "Oooohhh! Why don't you 'creat' an alternate reality where you don't have to spell correctly? (''beat'') And I talk like this. (''beat'') And your name is Watered Down!"

* ''TheAristocrats'' will usually require this format.

* ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'' opens on one. The first shot is Shaun staring vacantly into the camera. Then it pulls out, revealing that he's actually listening to his girlfriend, Liz, talking about Shaun's friend, Ed. Then it pulls out a bit more, revealing that Ed is playing at an arcade machine right next to them. Then it pulls out just a bit more to show that Liz' friends are also there.

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'' opens on one. The first shot is Shaun staring vacantly into the camera. Then it pulls out, revealing that he's actually listening to his girlfriend, Liz, talking about Shaun's friend, Ed. Then it pulls out a bit more, revealing that Ed is playing at an arcade machine right next to them. Then it pulls out just a bit more to show that Liz' friends are also there.

* There's a joke that exists in various forms about a man with "Shorty" tattooed on his penis. Eventually a woman goes to bed with him and emerges pleased and exhausted. Her friends ask what was so great about sex with "Shorty," and she reports that the tattoo actually says "Shorty's Pizza Parlor." ({{beat}}) "[[BiggerIsBetterInBed Established 1990]]." (beat) "[[GagPenis Eat In, Take Out, or Delivery]]." (beat) "[[SerialEscalation Albequerque, New Mexico 47101...]]"

** In "Patty Hype" when Mr. Krabs is watching [=SpongeBob=] be interviewed about his invention of Pretty Patties:
--->'''[=SpongeBob=]:''' At first we didn't know what do with the money; we tried burying it...\\
''(Mr. Krabs' eyes inflate)''\\
'''[=SpongeBob=]:''' ...shredding it...\\
''(Mr. Krabs' eyes inflate further)''\\
'''[=SpongeBob=]:''' ...and burning it!\\
''(Mr. Krabs yells, his eyes fly out of his head letting air out)''

** And of course, this scene from [[WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobSquarepantsMovie the first movie]]:
--->'''Mr. Krabs:''' Me pants are on fire! Me underwear's on fire!! ''I'm'' on fire!!!
** In a later scene when Karen points out to Plankton what might happen if [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick succeed in retrieving Neptune's crown:
--->'''Karen:''' My sensors indicate that they're going after the crown. If they make it back, Neptune might discover some fingerprints. ''Tiny'' fingerprints. ''Stubby'', tiny fingerprints.

* The ''Clarke and Dawe'' skit "The Front Fell Off", in reference to the ''Kirki'' oil spill off the coast of Western Australia in 1991, culminates in John Clarke's character Senator Bob Collins claiming that the tanker has been towed outside of the environment (and not into another environment, somehow).

* [[http://www.shortpacked.com/2009/comic/book-9/11-nerdfight/twelveyears/ This]] ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'' comic has three punchlines, each increasingly funny. ''Shortpacked!'' does this a lot, actually.

* ''Literature/{{The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy|1}}'' has this:

-->This brief exchange encompasses everything one needs to know about human civilization. At least, those parts of human civilization that are either walled off, under water, or still smoking.

** And in his ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheTriad'' one, describing the difference between casual and hardcore gaming (not unlike [[http://cdn-usa.gagbay.com/2012/07/casual_gaming_vs_hardcore_gaming-115664.jpg this image]]):

-->'''Prosser:''' But Mr Dent, the plans have been available in the local planning office for the last nine months.\\

'''Arthur:''' Yes, yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard'.

-->"Oh, are you a ''Prefect'', Percy? You should have said something, we had no idea."
-->"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it. Once --"
-->"Or twice --"
-->"A minute --"
-->"All summer --"

Jokes like this usually rely on CrossesTheLineTwice, where it gets progressively funnier as the punchline is exaggerated. Compare to ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and BreadEggsMilkSquick, where all the escalation occurs in one section of the punchline, usually with the last part; also see OneTwoPunchline. Compare SerialEscalation.

-->'''Strong Sad:''' That only happened once!\\

-->'''Strong Bad:''' I know what you're thinkin', and it's what you thought. But that is actually a costume of Strong Bad after he's been... run over twelve times! By a cliff. Off a skyscraper. Into a discount... felt... surplus... store.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Stanny Tendergrass" when the mistreated employees of Roger's country club turn on him and he's talking to an angry old woman with a crossbow, who is the daughter of a woman whom Roger married and then killed and wants her mother's fortune:
-->'''Roger:''' Oh, Pamela. Good. I was just looking for you. You have the same scowl your mother had. [[IBangedYourMom When I banged her.]] [[ILoveTheDead After I pulled the plug.]] ''(Pamela fires a bolt at him)'' God, I was kidding! Looks like someone pulled the plug on your sense of humor.

-->'''Stan:''' I'm sorry, Kai, but there are worries. There are lots of worries. For instance, I'm standing on a jellyfish. And the jellyfish has attracted wolves. And the wolves are being hunted by poachers.\\

-->'''Zapp:''' Yes. He edged out my old mark by two seconds ... and 16 minutes ... and 12 hours. I do plan to finish someday, Kif.

* From the ''WesternAnimation/{{Turbo}} FAST'' episode "Taco Tank", when the titular tank is careening out of control and headed for [[BusFullOfInnocents the Brentwood Home for Unwanted Puppies and Lonely Grandmas]]:

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Near the start of ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'', Archchancellor Ridcully demands that a sealed-off bathroom (designed by [[BunglingInventor "Bloody Stupid" Johnson]]) be opened, citing the reason [[ShmuckBait "to see why they wanted it shut, of course."]] A footnote adds:

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', Rusty discovers that his given name is also that of an incredibly lewd sex act. Cue one character after another describing, in increasingly vulgar detail which ranges from toy-based to scatalogical, exactly what said act involves.

** And of course, this scene from the [[WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobSquarepantsMovie movie]]:

-->'''[=SpongeBob=]:''' At first we didn't know what do with the money; we tried burying it...\\

-->'''Uncle Cap'n Blue:''' You're not cut out for this kind of work, boy. An innocent kid like you doesn't stand a chance against a criminal mind. Do you have any idea what people like that do to people like you?\\

-->'''Mr. Krabs:''' Me pants are on fire! Me underwear's on fire!! ''I'm'' on fire!!!
*** In a later scene when Karen points out to Plankton what might happen if [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick succeed in retrieving Neptune's crown: