brick joke

First coined on media analysis wiki TV Tropes, inspired by an older pair of jokes. In the first joke, a man throws a brick in the air in the punchline. The second joke appears to be unrelated, but then ends with a dog catching the brick.

brick joke (plural brick jokes)

1. (media) A joke in a film, television show, book etc, in which there is a substantial gap between set-up and punchline; typically bringing back an unresolved plot point after the audience is expected to have forgotten about it.
   • 2016 December 26, James Poniewozik, “The Joys of ‘Atlanta,’ Where Real Life, for Some, Insists on Being Surreal”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     The invisible car is a variant on something called a brick joke: actually a pair of jokes in which the first sets up an unresolved element that returns as the punch line of the second, ideally after the listener has forgotten about it.

   • 2020, William P. Seeley, Attentional Engines: A Perceptual Theory of the Arts, →ISBN, page 210:

     Genre conventions raise familiar questions about the role the bowling ball might play later on. It is in fact the set up for a brick joke.

   • 2021 June 30, “Thank God: The Penguins In This Kids Movie Just Started A Soul Train To ‘Everybody Dance Now’ Which Means The Movie Will Probably Be Over Soon”, in Clickhole‎^[2]:

     We’re also probably still on the hook for some final post-credits beat where the snooty french chef the penguins locked in a bathroom halfway through the movie comes back for some kind of limp, half-assed brick joke, but that’s probably as bad as it’ll get.