--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think that the joke and the ghost story…" description: "\"I think that the joke and the ghost story both have a similar set up in that you kind of set something up and pay it off with a laugh or a scare.\" — Si..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b23/simon-pegg-4365_ghost_i-think-that-the-joke-and-the-ghost-stor_684110.png" --- # I think that the joke and the ghost story both have a… ![“I think that the joke and the ghost story both have a similar set up in that you kind of set something up and pay it off with a laugh or a scare.” quote by Simon Pegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b23/simon-pegg-4365_ghost_i-think-that-the-joke-and-the-ghost-stor_684110.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b23/simon-pegg-4365_ghost_i-think-that-the-joke-and-the-ghost-stor_684110.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b23/simon-pegg-4365_ghost_i-think-that-the-joke-and-the-ghost-stor_684110.png) > “I think that the joke and the ghost story both have a similar set up in that you kind of set something up and pay it off with a laugh or a scare.” [Simon Pegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-pegg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Both jokes and ghost stories rely on building tension then delivering a payoff, whether humorous or frightening. **In simple terms:** Jokes and ghost stories share a set‑up and payoff structure. Key Takeaway Use tension to make your point more impactful. Themes humor storytelling psychology Mood playful intriguing Type observational analytical When to use this quote - stand‑up comedy - writing workshops - marketing pitches - public speaking - film scripts Key Concepts setup payoff timing Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance tension and surprise? - What makes a payoff feel satisfying? A Different Perspective If the payoff is predictable, the effect can fall flat. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ghost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghost/) [Ghost stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghost-stories/) [Joke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joke/) [Jokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jokes/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I always had the desire to entertain people, whether it was to make 'em laugh or to scare 'em or stir things up just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-manson/i-always-had-the-desire-to-entertain-people-whether-it-was-to-make-em/) [Marilyn Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-manson/) > [The ghost story movie that scared me the most was The Changeling with George C. Scott. I think that's sometimes overlooked, but it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-ghost-story-movie-that-scared-me-the-most-was-the-changeling-with/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“I believe ghost story writing is a dying art.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-r-wakefield/i-believe-ghost-story-writing-is-a-dying-art/) H.R. Wakefield > [Everyone has a ghost story, or at least thats how it has always seemed to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searles/everyone-has-a-ghost-story-or-at-least-thats-how-it-has-always-seemed/) [John Searles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searles/) > [I think someone who writes a ghost story probably needs to believe it in some way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micah-perks/i-think-someone-who-writes-a-ghost-story-probably-needs-to-believe-it/) [Micah Perks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micah-perks/) > [While Max appears to greatly admire Wallace as a writer and feel compassion for him as a man, he is never starry-eyed, or pulls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elissa-schappell/while-max-appears-to-greatly-admire-wallace-as-a-writer-and-feel/) [Elissa Schappell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elissa-schappell/) > [This is a story about a family and, as there is a ghost involved, you might cal it a ghost story. But every family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/this-is-a-story-about-a-family-and-as-there-is-a-ghost-involved-you/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [Every love story is a ghost story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/every-love-story-is-a-ghost-story/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [I have to say my favorite stories are ghost stories. I don't like to see these made-up monster films or scary films with ghosts.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/i-have-to-say-my-favorite-stories-are-ghost-stories-i-don-t-like-to/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [Ghosts are a metaphor that can be interpreted so many different ways. There's no ending to what you can do. 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How can I make that guy so real so that the scary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-hawke/how-to-make-a-scary-movie-human-take-a-movie-like-sinister-how-can-i/) [Ethan Hawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-hawke/) > [I read a lot of ghost stories because I was writing a ghost story. I didn't think at all I was writing a horror…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-hill/i-read-a-lot-of-ghost-stories-because-i-was-writing-a-ghost-story-i/) [Susan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-hill/) > [The fundamental difference between the mystery story and the ghost story is the fact that a mystery demands a solution for its effectiveness; a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/the-fundamental-difference-between-the-mystery-story-and-the-ghost/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) ## More by Simon Pegg > [Being a geek is extremely liberating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-pegg/being-a-geek-is-extremely-liberating/) [Simon Pegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-pegg/) > [I'm simply saying that our deepest thoughts, desires and preoccupations manifest themselves in art, whether we intend them to or not. That's what art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-pegg/i-m-simply-saying-that-our-deepest-thoughts-desires-and/) [Simon Pegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-pegg/) > [There's this thing of you can live in a city and be completely alone, not notice anything going on around you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-pegg/there-s-this-thing-of-you-can-live-in-a-city-and-be-completely-alone/) [Simon Pegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-pegg/) > [We've kind of grown up in a post-Star Wars era, and what Star Wars did to cinema, in terms of an explosion of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-pegg/we-ve-kind-of-grown-up-in-a-post-star-wars-era-and-what-star-wars-did/) [Simon Pegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-pegg/) > [“Maybe I'm wrong; I might not believe in fate but I do believe in causality and who's to say fate isn't just a sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-pegg/maybe-i-m-wrong-i-might-not-believe-in-fate-but-i-do-believe-in/) [Simon Pegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-pegg/) > [It's hard, really, to make any physical movement that hasn't been done in another film. 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There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-pegg/the-only-thing-that-would-deter-me-at-the-moment-would-be-the-idea-of/) [Simon Pegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-pegg/) > [You grow up watching certain films or admiring certain filmmakers, and to write a love letter to one and have them validate it, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-pegg/you-grow-up-watching-certain-films-or-admiring-certain-filmmakers-and/) [Simon Pegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-pegg/) > [I think the jokes would have been a bit broader and a bit more obvious in terms of the day-to-day of country life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-pegg/i-think-the-jokes-would-have-been-a-bit-broader-and-a-bit-more/) [Simon Pegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-pegg/) > [It wasn't until a year later, when a young woman with Danish pastries on either side of her head knelt down in front of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-pegg/it-wasn-t-until-a-year-later-when-a-young-woman-with-danish-pastries/) [Simon Pegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-pegg/) > [I lived in the cultural equivalent of Tatooine when I was a little boy. I didn't live in London, I didn't live right in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-pegg/i-lived-in-the-cultural-equivalent-of-tatooine-when-i-was-a-little/) [Simon Pegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-pegg/) > [The nuts and bolts of shooting a film and writing a film are still really difficult. But what makes it easier is the fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-pegg/the-nuts-and-bolts-of-shooting-a-film-and-writing-a-film-are-still/) [Simon Pegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-pegg/) [Explore all 112 Simon Pegg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-pegg/) ## More Ghost quotes > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [“When you feel terribly angry, you're possessed by anger ghost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/when-you-feel-terribly-angry-you-re-possessed-by-anger-ghost/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [I was overcome by the Holy Ghost one time, but in a Baptist way. I was six or seven, and I was saved. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-ditto/i-was-overcome-by-the-holy-ghost-one-time-but-in-a-baptist-way-i-was/) [Beth Ditto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-ditto/) > [Nice is a city of ghosts and specters, but I hope not to become one of them right away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-modiano/nice-is-a-city-of-ghosts-and-specters-but-i-hope-not-to-become-one-of/) [Patrick Modiano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-modiano/) > [“Who is this ghost ordered into music?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuko-shiraishi/who-is-this-ghost-ordered-into-music/) Kazuko Shiraishi > [The ghost story movie that scared me the most was The Changeling with George C. Scott. I think that's sometimes overlooked, but it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-ghost-story-movie-that-scared-me-the-most-was-the-changeling-with/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Maybe I could be friends with a ghost. I wouldn’t be able to kill him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/maybe-i-could-be-friends-with-a-ghost-i-wouldn-t-be-able-to-kill-him/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [I love ghost stories, I love to read them, and I love the idea of being haunted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micah-perks/i-love-ghost-stories-i-love-to-read-them-and-i-love-the-idea-of-being/) [Micah Perks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micah-perks/) > [The Holy Ghost is the greatest guarantor of inward peace in our unstable world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-e-faust/the-holy-ghost-is-the-greatest-guarantor-of-inward-peace-in-our/) [James E. Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-e-faust/) > [I saw the gooseflesh on my skin. I did not know what made it. I was not cold. Had a ghost passed over? No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-saw-the-gooseflesh-on-my-skin-i-did-not-know-what-made-it-i-was-not/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [She knows not loves that kissed her She knows not where. 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R. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-r-james/) > [Just live that life. 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