How to pause and resume during a live show

Space (or click the Pause icon) freezes the current cue's timer. Press Space again (or click Play) to resume. The cue's elapsed time stays accurate — paused time doesn't count.

3 min Show callers, Producers

Pause stops the current cue's timer without advancing the show. Resume picks the timer back up exactly where it left off. The pair handles the most common live-show interruption: Q&A that runs long, a tech issue, a speaker who steps off.

Pause and resume in action — the timer freezes at 5:16, then picks back up exactly where it left off when Resume is clicked.

Two ways to pause

Keyboard — Press Space. The current cue's timer freezes, the row gets a "Paused" indicator, and any connected viewer sees the same.
Mouse — Click the Pause icon (parallel bars) in the row toolbar of the NOW cue. The icon turns into a Play triangle so you can tell at a glance that the show is held.

Two ways to resume

Keyboard — Press Space again. Same key, opposite action.
Mouse — Click the Play / Resume icon (triangle) where the Pause icon used to be.

What Pause actually does

Pause records the moment you pressed it. While paused, the cue's running clock stops counting up. The system tracks the total paused milliseconds so when you Resume, the elapsed time picks up from where it stopped — not from where the wall clock is now. This means a paused cue's actual elapsed reflects only time the show was actually running.

This matters for the post-show audit trail. If you pause for a 12-minute fire-alarm break and resume the same cue, the cue's logged elapsed time stays accurate — it doesn't count the fire alarm as part of the cue.

What Pause does not do

It does not advance the show — the same row stays NOW.
It does not affect previous (done) rows or upcoming rows.
It does not stop the master session clock entirely — only the current cue's per-row timer.
It does not lock anyone out. Producers can still pause/resume, edit follow-ups, etc.

When you can't pause

If the current row is in the armed state — meaning it's the current cue but the timer hasn't started yet (typically right after pressing Stop on the previous cue) — pressing Space does nothing. The system can't pause a timer that hasn't started. Press S to start the timer, then you can pause it.

Visual cues that you're paused

The Pause icon flips to a Play triangle.
The row's elapsed time stops climbing.
In BigClock mode, the massive countdown freezes.
Connected viewers (BigClock on the stage monitor, second Showtime windows) all show the same paused state.