Comic verse’s pace interrupted by setter’s hesitation (8)
I believe the answer is:
limerick
'comic verse's' is the definition.
(comical five-line poem)
'pace interrupted by setter's hesitation' is the wordplay.
'pace' becomes 'lick' (as in moving at a good lick).
'interrupted by' is an insertion indicator.
'setter's' becomes 'im' (I've seen this in other clues).
'hesitation' becomes 'er' (sound used when hesitating).
'im'+'er'='imer'
'lick' going around 'imer' is 'LIMERICK'.
(Other definitions for limerick that I've seen before include "port used in Ireland" , "Witty poem from mid-western Irish city" , "Verse form - Irish city" , "Humorous short poem" , "City of humorous verse" .)