If you take a page of flat notebook and try to stand it up by laying it on its edge on a table it’s nigh impossible. But why does it support itself if you simply add a fold along the middle of the page?
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Paper standing on its end is in unstable equilibrium of one of its axes: while in principle it could balance, even the slightest nudge or breath in a direction perpendicular to its face will cause it to accelerate in that direction due to gravity, and thus fall down.
When folded, the paper is now in a stable equilibrium. Any small nudge will cause it to start tipping over, but at that point the center of mass will be positioned so to right the object back to its original configuration. So it takes a substantial push to knock it down.
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