Shtick

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For other meanings of the word, see Schtick (disambiguation)

A shtick (Yiddish: שטיק) (or schtick) is an expression which refers to a comic theme or gimmick. "Shtick" is derived from the Yiddish word shtik (שטיק), meaning "piece"; the German word Stück has the same meaning. The English word "piece" itself is also sometimes used in a similar context. Another variant is "bits of business" or just "bits", mannerisms such as Laurel and Hardy's fiddling with their ties, or one of them looking into the camera shaking his head while the other one would ramble on; or the countless little slapstick and nonsense routines perfected by The Three Stooges, especially by Curly.

The term is perhaps best explained by giving examples of famous comedians and their shticks:

• Jack Benny's character on his radio program was notoriously both stingy and a bad violin player, as well as being perpetually 39 years old. In real life, Benny was known as an expert violinist and lavish tipper, and kept celebrating his 39th birthday each year publicly because "there's nothing funny about 40".

• Three of The Marx Brothers, Groucho, Chico and Harpo, all had well-honed shticks by the time they started making movies.
  • Groucho, with his stooped walk, lascivious eyebrow raising, and his cigar;
  • Chico, with his fake Italian accent, his "shooting the keys" style of piano playing, and borderline moronic behavior; and
  • Harpo, with his pantomime routines, the seemingly bottomless pockets of his trench coat, and his ability to play the harp.
  • The fourth performing brother, Zeppo, never developed a shtick and thus was a straight man in their movies (though some have argued that his blandness and "normalty" was indeed his shtick).

• W.C. Fields nurtured a character that was not far from himself in real life, being misanthropic, misogynistic, and a hard drinker, as well as lovingly massaging the English language through the utterly unique bellow of his voice and his famous bulbous nose.

• Lewis Black's shtick is his amazingly uncontrollable fits of rage; another is his comments on his blood pressure due to the aforementioned fits.

• The Blues Brothers, the dark-suited alter egos of Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, began as a shtick and grew into a record and two movies.

• Johnny Carson's many shticks include his role as "Carnac the Magnificent", an Indian fortune teller who could give divine answers to questions sealed in envelopes and kept in a hermetically sealed mayonnaise jar on the front porch of Funk & Wagnalls "since noon today". His signature imaginary golf swing at the end of his monologue would also qualify.

• Chris Berman's shtick in his ESPN commentary was his tendency to give additional nicknames to players based on their last names (often intended as puns or pop culture references). Berman was also known to often say a football player "could – go – all – the – way" on long touchdown plays.

• Andrew Dice Clay's shtick in his comedy routines is his crude, misogynist themed humor, and sometimes vulgar reinterpretations of nursery rhymes.

• Rodney Dangerfield's shtick was centered around his famous catchphrase, "I don't get no respect," accompanied by his characteristic facial gesture and yanking or straightening his scarlet necktie.

• Jerry Lewis's shtick was to act like a schlemiel, although as the host of the annual Muscular Dystrophy Association telethons, he is generally regarded as a mensch.

• Larry the Cable Guy's shtick is his catchphrase: "Git-R-Done!" which has been used by the Air Force as their motto.