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Ashtick is a comic theme orgimmick. The wordis borrowed fromYiddish:שטיק,romanized: shtik,related toGerman:Stück,Polish:sztuka,Russian:штука,romanized: štúka, all ultimately fromProto-Germanic: *stukkiją, all meaning'piece','thing' or'theatre play';Theaterstück is the German word for'play' (and is a synonym ofSchauspiel,lit. 'viewing play', in contrast toSingspiel).[1]
The English wordpiece is sometimes used in a similar context: for example, "a musical piece". In astand-up comedy context, a near-equivalent term is a "bit". Another variant is "bits of business" or just "bits".Shtick may refer to an adopted persona, usually for comedy performances, that is maintained consistently (though not necessarily exclusively) across the performer's career. In this usage, the recurring personalities adopted byLaurel and Hardy through all of their many comedy films—although they often played characters with different names and occupations—would qualify as theirshtick. A comedian might maintain several different shticks of this sort, particularly if appearing in avariety show encouraging development of multiple characters, such asSaturday Night Live.
In common usage, the wordshtick has also come to mean any talent, style, habit, or other eccentricity for which a person is particularly well-known, even if not intended for comedic purposes. For example, a person who is known locally for an ability to eat dozens ofhot dogs quickly might say that it was his shtick. AmongOrthodox Jews, "shtick" can also refer towedding shtick, in which wedding guests entertain the newlyweds through dancing, costumes, juggling, and silliness.
Because of its roots in show business,shtick has taken on the connotation of a contrived and often-used act. For this reason, journalists and commentators often apply the word disparagingly to stock replies from politicians.[2]
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