A shtick (Yiddish: שטיק‎, the closely related German word Stück has the same meaning) is a comic theme or gimmick derived from the Yiddish word shtik (שטיק), meaning "piece" (in stand-up comedy a near equivalent term is a "bit"). The English word for "piece" is sometimes used in a similar context. 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 by Laurel and Hardy through all of their many comedy films (although they often played characters with different names and occupations) would qualify as their shtick. A comedian might maintain several different shticks of this sort, particularly if appearing in a variety show encouraging development of multiple characters, such as Saturday Night Live.

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