Word: Shtick

 

shtick

\ shtik \  , noun;

1. Slang . one's special interest, talent, etc.

2. Slang . (especially in comic acting) a routine or piece of business inserted to gain a laugh or draw attention to oneself.

*************************************

                Greg furiously typed out his ideas into his laptop.  His mind raced to figure out how to make the material really work.  So far, nothing he had tried seemed right.  It was either done to death, or far too obscure for most audiences.  He had a good feeling about this routine though.  So far, it was shaping up to be his best yet.

                “What are you doing?”  Said Greg’s roommate, Nick.  He seemed to come out of nowhere, and the question jarred Greg to the point where he almost jumped out of his seat.  As it was, he simply lost his train of thought.

                “I was trying to come up with a new shtick for my show this week.  I have to make this one good.”  Greg said, trying to recall what was supposed to come next.  Nick sighed and slumped his shoulders.

                “Seriously?  You’re still trying?  I’ve told you like, twenty times you’re not cut out for the comedy scene.”

                “I am so.”  Greg said defensively.  “I just haven’t found my niche yet is all.”

                “Your niche is somewhere not related to comedy.  Seriously, you’re just not funny.”

                “Are you kidding?  I’m hysterical.  At least I will be once I get the right routine down.”

                “Look, Greg, I like you, but you’re delusional.  I mean, how many times have you tried stand-up comedy before?  Ten?  Fifteen?”

                “Six so far.”  Greg said bluntly.

                “And how many times have you gotten so much as a chuckle out of your audience?”

                Greg didn’t want to answer.  He knew he had yet to succeed.  In fact, he had even been booed off the stage during one of his shows.  But he felt that somewhere, deep down inside was a comedian just waiting to emerge.  He just needed the right shtick to do so. 

                “That’s all just the beginning.  I have to learn what doesn’t work before I can focus in on what does.  And I think I may have hit the jackpot with this one.  Take a look.”

                Greg slid his chair aside and let Nick read what he had written so far.  Nick looked over the words and had to keep himself from cringing every other line.  The whole thing was made up of bad puns, clichéd one liners and unfunny attempts at observational humor.  The thing fell flat from the very first line.

                Greg looked at his roommate hopefully reading his material.  The fact that Nick hadn’t laughed once was fine.  It was really just words right now.  It needed his delivery to really make it funny.  He waited anxiously for Nick to finish.

                “Well?  Great stuff, isn’t it?”  Greg said once Nick had finished.

                “You know what’s funny about this?”  Nick said, turning to look at Greg, “It’s that you think this will make anyone laugh.  Seriously, it’s terrible.  It’s an insult to comedy, really.”

                Greg couldn’t believe what he had just heard.  How could Nick think such fine comedy was junk?  He shoved Nick out of the way and sat huddled over the computer keyboard.”

                “Oh, what do you know?  This stuff is golden.  Anyway, I’m not even close to being done with it.  You’ll see, once I’m finished, the audience will be on the floor laughing.”  He looked at the words on the screen, sure that he had struck comedy gold with them.

                “Uh huh.  You just keep telling yourself that.  I’ll be over here, watching TV.  I think there’s some real comedians on right now.  Maybe you should watch.  Maybe you’ll learn what really goes into comedy.”

                Greg just grumbled and resumed his work.  He searched his mind for new lines to fit into his routine.  Nick’s interruption had jarred most of them loose, but they were there.  He just had to find them.  He would be a comedian, he was sure of that.  He just needed more practice.
*************************************
I've never tried it myself, but supposedly, stand-up comedy is actually really hard to do.  I can't imagine me doing it, that's for sure.  Getting up in front of large crowds in not easy or enjoyable for me, and I'd probably screw it up in dozens of different ways, no matter how good the material is.  But that's just me.  Obviously, there's no shortage of potential and actual comics out there who do just that all the time.  My hat off to those brave souls.