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Schtick
A shtick ( yi, שטיק) is a comic theme or gimmick. The word entered the English language from the Yiddish ''shtik'' (שטיק), in turn derived from German ''Stück'' and Polish ''sztuka'' (both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *''stukkiją''), all meaning "piece", "thing" or "theatre play"; note that "Theaterstück" is the German word for play (and is a synonym of "Schauspiel", literally "viewing play" in contrast to the "Singspiel"). The English word "piece" is sometimes used in a similar context (for example, a musical piece). In stand-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 by Laurel and Hardy through all of their many comedy films (although they often played characters with different ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gimmick
A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand out" from its competitors. Product gimmicks are sometimes considered mere novelties, and tangential to the product's functioning. Gimmicks are occasionally viewed negatively, but some seemingly trivial gimmicks of the past have evolved into useful, permanent features. The term is also sometimes used to describe unusual features or playstyles in video games, usually if they are unnecessary or obnoxious. Etymology The origin of the term "gimmick" is uncertain. Etymologists suggest that the term emerged in the United States in the early 20th century. The ''Oxford Dictionary'' suggests that it may have originally been a slang term for something that a con artist or magician manipulated to make appearances different from reality and gradually ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She earned many honors, including the Women in Film Crystal Award, an induction into the Television Hall of Fame, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center Honors, and the Governors Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Ball's career began in 1929 when she landed work as a model. Shortly thereafter, she began her performing career on Broadway using the stage name Diane (or Dianne) Belmont. She later appeared in films in the 1930s and 1940s as a contract player for RKO Radio Pictures, being cast as a chorus girl or in similar roles, with lead roles in B-pictures and supporting roles in A-pictures. During this time, she met Cuban bandlea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or concerts. Its most common form is triangular in shape and made of wood. Some have multiple rows of strings and pedal attachments. Ancient depictions of harps were recorded in Current-day Iraq (Mesopotamia), Iran (Persia), and Egypt, and later in India and China. By medieval times harps had spread across Europe. Harps were found across the Americas where it was a popular folk tradition in some areas. Distinct designs also emerged from the African continent. Harps have symbolic political traditions and are often used in logos, including in Ireland. History Harps have been known since antiquity in Asia, Africa, and Europe, dating back at least as early as 3000 BCE. The instrument had great popularity in Europe during the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trench Coat
A trench coat or trenchcoat is a variety of coat made of waterproof heavy-duty fabric, originally developed for British Army officers before the First World War, and becoming popular while used in the trenches. Originally made from gabardine, a worsted wool fabric waterproofed using lanolin before weaving, the traditional colour of a trench coat was khaki. Traditionally trench coats are double-breasted with 10 front buttons, wide lapels, a storm flap, and pockets that button-close. The coat is belted at the waist with a self-belt, with raglan sleeves ending in cuff straps around the wrists that also buckle, to keep water from running down the forearm when using binoculars in the rain. The coat often has epaulets that button-close, which were functional in a military context. The trench coat was typically worn as a windbreaker or as a rain jacket, and not for sole protection from the cold in winter. Although many come with removable wool liners for additional warmth, they are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mime Artist
A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a theatrical medium or as a performance art. In earlier times, in English, such a performer would typically be referred to as a mummer. Miming is distinguished from silent comedy, in which the artist is a character in a film or skit without sound. Jacques Copeau, strongly influenced by Commedia dell'arte and Japanese Noh theatre, used masks in the training of his actors. His pupil Étienne Decroux was highly influenced by this, started exploring and developing the possibilities of mime, and developed corporeal mime into a highly sculptural form, taking it outside the realms of naturalism. Jacques Lecoq contributed significantly to the development of mime and physical theatre with his training methods. As a result of this, the practice of mime has been includ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Accent (dialect)
In sociolinguistics, an accent is a way of pronouncing a language that is distinctive to a country, area, social class, or individual. An accent may be identified with the locality in which its speakers reside (a regional or geographical accent), the socioeconomic status of its speakers, their ethnicity (an ethnolect), their caste or social class (a social accent), or influence from their first language (a foreign accent). Accents typically differ in quality of voice, pronunciation and distinction of vowels and consonants, stress, and prosody. Although grammar, semantics, vocabulary, and other language characteristics often vary concurrently with accent, the word "accent" may refer specifically to the differences in pronunciation, whereas the word "dialect" encompasses the broader set of linguistic differences. "Accent" is often a subset of "dialect". History As human beings spread out into isolated communities, stresses and peculiarities develop. Over time, they can develop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italian Language
Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about 85 million people (2022), Italian is an official language in Italy, Switzerland (Ticino and the Grisons), San Marino, and Vatican City. It has an official minority status in western Istria (Croatia and Slovenia). Italian is also spoken by large immigrant and expatriate communities in the Americas and Australia.Ethnologue report for language code:ita (Italy) – Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version Itali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lascivious
Lascivious behavior is sexual behavior or conduct that is considered crude and offensive, or contrary to local moral or other standards of appropriate behavior. In this sense "lascivious" is similar in meaning to "lewd", "indecent", "lecherous", "unchaste", "licentious" or " libidinous". Legal usage In American legal jargon, ''lascivious'' is a semi-technical term indicating immoral sexual actions and in certain cases, words or thoughts. It is often used in the legal description of criminal acts in which some sort of sexual activity is prohibited. The legal definition of the term varies greatly across jurisdictions, and has evolved significantly over time, reflective of current moral values as they relate to sexuality. For example, in 1896, ''lascivious cohabitation'' referred to the now-archaic crime of living with a member of the opposite sex and having premarital sex with him or her. In 2015, the laws of three states of the United States (Florida, Michigan and Mississippi) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harpo Marx
Arthur "Harpo" Marx (born Adolph Marx; November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, mime artist, and harpist, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers. In contrast to the mainly verbal comedy of his brothers Groucho and Chico, Harpo's comic style was visual, being an example of vaudeville, clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish blond wig and was silent in all his movie appearances, instead blowing a horn or whistling to communicate. Marx frequently employed props such as a horn cane constructed from a lead pipe, tape, and a bulbhorn. Early life Harpo was born on November 23, 1888, in Manhattan, New York City. He grew up in a neighborhood now known as Carnegie Hill (known at the time as Yorkville) on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, on East 93rd Street off Lexington Avenue. The turn-of-the-century tenement that Harpo later called "the first real home I can remember" was situated in a neighborhood populated with European immig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chico Marx
Leonard Joseph "Chico" Marx (; March 22, 1887 – October 11, 1961) was an American comedian, actor and pianist. He was the oldest brother in the Marx Brothers comedy troupe, alongside his brothers Adolph ("Harpo"), Julius ("Groucho"), Milton ("Gummo") and Herbert ("Zeppo"). His persona in the act was that of a charming, uneducated but crafty con artist, seemingly of rural Italian origin, who wore shabby clothes and sported a curly-haired wig and Tyrolean hat. On screen, Chico is often in alliance with Harpo, usually as partners in crime, and is also frequently seen trying to con or outfox Groucho. Leonard was the oldest of the Marx Brothers to live past early childhood (first-born was his older brother Manfred Marx who had died in infancy). In addition to his work as a performer, he played an important role in the management and development of the act in its early years. Early years Chico (pronounced as Chicko) was born in Manhattan, New York City, on March 22, 1887.During hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit and one of America's greatest comedians. He made 13 feature films as a team with his siblings the Marx Brothers; he was the third-born of the brothers. He also had a successful solo career primarily on radio and television, most notably as the host of the game show ''You Bet Your Life''. His distinctive appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included quirks such as an exaggerated stooped posture, spectacles, cigar, and a thick greasepaint mustache and eyebrows. These exaggerated features resulted in the creation of one of the most recognizable and ubiquitous novelty disguises, known as Groucho glasses: a one-piece mask consisting of horn-rimmed glasses, a large plastic nose, bushy eyebrows and mustache. Early life Julius H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) as among the top 100 comedy films, with two of them, '' Duck Soup'' (1933) and '' A Night at the Opera'' (1935), in the top fifteen. They are widely considered by critics, scholars and fans to be among the greatest and most influential comedians of the 20th century. The brothers were included in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars list of the 25 greatest male stars of Classical Hollywood cinema, the only performers to be included collectively. The brothers are almost universally known by their stage names: Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo, and Zeppo. There was a sixth brother, the first born, named Manfred (Mannie), who died in infancy; Zeppo was given the middle name Manfred in his memory. The core of the act was the three elder brothers: C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
