what does Sinbad and Sergeant Stubby have in common?
Sinbad (dog) Sinbad (c. 1937 – 30 December 1951) was a mixed-breed dog that was one of two animals to be classified as non-commissioned officers by an arm of the United States military, rather than property, prior to the enactment of regulations to prohibit such (the other being Sergeant Stubby USA, WWI) after being enlisted by the creative crew of USCGC "Campbell" . Prior to and after an official retirement, Sinbad was assigned the rank of K9C or "Chief Dog" - equivalent to Chief Petty Officer. At the time of the biography written by George Foley, no other member of the United States Coast Guard had yet been the subject of a published biography. Sinbad spent 11 years at sea on the "Campbell" including combat in World War II that became widely publicized as part of the homefront campaign.
Shtick A shtick (Yiddish: שטיק‎ ) (or schtick) is a comic theme or gimmick. "Shtick" is derived from the Yiddish word "shtik" (שטיק), meaning "piece"; the closely related 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"; comic 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. A "shtick" can also 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".