or: “You gotta have a Schtick kid”

These were the words of Frank Soper of Adams and Soper Talent Agency in Boston.

Abbott Adams and Frank Soper had a small office on the 3rd floor of 420 Boylston St. in Boston. Their office was always being visited by all types of entertainers looking for work. I know, I worked there “learning the business” helping out by shuffling papers, doing the mail, getting lunch for them at the deli downstairs, and anything else they needed.

When you do country music and you are from Maine, you need a gimmick. Let's try an eye patch. Which eye though?

Here is the classic song about Route 2 from Houlton to Bangor Tombstone Every Mile:

It seems that Mr. Frank Soper -who always dressed impeccably with his signature bowties (his own schtick) - had an eye for talent, having booked Blinstrubs in South Boston for years, having brought in the likes of Wayne Newton, Frank Sinatra, Jerry Vale, Tony Bennett, and all of the comedians on the circuit back then. Well, he thought that I had talent and wanted to help me exploit that talent. I remember him saying one steamy summer day in Boston: “You gotta have a gimmick kid. People will remember you if you have a gimmick”. He suggested to me things like: “Dress all in white with a white guitar, that will make people remember”. Of course at the time, I had no clue which direction my talent would take me, only that I had that ’something’. But ’something’ doesn’t get very far if you don’t have an engine to power the machine. That engine comes in the form of an important piece of the whole puzzle. The Jews, who we all know invented Vaudeville, have a Yiddish word for it: Schtick.

Johnny Cash was well known for his signature look of dressing in black.

The Blue Man Group. Well, where would they be without the greasepaint?

The Blue Man Group