You Gotta Get a Gimmick

“Do something special,
Anything special,
And you'll get better because,
You’re more than just a mimic,
When you gotta gimmick,
Take a look how different we are!”

The 1964 movie version of the musical “Gypsy” has always been one of my favorites. There’s just something about demanding stage mothers and daughters forced into burlesque that I found both charming and amusing at the same time (but I am a sick individual…and you all knew that).

But the number “You Gotta Have a Gimmick,” has a special place in my heart. Three veteran dancers school the soon-to-be-anointed Gypsy Rose Lee on how to make it in this here Burlesque Game (take that hip-hop). Mazeppa, Electra, and Tessie Tura shake and shimmy their way through the number touting their specific “gimmick.” I love this number because 1) They sing off key…so I can sing along too; 2) It has the line “You can sacrifice your sachro, working in a back row.” (What, pray tell, is a ‘sachro?’); and 3) The song resonates really well in real life.

WHAT?! “Okay, Lily…how much have you had to drink today?”

Ease up. I’m not drunk. But truly, the song does have its own application to everyday life. Think about the people you meet and work with on a daily basis. Now think really hard about the ones you thought were memorable. Now think about what exactly made them memorable. Was it the way they talked? Was it their confidence? Was it their knowledge?

Everyone has a gimmick. A shtick. A thing. A move. It is commonly known as having an “angle.” But this isn’t the gimmick I’m talking about. I’m talking about the attributes that set you apart from the next guy. The world is a heck of a lot smaller thanks to communication, technology, and buying power. We have access to just about everything. This has led to a lot of “sameness.” Everyone wants to be everyone else.

We tend to forget one thing: Unique people stand out of the crowd. And it’s those unique people that tend to be successful.

I’ve worked with a lot of talented people in my short life. But it constantly amazes me that they refuse to use their talents to further themselves. Here they have this great gimmick, but they sell themselves short by either wasting it or, worse yet, denying that they have it.

Are people afraid to succeed? Is that why they want to blend into the crowd? Has our society evolved to the point where being a lemming is easier than being a starfish?

But why be afraid of success? It’s the differences between people that make life interesting and make our world go. Think of how many companies that wouldn’t exist if their CEOs didn’t step up out of the crowd with their gimmick? We wouldn’t have Google, we wouldn’t have Mrs. Fields, and we wouldn’t have Pixar. Our world would be reduced to floating around the internet without a map, jonesing for cookies, and stuck with sub-par animation.

What is worse than not wanting to stand out, are the complaints that come when the unique people succeed. Work is the perfect example of this. Once, I was in a position to receive a promotion. I had put in some long hours and hard work. I made myself visible to the people responsible for the position. I did everything I could to show them that I was the right person for this job. When I did get the position, no less than three of the other candidates complained to the gossip mongers that I was kissing a little too much ass and that was the reason I got the job.

Don’t hate me because I’m willing to sell my gimmick. Some people call it grand standing, I call it natural. It should be natural for people to want to put their best foot forward. We should never hide behind a crowd…hell, there really should never be a crowd. We’re all wired differently enough that we should stand on our own.

In this day and age of potential sameness, I encourage everyone to find their gimmick. No one wants to be a fleeting memory. Deep down inside, everyone wants to be a headliner. So, step out of the crowd and don’t be afraid to show-off a little. Trust me, there’s a lot more to lose if you blend in. And if someone gives you any flack, just remember the words of our three friendly Burlesque Queens from “Gypsy:”

“If you wanna make it,
Twinkle while you shake it.
If you wanna grind it,
Wait till you refined it.
If you wanna stump it,
Bump it with a trumpet!
Get yourself a gimmick and you too,
Can be a star!”