I think every comedian has "the fixed patterns of actions or lines" or "the routine way of getting a laugh", which are repeated many times. What is the normal way to call them?
Basically I want to say "Doing something is someone's famous _____." or "This line is known as a _____ to English-speaking people.", and I need a phrase that fits here.
My research yielded several candidates: "shtick", "formula", "gag routine", "signature gag", etc., but I have no idea about the nuances.
In particular, the word "shtick" seems good according to this Wikipedia article, but this term is new to me. Googling shtick basically lists the definitions in many online dictionaries and glossaries, rather than the actual occasions of this word in news headlines, etc., which gave me the impression that this word is used rather infrequently.