The clap
A thought struck me today as I was listening to a comedy CD of a live performance. Has anyone actually ever listened to the clapping from the audience, particularly when the entire performance is over? It’s a bit obvious that I have. It is probably the second most entertaining thing to listen to, right beside the jokes that a comedian makes. Honestly, if you listen carefully enough, you notice that at some point everyone has decided to clap rhythmically with each other. There are no “off-beat†claps; everyone is clapping at the same time, at the same pace.
Have you ever wondered how that happens? I mean, clapping isn’t that difficult and I can’t imagine that an entire audience needs to rely on one person to keep the beat so they know when to clap again. Whose clap timing do they follow? Someone must be standing there applauding and then coming to the conclusion, “I must be the leader†and then start their very own kind of clap that everyone begins to follow. Are we really that incapable of clapping; are we that unoriginal that we must copy the applauding methods of another? These are all questions that will probably never be answered properly.
The funny thing is, I know that every one of you reading this are saying, “I don’t clap with everyone else.†You’re all sitting there thinking that you’re the leader and everyone follows you with a clap, because you certainly don’t follow them.
You were provoked by Vittra at 3:20 pm | 13 opinions »
November 25th, 2005
Hm. The way I see it, clapping is a chore after 15 seconds. I can foresee people clapping longer than that only because everyone else is. People clap in unison maybe because they don’t want to any more.
Or maybe because the “applause” light is still lit.
November 25th, 2005
I always assume that most of the clapping put onto a cd or DVD,even though it’s suppose to be recorded live, is canned clapping.
November 25th, 2005
Hahhaha ah that’s good. I’ll just sit here and grin cause that was a funny li’l post.
November 26th, 2005
I read the title and I thought, The Clap, the STD.
November 26th, 2005
Humans are so pathetic !
November 26th, 2005
That was why I chose it, as I was telling Jax, it creates one excellent pun. As soon as I noticed that there were two more comments, I knew one of them would be from you, Prick, saying that you thought of the clap.
November 26th, 2005
And we’re all sitting here thinking ‘Yes, she really did see two more comments and knew that one of them was Prick with a comment about the clap.’
I suppose that should justify my clicking of the button to post this up hmm?
No wait, isn’t that an expectation, and me fulfilling it? Oh my gawd! Where’s my diary! I need to put this in!
Tsk, humans..
November 27th, 2005
Good post, but had to comment on this comment – a gorgeous comment of idiotic proportions and oblivious paradox.
November 28th, 2005
I clap silently to all your posts here and I say “yeah”! Makes me wonder about those people in the studio watching an Oprah show, are they for real? Do they really clap?
December 10th, 2005
Good point.. everyone has possibly realised that they are indeed the instigators.
I know I’m not.. I am cynical enough to pretend to clap. Rarely, when moved enough.. I will. But even then I probably conclude the aforesaid chorus.
There. I knew I was different.
December 18th, 2005
Haha, I had the same thought as Prick. What does that say about me?
Yea, once I learned that I was killing my skin cells by clapping, I’ve refrained from clapping too hard.
December 18th, 2005
Aren’t several layers on ones skin already nothing more than dead skin cells that merely flake off whenever they are touched? Every time you dry yourself with a towel, layers of dead skin cells are coming off. Every time you rub your arm or something like that, that’s more dead skin cells; that’s how dust is created – the excess dead skin cells sitting around and accumulating over time. I wouldn’t say that you are killing skin cells when clapping, but certainly getting rid of a few layers, yes.
It’s interesting to hear how many people have taken this entries title the same way that Prick had. It’s good to see that my pun is working beautifully, for the most part.
March 17th, 2006
I’ve read this entry many times over, mainly because I believe it was the last one I read before you switched your blog over to flickeringcolours.com; but every time, I remember that I had other entries to read, and that I shouldn’t reply to this one until I’d read the others (even though I had finished this one a long time ago). Because of my long wait, though, most of my reply has been concluded with others’ replies. Still, I must say that I do like the sound of everyone clapping in rhythm.