We were recently at a church service where a baptism was performed. When the pouring of water and blessings were complete, the priest invited everyone to welcome the youngster into the church; everyone gave a hearty round of applause. And it got me thinking. This was likely the first time this child received applause. How much more was he likely to have in the years to come?
Depending on your lifestyle, you might find your hands coming together in a clapping form quite a lot or rarely. If you attend a lot of sporting events, you might need a separate tube of hand lotiont to prevent cracking problems. If you see concerts or plays, you are likely to clap frequently as well. But it seems much less likely that you are clapping a lot if you’re simply watching television or binging a show on Netflix.
I did a little research on applause and found quite a few stories about the evolution of clapping. As we know, babies tend to do it naturally, so we can assume it’s been around as long as humans have inhabited the planet. There are many biblical references, such as acclaiming a king or celebrating with applause. History shows how applause has impacted historical events such as part of the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of William Shakespeare as a playwright.
Applause is often used to measure audience appreciation. The louder and longer the applause, the more the audience enjoyed the performance. Sometimes we even stand up along with the loud sounds emanating from our hands. We might add whistles or other sounds, such as trilling or shouting, to the cacophony. When people who are hard of hearing are present, you’ll also often see snapping fingers.
My senior year in high school, we put on a skit for the Homecoming pepfest. This was a tradition at my high school where each grade did that each year. We put together a production that had some boys dressed up as Homecoming queen candidates and eventually brought it to a point where they would have a posedown to determine the winner. I was emceeing and had no idea who the winner would be since we would base that on the loudness of the applause from the crowd. A little improv was needed, but it was a true measure of the power of applause since the winner garnered more noise than I ever heard in that gym!
Have you ever been somewhere and watched as everyone else started applauding loudly, but you didn’t really feel that urge? Michelle and I used to attend plays at MSU regularly. One year they put on a real stinker, trying to imitate Shakespeare without coming within any range of succeeding. Many people in the crowd did not return after intermission, which gives you an indication of how bad it was. I didn’t feel any need for loud, boisterous applause when it was finally done; some simple clapping to recognize the efforts was sufficient.
Now that’s different from the applause you might hear at a golf event. There is such a thing as a “golf clap.” This is where you do some light applause using the fingers of one hand on the palm of the other. This is due to the etiquette that has been part of golf for a long time. However, lately there have been rumblings about the increasing amount of noise on the PGA Tour. Fans are shouting things at golfers at inappropriate times and hooting and hollering more than necessary. Traditionalists are aghast at this behavior, but times are changing, even in that cultured sport.
Sometimes we’re not sure when to stop clapping because we’re so excited. When a band performs an exceptional tune to finish a concert, you might feel like leaping up and clapping until your hands are raw. When the cast of a play leaves you laughing and crying and singing, you might want to do the same. When your team wins the state basketball championship, you feel like clapping for days afterwards. (True story: I had to seek out first aid at Williams Arena one year because my hands were bleeding from so much clapping. Clearly, I should have known better than to not have hand lotion with!)
Athletes feed off applause. The louder the gym, the more hyped they get. It can also be intimidating to an opposing team when the home crowd rises up, clapping and cheering. It doesn’t matter if it’s pros, college, high school, or even elementary sports, that sound is impactful. The same goes for any performers. Comedians seem to get better the more applause they hear, along with the laughter. Rodney Dangerfield once said that he felt like he was bombing if there wasn’t loud laughter at each of his jokes. It’s really a state of mind and a fuel for that performer.
I remember there used to be more clapping at the end of a good movie, but there doesn’t seem to be as much of that anymore. Of course, being the Star Wars fan that I am, I was heartened while seeing The Force Awakens a couple years ago when people started clapping as soon as the scroll appeared to start the movie; they also applauded at the end. Even without the actors present, it felt right to show appreciation for the work.
Now you probably will not put down your paper and clap when you finish reading this, and that’s okay. Just knowing you’re reading is all the appreciation I need.
Word of the Week: This week’s word is philoxenist, which means one who is happiest when entertaining strangers, as in, “The philoxenist on the street corner, performing with his ukelele, enjoyed the applause, but liked the money in his case more.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!