Kent French is the World's Fastest Clapper, and the Japanese just had to see it. So off he went to Tokyo this month, where he found himself backstage at a Japanese television show alongside the woman with the tiniest waist and the backwards bowler.
"They put me in a tux," he said, "and I couldn't understand anything they were saying. When the woman with the tiniest waist came out, … I thought she was going to snap in half."
It's all part of the rollercoaster of fame that French, of Rapid City, has experienced since he earned the Guinness World Records title in 2003 for clapping 721 times in one minute. Since then, French has circumnavigated the globe, performing on more than 40 radio and talk shows.
His credits the new surge in popularity to the Internet's YouTube and MySpace, where viewers can now download a live video of him clapping.
"I put it on, and MySpace got 1.1 million hits, and YouTube got a quarter of a million hits," he said. "That's when it went crazy."
French said his background as a drummer is what got him into clapping in the first place.
"If you've ever been around a drummer, everything is an instrument," he said. He said most people clap with their dominant hand, but you can get more claps in if you learn to use both hands.
His training regime is much more than slapping his hands together. It's all about push-ups and pull-ups. When he gets done with a set of claps, his shoulders hurt, not his hands.
"The first half of it is the fast hands with technique," he said. "The other half is the endurance."
After earning the Guinness title, French began expanding the different ways that he could perform by adding music, and different rhythms.
In 2007, he traveled to Scotland and England to perform for university students. He's also been on "Jimmy Kimmel Live, "The Ellen Degeneres Show," "America's Got Talent," BBC radio and MTV2.
French said the Japan trip was difficult because he hadn't slept for almost two days when it came time to perform.
"I was backstage and could barely keep my eyes open," he said.
The show, "Unbelievable Stories: 10th Anniversary Special," is viewed by 10 million people and was hosted by Japanese celebrities, he said. But he didn't have enough time to warm up, and by the time he got to the stage, "My eyes were bloodshot, and my arms were lead. … If you had never seen it, it was probably OK, … but I knew I wasn't right on."
Someone must have been impressed, though, because he has been contacted by another Japanese TV station, Inside Edition and NBC's True Entertainment.
It's exciting, he said, but his biggest goal right now is seeing his name published in the official Guinness World Records book. Although he was awarded the title, not all world record-breakers' names are published. It's at the discretion of the editor.
"Maybe it would get their attention if I broke my record," he said.
In the meantime, he shares his success with his wife, Jean, and their nine children, who range in age from 6 to 22.
"I do a lot of clapping for the kids," he said, not just to show them his skills, but in accolades for their school activities and performances.
Now, French is back to his day job managing the Rapid City Red Lobster, but he dreams that his celebrity might someday land him a contract promoting deodorant or energy bars.
He is always ready in case he's spotted or gets a request, carrying a travel-size bottle of baby oil in his pocket.
If warmed up properly, French can still hit the world record speed of 12 claps per second, but he's going to have to do better than that, he said, if he's going to succeed in breaking it. That's OK, he said.
"It's constantly evolving, this clapping thing," he said.
Contact Kayla Gahagan at 394-8410 or kayla.gahagan@rapidcityjournal.com
