Video Editor: Vishal Kumar
Full-time musician Eli Bishop, from Nashville, Tennessee, US, is no stranger to performing on the big stage, but it isn’t necessarily just his violin skills that have set the world alight. This barmy musician, boasts a staggering twenty claps per second – a strange skill that’s helped him break two world records.
In May 2014, the 26-year-old made his bizarre side-passion of speed clapping public, when he broke the Guinness World Record for the number of claps in a minute, achieving an unbelievable 1,020 strikes.
Since then, Eli has performed speed clapping all over the world, from the UK to Japan.
Recently, having his efforts bettered by sixty more claps, Eli has since eclipsed his own record with a new personal best of 1,103 claps in a minute, which is currently being reviewed by Guinness and soon to be announced as a new world record.
When I was training to break the world record I was clapping every day until exhaustion – I had to build up calluses on my hands. The hardest thing about clapping for the record is continuously doing it for a minute. It’s easy to do it for short period of time, but to clap for sixty seconds is really difficult.Eli Bishop
However, preparing for the world record was not a piece of cake for Bishop and he ensured that he worked hard every single day, sometimes to the extent of bruising his arms.
What shocks most people is not just Bishop’s claps but also the fact that speed clapping for him is a side hobby while he is also a trained violinist by profession.
Even though clapping is a hobby for me, I’ve been given some great opportunities through clapping. I’ve been able to go to China, Hong Kong, I’ve been on national TV in China, United States and the UK. I’ve met some really incredible people through clapping. I’m so thankful for all of the opportunities that clapping has brought me.Eli Bishop
Text: AP
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