Warm-ups

Pass the Clap

Two players clap in perfect unison, then the clap travels around the circle. Simultaneity matters more than speed.

Warm-ups · 5 or more players · 3–4 minutes

Also known as: Sync Clap

How to run it

Stand in a circle.
Turn to the player beside you, make eye contact, and clap at exactly the same moment as they do.
That player turns to the next and repeats.
Send it in one direction until it is smooth, then allow players to reverse it or send it across the circle.
Stop when the group can complete a full circuit without a single clap being early or late.

What it teaches

Shared timing. Groups that cannot clap together generally cannot edit together either.

Coaching notes

If a pair is out of sync, do not let them move on. The point is the adjustment, which requires watching the other person's body rather than counting in your own head.

Where it usually goes wrong. Players clap on their own internal rhythm and call it close enough.

Related reading: edits.

See it played

We do not link individual videos we have not watched end to end, so this is a search rather than a recommendation: Pass the Clap on YouTube. Quality varies enormously — prefer recordings from working theatres over tutorial channels.