The most claps in one minute are 804 and were achieved by Bryan Bednarek (USA), at the Energy Command Studios in Arlington Heights, Illinois, USA, on 1 February 2014. According to the Guinness World Records site, Bryan claps to music, claps when he’s excited, claps when he’s running and exercising, and claps to keep warm during cold car rides!
If you’re curious about the logistics of breaking a clapping record — What constitutes a clap? Who decides if it’s legitimate? — look no further than the YouTube video, where Bednarek outlines a few of the official rules:
“A ‘clap’ is confined to noises made by an individual’s two palms meeting.”
“At least two qualified and experienced sound engineers, preferably from a
university or studio dealing with recording should be in attendance and monitor
the attempt, and take responsibility for determining the number of claps.”
“Two experienced timekeepers (e.g. from a local athletics club) must time the
attempt with stopwatches accurate to 0.01 seconds.”
“The distance from the competitor to the microphone is to be 2.5 m (8 ft 2.4 in)
with the microphone at approximately one meter above the ground.”