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Clapper Gag
- 189 statements
- 36 feature instances
- 27 referencing feature instances
Clapper Gag | type |
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Clapper Gag | comment |
The clapper is one of the quintessential infomercial gadgets: A sound-sensitive switch that can be used to turn devices on and off — typically by clapping — although any sharp, loud sound can also do it. On film and TV, the clapper is used almost exclusively for lights, and typically as a joke. Given how gimmicky the product is, people aren't expected to have them; not to mention that since the device can't distinguish between clapping and other sounds, it is very possible to set it off accidentally. Believe it or not, it's not usually a case of Product Placement. The product itself is rarely seen, and thanks in part to this trope the idea is ubiquitous enough that people know what it is without needing to have their attention called to it. So much so, that many people that know this trope might not even know such a product ever existed in real life in the first place. Examples |
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Clapper Gag | processingComment |
Dropped link to DeadTVRemoteGag: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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Dropped link to TransAtlanticEquivalent: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Clapper Gag | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
Clapper Gag / int_1c1c599 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_1c1c599 | comment |
Madagascar: Alex has a clapper-activated light over the place where he sleeps in his pen at the zoo, which he uses right before realizing the zoo people left the ambience on. | |
Clapper Gag / int_1c1c599 | featureApplicability |
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Clapper Gag / int_1c1c599 | featureConfidence |
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Madagascar | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_1c1c599 | |
Clapper Gag / int_1ed2c571 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_1ed2c571 | comment |
Not the Clapper itself, but a similar device appears on The Cosby Show. The Huxtable kids buy their father a keychain for his birthday that can be located by clapping. The kids demonstrate and repeatedly get it to work, but Cliff himself can't. He decides to hold onto it anyway because his kids gave it to him out of love. At the end of the episode, he mentions that he's gotten a little thicker over the years and pats his belly. Now, the keychain goes off. | |
Clapper Gag / int_1ed2c571 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_1ed2c571 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_1ed2c571 | |
Clapper Gag / int_261c8d3f | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_261c8d3f | comment |
An episode of The Simpsons had Homer repeatedly clapping his hands in an effort to turn the lights off. Marge eventually tells him that they don't have a Clapper. | |
Clapper Gag / int_261c8d3f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_261c8d3f | featureConfidence |
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The Simpsons | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_261c8d3f | |
Clapper Gag / int_2cfe43cb | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_2cfe43cb | comment |
An episode of Adventures in Odyssey has Eugene lose his car keys (again) in Whit's End. He then starts whistling and Whit has to explain to someone else in the shop that Eugene is doing this because Whit got him an early Christmas present: because Eugene keeps losing his car keys, Whit bought him a present to attach to his car keys that will make a noise if he whistles for them. | |
Clapper Gag / int_2cfe43cb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_2cfe43cb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Adventures in Odyssey (Radio) | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_2cfe43cb | |
Clapper Gag / int_2edc143e | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_2edc143e | comment |
A gag in Around the World in 80 Days (2004) used a variant of this trope that involves turning the lights on and off via whistling. This eventually leads to another gag where Jackie Chan's character whistles in astonishment, accidentally turning off the lights in the process. | |
Clapper Gag / int_2edc143e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_2edc143e | featureConfidence |
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Around the World in 80 Days (2004) | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_2edc143e | |
Clapper Gag / int_30ac0866 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_30ac0866 | comment |
In The Bad Guys (2022), Professor Marmalade has a lamp designed as himself holding the heart-shaped meteorite in his manor that activates with clapping. It's him self-applauding himself at the end of the film that reveals the swap between the lamp and the real meteorite, also implicating him of the crimes. | |
Clapper Gag / int_30ac0866 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_30ac0866 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Bad Guys (2022) | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_30ac0866 | |
Clapper Gag / int_31521ba2 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_31521ba2 | comment |
Funny moment in Garden State, where genuine applause accidentally triggers the clapper and turns off the living room lights. | |
Clapper Gag / int_31521ba2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_31521ba2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Garden State | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_31521ba2 | |
Clapper Gag / int_3651bc0c | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_3651bc0c | comment |
In The Princess and the Frog, an elderly firefly turns on her light by clapping. | |
Clapper Gag / int_3651bc0c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_3651bc0c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Princess and the Frog | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_3651bc0c | |
Clapper Gag / int_3cfa5020 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_3cfa5020 | comment |
A non-lights version appears in Tank Girl. While the little girl Sam is held captive in the Liquid Silver resort she tricks a customer into grabbing a silver ball she has. When she claps her hands twice, the ball sends blades into the customer's hand, incapacitating him. | |
Clapper Gag / int_3cfa5020 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_3cfa5020 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Tank Girl | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_3cfa5020 | |
Clapper Gag / int_3f5f4ea2 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_3f5f4ea2 | comment |
In the second movie Austin Powers' swinging bachelor pad has a fireplace that turns on when he claps. | |
Clapper Gag / int_3f5f4ea2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_3f5f4ea2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Austin Powers | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_3f5f4ea2 | |
Clapper Gag / int_426a7572 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_426a7572 | comment |
One Animaniacs skit was Slappy Squrriel advertising "The Slapper". Also one of the post-credits scenes is the Warner siblings singing The Clapper jingle. | |
Clapper Gag / int_426a7572 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_426a7572 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Animaniacs | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_426a7572 | |
Clapper Gag / int_4617a9f2 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_4617a9f2 | comment |
One episode of Married... with Children has Bud Bundy slapped twice by an angry girl, setting off the Clapper effect with the lights. | |
Clapper Gag / int_4617a9f2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_4617a9f2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Married... with Children | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_4617a9f2 | |
Clapper Gag / int_46518682 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_46518682 | comment |
In an "Abby's Flying Fairy School" segment of Sesame Street, Abby, Blogg, and Gonnigan are turned into fishes to look for Blogg's Slime ball collection when he accidentally drops it in the ocean. To light up a dark part of the ocean, Blogg claps against an electric eel, even saying The Clapper's slogan while he does it. | |
Clapper Gag / int_46518682 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_46518682 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Sesame Street | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_46518682 | |
Clapper Gag / int_5439ec9c | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_5439ec9c | comment |
A 2003 Mother Goose and Grimm strip had an elderly Aladdin attempt to get the genie to come out of his lamp by clapping his hands.◊ | |
Clapper Gag / int_5439ec9c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_5439ec9c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Mother Goose and Grimm (Comic Strip) | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_5439ec9c | |
Clapper Gag / int_86772227 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_86772227 | comment |
In a story arc in Knights of the Dinner Table, B.A. installed a Clapper so he could dramatically turn the lights off during a game to create atmosphere. Brain kept clapping his hands so he could turn the lights back on to take notes. A clapping war ensued, eventually breaking the Clapper and leaving them stuck in the dark. | |
Clapper Gag / int_86772227 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_86772227 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Knights of the Dinner Table (Comic Strip) | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_86772227 | |
Clapper Gag / int_90a62d7d | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_90a62d7d | comment |
Hot Shots! Part Deux showcases that Saddam Hussein had The Clapper installed on his manor in a quick gag. | |
Clapper Gag / int_90a62d7d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_90a62d7d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Hot Shots! Part Deux | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_90a62d7d | |
Clapper Gag / int_90ab7fe1 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_90ab7fe1 | comment |
In the episode of Recess where Spinelli has to stay with Miss Finster, Miss Finster turns off her bedroom light by clapping her hands. | |
Clapper Gag / int_90ab7fe1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_90ab7fe1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Recess | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_90ab7fe1 | |
Clapper Gag / int_91381c35 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_91381c35 | comment |
In Robots, during the montage where Rodney helps to fix the Outmodes, one has a lightbulb for a nose. When Fender claps, the Outmode's nose lights up. When Fender and the Outmode give each other a high-five, the Outmode's nose dims out. | |
Clapper Gag / int_91381c35 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_91381c35 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Robots | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_91381c35 | |
Clapper Gag / int_92844ddb | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_92844ddb | comment |
In the Dinosaurs episode "Power Erupts" Robbie mentions that another student at his high school science fair made a lamp that can turn on/off at the sound of clapping. When he and Spike hi-five, the lights go off and someone yells, "Clap on, clap off, I'm rich!" | |
Clapper Gag / int_92844ddb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_92844ddb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dinosaurs | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_92844ddb | |
Clapper Gag / int_976efc02 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_976efc02 | comment |
On an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a scene of soldiers marching was msted this way: | |
Clapper Gag / int_976efc02 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_976efc02 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Mystery Science Theater 3000 | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_976efc02 | |
Clapper Gag / int_a63b23da | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_a63b23da | comment |
Made into a running joke in Bruce Almighty. Before Bruce has realized that he is meeting with God, he thinks that the "janitor" has installed the clapper. It continues to be one of God's calling cards, as he (and later Bruce) claps his hands to turn lights on and off even when there's no clapper in the room. | |
Clapper Gag / int_a63b23da | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_a63b23da | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Bruce Almighty | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_a63b23da | |
Clapper Gag / int_ae285944 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_ae285944 | comment |
Maid Marian uses it to turn on the lights in her room in Robin Hood: Men in Tights which adds an extra degree of humour since they're in 12th century England. | |
Clapper Gag / int_ae285944 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_ae285944 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Robin Hood: Men in Tights | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_ae285944 | |
Clapper Gag / int_b3933a70 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_b3933a70 | comment |
Home Improvement, "The Route of All Evil" (S 04 E 13). Tim and Al are repairing a gas leak. Just after Al is told all the electrics in the house have been turned off save one light that runs on a clapper, Tim comes up and claps. The house promptly goes boom. | |
Clapper Gag / int_b3933a70 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_b3933a70 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Home Improvement | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_b3933a70 | |
Clapper Gag / int_b5a087d7 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_b5a087d7 | comment |
Parodied in Robot Chicken with "The Shouter", which is exactly what the name implies. The demonstrations in the commercial are either frustrated expletives or cynical declarations. | |
Clapper Gag / int_b5a087d7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_b5a087d7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Robot Chicken | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_b5a087d7 | |
Clapper Gag / int_bc848d30 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_bc848d30 | comment |
The SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Have You Seen This Snail?" has Gary's new caretaker turning off her lights this way. Prehistoric versions of Spongebob and Patrick keep clapping repeatedly and turn the rain on and off until they do it one time too many and it doesn't stop. |
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Clapper Gag / int_bc848d30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_bc848d30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
SpongeBob SquarePants | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_bc848d30 | |
Clapper Gag / int_ccf5d01d | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_ccf5d01d | comment |
In Gruntz, this is referenced with the Black Screen curse. Curses are multiplayer items that, when picked up, cause some kind of temporary inconvenience for other players. This particular one causes other players to have their screen become completely black (except for the gruntz themselves), and the grunt who picks it up can say "Clap on, clap off!". | |
Clapper Gag / int_ccf5d01d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_ccf5d01d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Gruntz (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_ccf5d01d | |
Clapper Gag / int_d010a732 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_d010a732 | comment |
In Night at the Museum, the main character invented The Snapper, a gimmicky product just like The Clapper except it responds to finger-snapping. It failed to catch on because "clapping is easier than snapping".note The Clapper does also respond to snapping, provided you're close enough for it to hear the sound. It's the quick repetition that turns it on or off, not specifically the sound of clapping. | |
Clapper Gag / int_d010a732 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_d010a732 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Night at the Museum | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_d010a732 | |
Clapper Gag / int_daa2d589 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_daa2d589 | comment |
Smallfoot: Yetis use bioluminescent snails as lights, which they turn on by clapping to wake them up. | |
Clapper Gag / int_daa2d589 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_daa2d589 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Smallfoot | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_daa2d589 | |
Clapper Gag / int_e1c17f2e | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_e1c17f2e | comment |
In the second 2 Stupid Dogs episode where the dogs run into the Red Riding Hood with Tourette Syndrome, the three wind up in the home of the Three Bears. They retire to the bears' beds for the night, and Red claps her hands to turn the lights out. | |
Clapper Gag / int_e1c17f2e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_e1c17f2e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
2 Stupid Dogs | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_e1c17f2e | |
Clapper Gag / int_ec0020f0 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_ec0020f0 | comment |
In Daybreak (2019), the Ghoulie-fied Miss Crumble declares that she has a key to unlock the doors to the mall, but she cannot find them. After checking all of her pockets she remembers that she attached them to a clapper, but when she does clap she can't follow the ringing sound until she realizes that it's coming from inside her: She swallowed them. | |
Clapper Gag / int_ec0020f0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_ec0020f0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Daybreak (2019) | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_ec0020f0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_ecee4546 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_ecee4546 | comment |
In the first episode of The Librarians (2014), Jenkins tries to shut off the magical hologram of the planet with a clapper action. It doesn't work. | |
Clapper Gag / int_ecee4546 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_ecee4546 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Librarians (2014) | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_ecee4546 | |
Clapper Gag / int_f5799bd9 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_f5799bd9 | comment |
One episode of The Critic shows a parody of RoboCop, Robo Clapper. | |
Clapper Gag / int_f5799bd9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_f5799bd9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Critic | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_f5799bd9 | |
Clapper Gag / int_f655ed11 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_f655ed11 | comment |
Frasier: In one episode Niles reveals that Maris had a lamp fitted with a clap switch after a power cut left her unable to find her way around the beach house. He also notes that her extremely frail build meant she was never able to clap hard enough for the lamp to activate. | |
Clapper Gag / int_f655ed11 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_f655ed11 | featureConfidence |
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Frasier | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_f655ed11 | |
Clapper Gag / int_f67aead0 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_f67aead0 | comment |
Once on The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson made a joke about the President connecting the nuclear button to the clapper. "Clap-on... all gone" | |
Clapper Gag / int_f67aead0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_f67aead0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Tonight Show | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_f67aead0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_f6fe1bfc | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_f6fe1bfc | comment |
Parodied in one episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch where Sabrina checks her spellbook to see if there is a spell for turning on lights during a power outage. The spell is to say "clap on" and clap the same way you would for a real clapper light. She is all too aware how obvious this joke is. | |
Clapper Gag / int_f6fe1bfc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_f6fe1bfc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Sabrina the Teenage Witch | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_f6fe1bfc | |
Clapper Gag / int_fea45550 | type |
Clapper Gag | |
Clapper Gag / int_fea45550 | comment |
On The Big Comfy Couch, Loonette and Molly will clap to turn on the lamp before reading a story and then clap again to turn it off after the aforementioned story is over. | |
Clapper Gag / int_fea45550 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Clapper Gag / int_fea45550 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Comfy Couch | hasFeature |
Clapper Gag / int_fea45550 |
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