Video: Harry Connick Jr. Heroically Tricks a Crowd Into Clapping on the 2 & 4

We’ve all been there.

You’re out seeing one of your favorite bands perform live. The mood is jovial and everyone is having a great time. You think nothing could possibly bring you down when—suddenly—the audience begins clapping on the 1 and 3.

It’s easy to feel helpless in this sort of situation. It’s easy to feel trapped. It’s easy to abandon your faith in humanity and curse the gods for having ever afflicted the world with music in the first place.

Fear not.

Fortunately for all of us, there are people like Harry Connick Jr. The renowned New Orleans jazz singer and pianist is not the kind of person who will let himself become a victim when the crowd begins clapping off beat.

No, Harry Connick Jr. does not throw up his hands and surrender to a lack of rhythm. Harry Connick Jr. rolls up his sleeves and gets to work solving the problem.

Case in point: this video of his performance for a rhythmically-challenged French audience.

While knocking out a rendition of his 1999 tune “Come By Me,” Connick puts his crowd on the right track by heroically adding an extra beat to one of the song’s measures. The clueless onlookers have no idea what hit them, but at least one member of his band is enthused by the move (you can see him raise his arms triumphantly in the background).

The whole thing goes down around the 0:38 mark. Check it out.