CLAQUE, an organized body of professional applauders in the French theatres (Fr. claques, to clap the hands). The hiring of persons to applaud dramatic performances was common in classical times, and the emperor Nero, when he acted, had his per formance greeted by a chorus of 5,00o soldiers. Jean Daurat, the i 6th century French poet, bought up a number of tickets for a performance of one of his plays and distributed them gratuitously to those who promised publicly to express their approbation. In 182o an office was opened in Paris for the supply of claquers, and any number of them could be ordered in a way similar to the ordering of "extras" for a motion picture production of the present day. These people were usually under a chef de claque, whose duty it was to judge where their efforts were needed and to start the applause. The coinmissaires were scattered among the audience and called the attention of their neighbours to the good points of the play. The rieurs were those who laughed loudly at the jokes. The pleureurs, generally women, feigned tears, by hold ing their handkerchiefs to their eyes. The chatouilleurs kept the audience in a good humour, while the bisseurs simply clapped their hands and cried bis ! bis ! to secure encores.