Robin Young tries her hand with Jacques' whip. (Karyn Miller-Medzon)

Correction: The original version of this story said that Jack Lepiarz succeeded in breaking the record. On Dec. 1, 2015 Lepiarz was informed that the video he submitted was several whip cracks short of the record. He told Here & Now that he will reattempt the feat next year.

By day, mild-mannered Jack Lepiarz is a news anchor for WBUR in Boston, and the voice of Here & Now's headline news.

But like Clark Kent, Jack has a secret alter ego. On weekends, he takes up a whip, paints on a mustache and appears at Renaissance fairs around the country as "Jacques Ze Whipper."

It's an act that requires a fair amount of skill and fitness, and one he takes seriously - despite the fake French accent. To prove that skill, Jack, or Jacques, set out this fall to set the Guinness World Record for the most whip-cracks in a minute.

Here & Now hosts Jeremy Hobson and Robin Young talk to Jack about his skills and try their own hand at cracking his world-record whip.

Guest