I have a function glutKeyboardFunc(keyboard), where keyboard has:

void keyboard(unsigned char key, int x, int y){
    float alpha = 1.0;
    switch(key){
    case 'c':
        glClearColor(1,0,0,alpha);
        printf("success");
        break;
    }
}

This is a summary of the function; it works properly, but only once some other action has occurred. For instance, the printf statement reports success immediately on keystroke 'c', but the background color does not become active until I click somewhere else on the canvas. I want all keystrokes to have an immediate effect.