Review: PLEASE CLAP! at District Fringe

If you have been anywhere near the DMV over the past few weeks, you’ve undoubtedly perspired. It's July, and it's hot. We have crossed the threshold where stepping outside feels like stepping into an oven that’s been pre-heating for a solid hour already. It’s the front porch of you-know-who, for those who pay attention to meme culture.

So, imagine my dismay when I arrived at the opening performance of PLEASE CLAP!, an offering from this year’s edition of District Fringe by The Moon Girls (more on them later), to discover that the AC unit was broken inside the theatre - or taxed to the point of being rendered near useless at least. It was not made clear to the audience, or perhaps I missed a pre-show announcement. Either way, it was a tough, dare I say moist, scene for a 2 pm curtain this past weekend. 

Mercifully, once the three members of The Moon Girls took the stage, I forgot about this dampness of self within about 10 minutes. Cammiel Hussy, Charlotte Kim, and Ali Lightfield, aka The Moon Girls, burst onto the stage in dark blue Dickies jumpsuits and catapulted us into the land of the show. These three are the formidable trio who should seriously consider marketing themselves as “three queer women who can make you forget that you’re sitting in a hot yoga studio trying to watch some theatre.”

Equal parts funny, creative, unpredictable, and hot (their words, not mine, don’t come for me), these three showcase what it looks like when you team up with others who bring the best out of you. They all seem to like each other too, which helps. Though they are individually terrific, the collective is a dynamic and wonderful force that transcends any weather - inside or out!

According to the group’s Instagram account, @the.moon.girls.dc, these three brand themselves as “three girls who write, perform, and kiss (jk, you wish).” Their posts online are as comical and on-brand as their show, with one post hilariously warning, “THE MOON GIRLS WILL TURN YOUR DAUGHTERS GAY!!!” The account is quite a celebration of identity and self, and it’s refreshing to see these three totally understand and embrace themselves in a way that infiltrates their work. One post calls them “a DC-based creative trio performing irreverent original works,” and I think that hits the nail on the head. 

As for the show itself, PLEASE CLAP! is a side-splitting collection of five, 10-minute sketches written, directed, and performed by Hussey, Kim, and Lightfield. The beauty in devising your own work is that you get to showcase what you do best. If you’ve done it right, the piece will fit like a glove, and PLEASE CLAP! does that in spades for these three women. 

The play's five sketches feel more fleshed out than those in a typical sketch comedy show, as each has surprisingly robust characters and dynamic story arcs. It’s like watching three people who really paid attention in improv class. None of the sketches wander or go off the rails…well, perhaps the latter is generous, but you’re not upset when it does. It’s well within the style of the piece when things get a bit zany, and you’ve learned to trust your three pilots anyway. 

Each sketch is completely original and offers each performer a chance to show off their respective comedic chops. Whether playing bro-culture bartenders in “The Regular” or a bridal party in “Ghosted,” the trio deliver a laugh a minute regardless of the given circumstances.

My personal favorite, The Goblin Wars, left me with more questions than answers and could easily be mistaken for a sketch that didn’t make it into the Monty Python canon. The sketch truly feels like spaghetti thrown at the wall that actually stuck, and Tim Robinson could never, but I digress. Love you, Tim. Though there’s no shortage of laughs, the trio still finds a way to sneak a little heart and sincerity into the sketches. This is no more apparent than in the ending of The Bangin’ Bucket Shootdown Showdown Show, which has a delightful conclusion for all people. 

If there is one criticism at all, and an area for improvement for the piece, it would be that the show’s conclusion leaves a bit more to be desired. The three welcome us into a kind of show-within-a-show at the beginning by breaking the fourth wall and return to this world between each sketch. However, there’s no conclusion to this world at the show’s end. Rather than wrapping things up with the “characters” we met at the beginning, the show concludes with the end of the final sketch. It feels like a missed opportunity to put a definitive stamp on an otherwise excellent performance. Admittedly, this is a small qualm, and it ultimately splits the finest of hairs. 

Normally, I would try to give more detail about the synopsis, but trust me when I say I am doing you a favor by not revealing more. You’ll have to trust me on this. Show up, laugh, clap, and remember the first rule of improv - “Yes, and…” Trust that these three queens of comedy have got you!

It would be impossible to single out one of these performers, but Cammiel Hussey makes a case for just that. Hussey is an alumnus of the STC Academy, where she received her MFA, and it’s clear she has legitimate chops. This takes nothing away from the ample talent of Kim and Lightfield, who both continue to appear in shows across the DMV. These are three brilliantly funny performers, and one hopes they continue to produce art together. 

The tragedy of District Fringe shows is that they have short lives, as is the case here. Audiences will have to move with alacrity to catch The Moon Girls in all their glory - and hopefully, with a functioning AC unit! Remaining performances will occur July 15th, 16th, 19th, and 23rd. All performances will be at the University of DC’s Mainstage Venue, The Phoenix Theatre. 

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