Rob and Flick join the Capital Fringe Festival again as the “edu-tainers” in Assembly Required, the team that “travels around giving important lessons to schoolchildren and convicts.” While waiting for the show to start, guests see a slideshow of faux lessons given to other captive audiences — “Good Grief: How to Productively Lose a Loved One” and “Careful Where You Put That Thing: Household Safety Tips” — that set the stage for the very un-PC parody you’re about to experience.
This time, Rob and Flick are teaching us how to master the fine art of comedy, making this really a meta-play. Assembly Required won’t be your cup of tea if you can’t watch The Office because people embarrassing themselves makes you uncomfortable. However, even those who don’t generally like slapstick, like yours truly, will find this full of almost non-stop laughs. You’ll also find it full of full-on nudity (perhaps even a crotch-in-the-face if you’re a really lucky audience member), a bit of audience participation and chastising (we’re supposed to be eagerly learning, after all), and quite easily the best/worst rubber chicken bit I’ve ever seen. Assembly Required: Comedy A to Y is an easy check in the “Worth Your Money” column for the Fringe Festival.
There are three remaining performances on July 13 at 10:15 p.m., July 22 at 6 p.m., and July 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the Mountain Theater in Mount Vernon United Methodist Church.