Bears repeating! I find applause in the liturgy to be wildly inappropriate, but it seems to crop up all over the place now.
Also, as the Pope pointed out, the desire to insert entertainment into the liturgy is a very old one. The so-called Miracle and Mystery plays of the Middle Ages had to be forbidden, not because they were bad in themselves, but because they were performed in the churches and parts of them were even done during the liturgy. They of course also became less devotional and more on the order of burlesque shows as the years went by, simply because that is the nature of entertainment, as opposed to liturgy.
I literally clap my hands in praises to God Almighty when I see Him at His Work, whether alone, in church, in public places, in prayer...! He is worthy of all praise and if even the trees clap their hands for Him, ought not we who are redeemed? (: