This charming and funny little show begins with the full company on stage singing some familiar Christmas songs with unfamiliar but clever words. "This isn't A Christmas Carol/This isn't A Christmas Carol," they warn us to the tune of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." Right away we know where we are: in the gentle world of spoof, a place of broad comedy and mildly naughty bawdiness, where targets traditional and contemporary will come in for a good-natured ribbing, and where entertainment is the only objective. Thanks to Joe Doyle (wearing three hats: author, director, and actor) and an enthusiastic and talented cast, the objective is achieved in spades: The Christmas Carol Conspiracy: Scrooge's Revenge is delightful and disarming good fun.

Here's the premise: the familiar story of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol isn't true. What really happened is that Scrooge's greedy nephew Fred, in tandem with an opportunistic Bob Cratchit, tricked Scrooge into becoming a generous soul through an elaborate hoax. The ghosts, the visit from Marley, the scenes from Ebenezer's past--all of it was staged by Fred and some enterprising actors. When Scrooge learns the truth about that magical Christmas night, he decides to get revenge on his greedy nephew.

Doyle spins out his tale neatly, with large helpings of broad comedy of the hoariest sort, topical and anachronistic allusions, and bad puns; it's all done with such good humor that even the worst of groaners gets a laugh. This is the kind of show where Scrooge, on bended knee next to a too-precocious Tiny Tim says "Say it, Tim. You said it for them, now say it again for me." (And Tim complies with "God bless us, everyone!") It's a show where Cratchit is a bumbling halfwit who takes everything everyone says to him literally; where Mrs. Cratchit is a grasping harpy whom we first meet sprawled on a couch eating bon-bons; where Tiny Tim gets a pie in the face (haven't we all secretly hoped for something like that to happen?). The Christmas Carol Conspiracy turns Dickens on its head without ever losing the joyous good spirits of the original; that's why it's such a rip-roaring good time.

Doyle the director acquits himself even better than Doyle the writer, managing a brisk and merry staging even in the modest Wings Theatre space. Doyle the actor is better yet, playing Scrooge with a spring in his step and a twinkle in his eye that reminded me of one of those lovable old Irishmen played in the movies by Barry Fitzgerald. Daniel Norton makes great comic capital of the dim Bob Cratchit, evoking Michael Palin of Monty Python at his Gumby best. Joseph Adamsky is funny and menacing as Marley's Ghost, and Theresa Della Valle is wonderfully over-the-top as the ghastly Mrs. Cratchit. Indeed, everyone in The Christmas Carol Conspiracy company appears to be having a ball twitting the classic tale (and us), and their high spirits prove to be happily infectious.

Believe me, this is just the thing to counter all that packaged Christmas spirit being served up in department stores and on TV at this time of year. (It's also a fun show to see after you've seen one or more of the ubiquitous Christmas Carols around time; remember, I've seen three of them this year.) If you drop by the Wings Theatre this holiday season, I think you'll have a terrific time. Tell them Martin sent you.