While you have probably seen enough “Christmas Carols” to last a lifetime, you’ve never seen one quite like Frank O’Donnell’s spoof on the Christmas classic “A Christmas Carmella.”

The Rhode Island comedian has presented two previous, zany Christmas playa about Ant’ny Clause and his dysfunctional family at Theatre Works in Woonsocket the past two holiday seasons. “So what’s next?” he asked himself. “A Rhode Island version of ‘A Christmas Carol.’”

The hilarious Connie Anderson is back as Grandma Carmella. This time she tells her teenage grandchildren (Paddy Mahoney and Hailey Carol O’Conner) her version of the Dickens classic, with a heavy Rhode Island Italian slant.

The large cast acts out her story, with Carmella finding her way into most of the scenes. Mark Anderson, a Theatre Works regular, plays Scrugini, the miserly old codger, while John Morris, who played the oversized elf in the first two shows, plays Bob Cracciatore, his underpaid employee.

O’Donnell wrote and directed the farce, which is filled with double entendres, politically incorrect humor and some of the funniest lines ever to be heard in northern Rhode Island.

O’Donnell is a comic genius, as anyone who has heard him at Twin River or one of the hundreds of events he has emceed will tell you. He has a knack for what makes us easy to laugh at, and if something outrageously funny happened as recently as yesterday, he’ll work it into the production.

One minor problem with the show is that his humor comes fast and furious, and the actors can’t always keep up with it. He wrote a hilarious line about “Italian Tupperware” that got lost in the laughter of a line before it.

The two-hour comedy never lets up. There is a brief intermission where O’Donnell makes a few announcements and runs a couple of raffles. His quick-witted patter is the highlight of the evening.

One big surprise was the appearance of Mayor Leo Fontaine, who had just lost a hard-fought election for mayor of Woonsocket. He set the tone by opening the show with classic lines, and then showing up occasionally to poke fun, not only at Dickens but also at himself.

O’Donnell continued his tradition of integrating popular television reporters and weatherpersons into the second act. Saturday night it was Steve Cascione from Channel 6, who seemed a bit uncomfortable at first but quickly got caught up in the stage shenanigans.

This is not Shakespeare, folks. In fact, it’s not even Dickens. The cast occasionally wanders off in their own little world and a few lines are stepped on (actually, trampled). O’Donnell told the packed audience at intermission that he sat in the back of the room observing that he didn’t think he wrote half of what they were saying on stage. It is all in good fun, and nobody is spared from O’Donnell’s pen.

The show sells out every year, so give a call to see if you can grab a ticket for the three remaining productions this Friday and Saturday, Dec. 13 and 14 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 15 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $19/$15 for seniors. Call 766-1898 for reservations.