One thing that remains an evergreen joy at the Fringe is discovering a play, a person or a company that you can’t believe isn’t better known, more on people’s lips – and Spruce Moose Comedy deserve to be on everyone’s lips. Their show is just under an hour of lighthearted, riotous escapism, of which it is not possible to walk out without a piratical bounce to your step.

The story isn’t especially original – a segment of a pirate crew cast out on their own for treasure, pursued by their previous captain – but frankly this couldn’t matter less. What elevates the show isn’t the story or the ideas on display, but how superbly they are executed. Most importantly, the writing is fantastic. Tight, well-layered plotting marries beautifully with glorious puns, well-timed (but thankfully sparsely used) meta-asides to the audience and a genuine emotional climax – a hard thing to manage when one of your characters is wearing a cardboard manatee costume, but Spruce Moose pull it off with style. There’s also seamless weaving of pirate cliches and film-call backs throughout, of which the lampooning of Orlando Bloom‘s character in Pirates of the Caribbean stands out as the best. The show often feels panto-esque in its execution, which is absolutely meant as a compliment. The mood is the celebration of silliness, and the commitment is total.

The cast fit each of their roles like a silk glove – there is a grizzled pirate captain, a sailor who yearns to usurp him and a love-lorn romantic hero who can’t stop staring into the middle distance, among multiple others. Each brings non-stop, buoyant (but never frantic) energy to every scene, and the chemistry between the entire troupe is marvellous to watch. What each actor has is a complete respect for the art of comedy done well, and this shines through as joy in their performance – which in turn translates to total joy for the audience.

An small budget hampers nothing – blood flows as red ribbons, inflatable palm trees are moved from side to side to indicate a different island (or tossed into a willing audience to get them out of the way) and the aforementioned cardboard manatee costume gets the biggest laugh of the night. Spruce Moose have all the tools to keep bringing back fantastic work to the Fringe every year – and you would be well serve to get in on the party early.

‘You Wouldn’t Steal a Boat‘ has finished its run