Laughing Gas (1936)

Reggie Havershot accidentally switches bodies with a child movie star during simultaneous tooth extractions. ( )

A classic Wodehouse elaborate love story. ( )

Using a plot device similar to that in F. Anstey's Vice Versa, Reggie, 3rd Earl of Havershot, our hero, swops bodies with a curly headed child film star, Joey Cooley, The Idol of American Motherhood, and learns first hand of the trials of stardom. Reggie, having the common complaint of Wodehouse men, has fallen in love at first sight with April June, a blonde bombshell, who came to remind me of Lina Lamont (from Singing in the Rain). To add to the complications his former fiance Ann Bannister, who gave him the push after he inadvertently burned the back of her neck with his cigar, is currently the nursemaid to young Joey. We have a Wodehouse aunt-substitute in the awful Beulah Brinkmeyer, a permanently sozzled cousin, Eggy and even a butler, Chaffinch, although he is not quite what he seems.

Despite the unusual, nay, impossible, premise of body-swopping, this book works rather well. The characterisations are good and there are plenty of laughs, and, of course, everything turns out all right in the end. Very much based on PGW's Hollywood experiences we learn much about the attitudes of stars and movie makers as well as the many would-be character actors and script writers hanging around on the edges.

Not 5-star, but certainly worth 4. ( )

Laughing Gas is pretty funny, but it had a ridiculous and outlandish premise. That is to say, far more ridiculous and outlandish than even most Wodehouse books. In it, an English Earl and child actor switch bodies while under the influence of anaesthetic at the dentist's office. Madcap adventures ensue. Funny, but it doesn't stand out among the Wodehouse canon. ( )

Wodehouse's aptly named story Laughing Gas is the precursor to tales like Mary Rodgers' Freaky Friday, Summer Switch, and A Billion for Boris. The simplest explanation of the plot is this: Reginald Havershot, Earl of Havershot, and Joey Cooley, child film star, accidentally trade bodies when they go under the gas at the dentist's office. Reginald narrates the entire story from his point of view, and his stolid British sensibilities make the whole thing simply hilarious.

Wodehouse's dry humor had me in stitches. It's very British, so if you don't like that sort of thing you will probably walk away wondering what' so funny. One part that had me laughing was when Reginald (in Joey's body) is being chased by two disgruntled child actors whose fame he has taken. Wodehouse writes,

Presently the huh-ing broke out again.
'Huh,' said Orlando Flower.
'Huh,' said Tommy Murphy.
'Huh,' said Orlando Flower.
There was a moment's silence. Then Tommy Murphy spoke.
'Huh,' he said, like one who has just thought of a new and original repartee.
The psychology of these two young pustules was a sealed book to me. I could not follow their mental processes. There appeared to me to be absolutely nothing about this last 'Huh' that made it in any way different from the 'Huh's' that preceded it. But there must have been, because its effect on the boy Flower was immediate. Flushing beneath his spots, he flung himself on Tommy Murphy , and they came to the ground together in a clawing mass.

And the whole book is like this. Eventually everything gets sorted out and Reginald and Joey return to their proper bodies. And there's even a love story in it for Reginald (believe it or not). Overall, this book had me howling and I recommend it for anyone who wants a good laugh. I will certainly be looking for more of Wodehouse in the future! ( )