I Love to Laugh Mr. Wigg, is said to float because of an excess of "laughing gas", although it is clear that the term is not used in the chemical sense. So-called "laughing gas" (nitrous oxide) was one of the earliest effective anaesthetics developed in the Nineteenth century. it was popularised by dentists, for pain-free tooth extractions, as well as by showground novelty booths. Customers at the booth would be gassed and, as they were recovering from the drugged sleep they often felt euphoric and giggly. Hence the name. A famous 1931 British comedy sketch starring Cicely Courtneidge, called "Laughing Gas", was based on
The Laughing Gnome The Laughing Gnome "The Laughing Gnome" is a song by English singer David Bowie, released as a single on 14 April 1967. A pastiche of songs by one of Bowie's early influences, Anthony Newley, it was originally released as a novelty single on Deram Records in 1967. The track consists of Bowie meeting and conversing with a gnome, whose sped-up voice (created by Bowie and studio engineer Gus Dudgeon) delivers several puns on the word "gnome". At the time, "The Laughing Gnome" failed to provide Bowie with a chart placing, but on its re-release in 1973 it reached number six