With Wayne’s World about to turn the ripe old age of 30, let’s take a look back at how a couple of basement-dwelling slackers changed pop culture forever.
To a Brit, US comedy is a funny old thing. A lot has rocked up on this side of the pond and swiftly become a fixture of our cultural landscape, yet just as much gets lost somewhere along the way.
It’s ok. Not everything has to translate, and there’s certainly a lot of popular British comedy that’s never made it the other way. However, for every Friends or Simpson-sized hit, there’s a show like Saturday Night Live that’s never quite landed.
An American institution since the 70s, SNL has spawned some of the world’s biggest comedians, with everyone from Eddie Murphy to Bill Murray to Will Ferrell to Tina Fey getting their big break there. Yet, despite this, and despite the UK’s general acceptance of US comedy, the show has never truly found a footing here.
Indeed, as an 80s kid growing up in pre-internet South London, the name Saturday Night Live meant little, and while of course it’s hard not to recognize the show’s famous alumni, I had no real idea where they were from. That all changed when Wayne and Garth came schwinging into action.
As the first Saturday Night Live sketch to become a film, The Blues Brothers would spark some awareness twelve years prior, yet it wasn’t until the arrival of Wayne’s World in 1992 that the SNL brand would achieve global recognition, and while the show still struggled to become a household name here, Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar had no such problem.
Shot on a modest budget in just thirty-four days, Wayne’s World would land in cinemas three years on from Mike Myers and Dana Carvey debuting their characters, and despite the sketch’s popularity, there was seemingly little belief that this big screen spinoff would amount to much.
Despite being dumped in cinemas by a highly skeptical Paramount, the film would transcend its potentially one-note joke to become a worldwide box office hit. Blowing any doubts out of the water, Wayne’s World has shown extraordinary endurance, creating a legacy that can still be felt to this day.
Arriving amidst a bunch of likeminded releases, Wayne’s World would prove to be the perfect encapsulation of a special brand of Gen-X slacker that would dominate popular culture at the time. In fact, it was perhaps one of the defining comedies of the era, putting a host of iconic words, phrases, and imagery out into the world that may feel naff in hindsight, yet their continued pervasiveness three decades on is nothing short of incredible.
Ok, so there’s probably not many people still shouting “schwing!” in the year 2022, but for every catchphrase lost in the sands of time, there are just as many that have remained thoroughly embedded in our lexicon. No way? Way!
Add to this a soundtrack that would not only become just as iconic as the film itself but have a huge hand in introducing a host of legendary bands to a new generation, and you’ve got something pretty damn special on your hands. Honestly, even to this day, it’s almost impossible to have ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ on in the car and not bang your head like a maniac at the breakdown.
Off the back of all this, Wayne’s World would help launch the careers of its two stars, most notably Mike Myers, who’d go on to create some of cinema’s most iconic characters, however, none hit quite the same note as his breakout role. While there’s little doubt that Austin Powers and Shrek would end up gaining more prominence, there’s just something in Myers’ affable portrayal of Wayne that has endured more than most.
Watching it all back three decades later, it really is quite remarkable how well the film has held up. The entire thing is undoubtedly a product of its time, with a couple of jokes that haven’t aged particularly well, yet the vast majority feel just as fresh now as they did the day Wayne’s World was released.
With an irreverent, knowing, often surreal sense of humor, the film mixes surprisingly subtle writing, clever sight gags, and a loveable goofiness to produce a thoroughly endearing slice of suburban slacker life, however, it’s Wayne’s World’s heart that has truly allowed it to stand the test of time. While it would spawn plenty of imitators, few, if any, could replicate Wayne’s World’s charm, and it’s precisely this that makes the movie timeless.
Aged just nine at the time of its release, I’d be lying if I said Wayne’s World made an immediate impression on me, however, like many movies of that era, its ultimate impact would come from frequent TV repeats and multiple trips to Blockbuster. This slow burn influence would last all the way through my teens and well into my university years, and while it’s been a hot minute since my last viewing, it’s fair to say that all that nostalgia came flooding back pretty sharpish with this particular re-watch.
Like any timeless comedy, there’s a certain muscle memory inherent in any re-watch, making it nigh on impossible not to quote, sing, or head-bang along, and that’s absolutely the case here. From the catchphrases seared into my synapses to the iconic tunes to the weirdest little gags, it’s extraordinary how thoroughly Wayne’s World has infiltrated both my life and popular culture in general.
I’d be fascinated to know how/if the film translates to a new generation, however, for those who grew up headbanging to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, annoying parents by repeatedly shouting ‘NOT!’ at the end of sentences or informing people of the meaning behind Milwaukee’s name like you’re Alice Cooper, Wayne’s World still hits all the right notes.
They may be thirty years older now, yet it’s still very much party time for Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar, and that should be something to cherish.
About Wayne’s World
When a sleazy TV exec offers Wayne and Garth a contract to tape their late-night cable-access show at his network they discover the road to the big time is full of gnarly twists and turns.
