The World According To Garth
Red Rope Licorice. Aerosmith. Headbangers. All in a day's work for Mike Myers and Dana Carvey on the set of Wayne's World II.
By Jim Radosta, The Graphic, Pepperdine U.
U. goes on the set with Dana Carvey, Aerosmith and the cast of Wayne's World II
Welcome to Aurora... not just a place, but a state of mind. We've gotten word that there's some bad Red Rope Licorice circulating in the crowd. Repeat, please stay away from the Red Rope Licorice. Do not bite any off and chew it. It could cause a dental emergency."
Welcome to Waynestock.
Garth Algar, looking as insecure as ever, gets booed off the stage. The crowd is getting restless. Out comes Wayne Campbell to save the day.
"Check, check, sibilance, check, check. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I GIVE YOU... AEROSMITH!"
This is the set of Wayne's World II, the Mike Myers/Dana Carvey sequel to be released in December by
Paramount. Adapted from the Saturday Night Live skit that made "as if,""schwing" and "not" household words, Wayne's World II boasts a bigger budget, a bigger cast and bigger expectations than last year's blockbuster.
Also new is director Stephen Surjik (Kids in the Hall) who makes his motion picture debut. And while the cameos in the first movie included SNL co-star Chris Farley and Married... with Children's Ed Q'Neill, the sequel features the likes of Charlton Heston, Christopher Walken, Kim Basinger, Drew Barrymore and, of course, Aerosmith.
This time out the boys have moved their cable access show from the depths of Wayne's basement to a hipster loft-studio in downtown Aurora, Ill. Wayne feels angst about his future and faces a record producer (Walken) who has eyes for Cassandra (Tia Carrere). Also, Garth hooks up at the laundromat.
Today the cast and crew are filming Waynestock, a sort of Woodstock revival a la Wayne. About 2,000 hippy extras are on location at the Calamigos Ranch in Malibu, Calif., and they're getting just as antsy as the audience they're portraying. The extras have been standing in the oppressive heat for hours - without the stimulants that benefited the original Woodstock crowd - and even though they've got several hours of shooting to go, fatigue is setting in.
A crew member yells at a group of loiterers who
have escaped to the shade: "They want people to just work for a little while." This seems to go against the nature of the extras. "You haven't been here that long," he scolds. Sunscreen is distributed to keep them in line.
It's a virtual lovefest, this Waynestock business.
Backstage, Carvey — the veteran of seven years and 125 episodes of Saturday Night Live - is doing his part to keep other troubled youth in line. Myers is on the other side of the set, filming scenes with Carrere and Aerosmith, and Carvey seems to have been appointed master of off-stage ceremonies by popular decree.
Chris Farley, who returns as a roadie instead of the security guard he played in the first flick, is trying to get Carvey's attention. "Lady!" Farley calls out, referring to Carvey's Churchlady character. "Lady!" he whines, much like a child crying for his mother at the supermarket. But Carvey will have none of it — he snaps his fingers and Farley freezes.
Other cast members and roadies join in. They jokingly defer to Carvey's comedic dominance over their lesser fame. "These are my merry men," Carvey says with authority. "They love it."
Plenty of ribbing is taking place backstage, as the cast feels the comic moment of the shoot. But there's also a lot of modesty and mutual admiration going on. It's a virtual lovefest, this Waynestock business.
"I just feel pretty grateful to be a part of it all," says Farley.
In fact, Carvey says his own success shocks him. "I always think I'm going to be out of this business as of next week," he says. "I keep remembering I was a busboy in Belmont, Calif. I was mostly stoned, and mostly playing Risk."
As to how funny the finished product will be, Carvey is hesitant to predict. "You write it, you rehearse it and then you shoot it 50 times," he says. "I think the film's turning out funny, but you never know."
In Wayne's World II, Carvey/Garth gets to hook up with Basinger, who plays "the seductress," as well as Olivia D'Abo, who plays "Garthette" Betty Jo. Will Garth finally get to take that "big step" into manhood? Carvey won't say.
plaintiff? "Jaw pain," which he says comes from extended periods of chin-mangling Garthspeak.
Finally, it's time for the big show. Aerosmith performs "Shut Up and Dance" several times for the grand finale while Farley and the other roadies do the White Man's Overbite. The audience is instructed to remain silent while moving their heads in unison like Wayne and Garth did during the infamous "Bohemian Rhapsody" scene in the Mirthmobile.
"Do you remember in the first Wayne's World when they were sitting in the car doing a lot of this?" says a headbanging assistant director. "Now it's your turn."
Apparently some of the extras never saw Wayne's World, as they are raising their arms in the air while banging their heads.
"This time no arms, no banging," says the assistant director before the second take. "Just heads up-and-down, heads up-and-down."
The sun's going down on Waynestock and it's time for extras and onlookers to head home.
But Myers is still recording the scene where he welcomes Aerosmith to the festival. Once again, the band exits Garth's modified Pacer, which is now limousine length, chauffeured and emblazoned with flames on the side. Wayne musters up another hearty "Welcome to Waynestock!"
Thanks, but it's time to split. Party on guys. And Garthspeed.
10
U. Magazine
NOVEMBER 1983