Wayne's World's Gun Rack Gift Exchange Actually Happened To Mike Myers' In Real Life
Penelope Spheeris' 1992 comedy "Wayne's World" argues that metalheads, often depicted in movies as violent, death-obsessed Satan worshipers, are actually just really kind, goofy guys. Wayne (Mike Myers) and Garth (Dana Carvey) are funny, approachable dudes who like hosting their own public access talk show, going to metal shows, and going to get donuts while listening to Queen cassettes. They speak their own lingo and dream of bigger things, just like everyone. Are they a little weird? You'd be surprised how normal they are.
Indeed, one of the recurring elements of "Wayne's World" is that Wayne has recently broken up with his girlfriend Stacy (Lara Flynn Boyle). Although two months have gone by and Wayne has made it very clear that they are no longer dating, Stacy still behaves like they're together. Stacy seems a little clueless, so the audience has to take Garth's word for it when she is described as a "psycho hose beast." In Stacy's introductory scene, she presents Wayne with an anniversary present, even though they have broken up. Wayne reluctantly opens it to discover a gun rack.
"I don't even own a gun," he argues, "let alone many guns that would necessitate an entire rack. What am I gonna do with a gun rack?"
Rick Marin, a columnist, reporter, and author, revealed that the gun rack incident was in fact based on a real-life incident. Marin, you see, grew up in the Scarborough district of Toronto, which was Myers' old stamping grounds. Evidently, he knew the real-life woman who attempted to give Myers a gun rack as a gift. According to a 1999 column in the New York Times, Marin not only knew the woman in question, but even had a little insight into the gun rack incident.
The real Stacy
Evidently, the real Stacy — her name was wisely kept unrevealed — gave a gun rack to Myers as a joke; she was not the "psycho hose beast" as depicted in "Wayne's World." Marin, being a Toronto local, also recognized several local references that Myers snuck into his script. While "Wayne's World" takes place in Aurora, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, a lot of the language and iconography was straight out of Canada.
In "Wayne's World," for instance, Wayne, Garth, and all their friends congregate at a heavy metal bar called The Gasworks. Evidently, this was a real biker/metal bar in Marin and Myers' neighborhood. Sadly, it seems that the real Gasworks shuttered its doors back in 1993. Additionally, Wayne and Garth are seen frequenting the large-scale (fictional) donut shop Stan Mikita's Donuts. Stan Mikita was a Canadian hockey player for the Chicago Blackhawks. His donut shop was a clear reference to the Canadian donut chain Tim Hortons, founded by the celebrated hockey player who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Horton also played for several American teams, but American hockey teams don't count.
Marin also points out that most of Myers' comedic works have personal Canadian references subtly embedded inside of them. "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me," he noticed, had a subtle music cue to the Canadian game show "Definition" which ran from 1974 to 1989. Its theme was written by Quincy Jones. It also seems that Myers' Dieter character from the Sprockets sketches on "Saturday Night Live" was based on a German waiter at a diner on Queen Street in Toronto, a waiter that Marin had also encountered.
A deep dive may reveal even more Torontonian details, and locals will likely be able to spot them all.