If you’re a fan of the 1992 comedy classic Wayne’s World, you’re probably always on the lookout for other hilarious movies with a similar vibe. Wayne’s World follows two goofy metalhead friends, Wayne and Garth, as they broadcast a public-access cable show from Wayne’s parents’ basement. When a sleazy TV executive tries to commercialize their show, the duo must fight to keep their unique style.
Starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, Wayne’s World became a pop culture phenomenon thanks to its quirky humor, breaking of the fourth wall, and celebration of rock music and ’80s culture. It even spawned a sequel, Wayne’s World 2, in 1993.
But beyond the Wayne’s World franchise, there are plenty of other great comedies out there that capture a similar spirit. Here are 15 of the best movies to watch if you love Wayne’s World:
1. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
This Is Spinal Tap is the original “mockumentary” comedy that paved the way for films like Wayne’s World. Directed by Rob Reiner, it chronicles the misadventures of a hapless British heavy metal band called Spinal Tap.
Shot in a faux-documentary style, the movie follows the band on a disastrous American comeback tour plagued by mishaps like getting lost backstage, having a Stonehenge set piece made in inches instead of feet, and spontaneously combusting drummers. The clueless band members, played by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer, ad-libbed most of their dialogue, making for some truly hilarious moments.
Like Wayne’s World, This Is Spinal Tap lovingly satirizes rock star excess and delusions of grandeur. It’s a must-watch for any fan of rock music or deadpan humor. As Spinal Tap’s lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel would say, “This one goes to 11.“
2. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is another goofy buddy comedy about two lovable dimwits, this time traveling through time. Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted “Theodore” Logan (Keanu Reeves) are high school friends whose band, Wyld Stallyns, will supposedly inspire a future utopia – but only if they can pass their history class.
With the help of a time-traveling phone booth from the future, Bill and Ted embark on an excellent adventure through history, kidnapping famous figures like Billy the Kid, Socrates, and Abraham Lincoln to help them with their history report. Along the way, they fall in love, go to hell, and learn the value of friendship and being excellent to each other.
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure shares Wayne’s World‘s absurdist humor, rock music obsession, and depiction of an unbreakable bromance. It even features its own “Bohemian Rhapsody” lip-sync scene with Bill and Ted headbanging in the car. Party on, dudes!
3. Airheads (1994)
Airheads is a wacky comedy about a struggling rock band that takes a radio station hostage to get their demo played on the air. Chazz (Brendan Fraser), Rex (Steve Buscemi), and Pip (Adam Sandler) are The Lone Rangers, a metal band desperate for their big break.
Armed with realistic water guns, they hijack the radio station KPPX and demand that their song gets played. But things quickly spiral out of control as the police get involved, the media turns it into a hostage crisis, and the station’s sleazy owner (Joe Mantegna) tries to exploit the situation.
Like Wayne’s World, Airheads is a love letter to hard rock and heavy metal, featuring cameos from real musicians like White Zombie, Lemmy from Motörhead, and Mike Judge as Beavis and Butt-Head. It’s a silly, lightweight comedy anchored by the manic energy of its cast, especially Buscemi as the band’s high-strung bassist.
4. Detroit Rock City (1999)
Set in 1978, Detroit Rock City follows four teenage friends on a raucous road trip to see their favorite band KISS in concert. When their religious mother burns their tickets, the boys embark on a wild odyssey to Detroit to find a way into the sold-out show.
Along the way, they enter a male stripper contest, trip out at a disco, and run afoul of both the law and an angry biker gang. Each of the four friends also goes on their own mini adventure, from losing their virginity to falling in love.
Detroit Rock City perfectly captures the rowdy, rebellious spirit of 1970s rock ‘n’ roll, much like Wayne’s World did for the ’80s and ’90s. It’s a raunchy, irreverent comedy that celebrates youthful hijinks and the unifying power of music.
5. School of Rock (2003)
In School of Rock, Jack Black stars as Dewey Finn, a wannabe rock star who poses as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. Instead of following the curriculum, Dewey turns his class of fifth-graders into a rock band to compete in a Battle of the Bands competition.
Dewey’s unorthodox teaching methods inspire his sheltered students to embrace their inner rock stars. He teaches them about the history and attitude of rock ‘n’ roll, from The Doors to Stevie Nicks. But when the school and the students’ parents find out what he’s been up to, Dewey must rally the kids for one big show-stopping performance.
Like Wayne’s World, School of Rock is a feel-good comedy about the joys of rock music and following your dreams. Jack Black is hilarious as the overgrown man-child Dewey, and the young cast of kids really play their own instruments. It’s impossible not to smile watching them transform into pint-sized rockers.
6. Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (2006)
Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny is a musical comedy starring Jack Black and Kyle Gass as fictionalized versions of their real-life comedy rock duo Tenacious D. In the movie, JB (Black) and KG (Gass) are two wannabe rock stars who embark on a quest to find a magical guitar pick that supposedly belonged to Satan.
Along the way, they battle a surly guitar store employee (Ben Stiller), trip out on psychedelic mushrooms with Sasquatch, and challenge the Devil himself (Dave Grohl) to a rock-off for their souls. All the while, they belt out over-the-top rock opera songs with hilariously profane lyrics.
If you love Jack Black in School of Rock, you’ll definitely enjoy the Tenacious D movie. It’s got the same mix of hard rock worship and silly stoner humor as Wayne’s World. Cameos from music legends like Meat Loaf, Ronnie James Dio, and the Foo Fighters add to the fun.
7. Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
On the last day of a Jewish summer camp in 1981, the counselors try to complete their unfinished business before the day is over. The large ensemble cast includes Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Paul Rudd, Christopher Meloni, Elizabeth Banks, and Bradley Cooper in one of his first film roles.
Wet Hot American Summer is an absurdist spoof of ’80s summer camp movies, with all the familiar tropes like camp rivalries, talent shows, and teenage make-out sessions. But it’s also filled with bizarre non sequiturs and surreal jokes, like a talking can of vegetables and a camp chef with a secret identity.
Like Wayne’s World, it’s a silly, irreverent comedy that captures the nostalgia and humor of a specific time and place. It’s also fun to see so many famous actors in early roles, hamming it up with deadpan delivery and over-the-top silliness.
8. Dumb and Dumber (1994)
Dumb and Dumber stars Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as two dimwitted friends, Lloyd and Harry, who drive across the country to return a briefcase full of money to its owner. Little do they know, the briefcase is actually a ransom payment for a kidnapping.
Lloyd and Harry’s cross-country road trip is full of slapstick mishaps, gross-out gags, and quotable one-liners. They get into all sorts of trouble, from accidentally killing a rare owl to crashing a high-society gala in orange and blue tuxedos.
Like Wayne and Garth, Lloyd and Harry are two goofball underdogs you can’t help but root for, even as they make one boneheaded decision after another. Dumb and Dumber shares Wayne’s World‘s gleefully silly sense of humor and memorable buddy duo.
9. Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America is a feature-length adventure for MTV’s iconic cartoon dimwits. When their TV is stolen, Beavis and Butt-Head set out on a cross-country journey to find it, inadvertently getting mixed up in a deadly crime plot along the way.
Beavis and Butt-Head’s crass, juvenile humor is definitely an acquired taste, but fans of the show will enjoy seeing their misadventures play out on a bigger scale. Like Wayne’s World, it’s full of cheeky pop culture references, from Pulp Fiction to The Brady Bunch.
Celebrity cameos abound, with everyone from Demi Moore to David Letterman playing exaggerated versions of themselves. And of course, there’s plenty of Beavis and Butt-Head’s trademark adolescent snickering and love for all things loud and crude.
10. Half Baked (1998)
Half Baked stars Dave Chappelle as Thurgood, a janitor at a pharmaceutical lab who sells stolen medical marijuana to raise bail money for his friend. Along with his stoner buddies Brian (Jim Breuer), Scarface (Guillermo Díaz), and Kenny (Harland Williams), Thurgood gets in way over his head dealing with both the law and a local drug lord.
Like Wayne’s World, Half Baked is a silly stoner comedy with a lot of heart. Chappelle and his co-stars have great chemistry as a group of lovable losers in way over their heads. Rapper Snoop Dogg has a memorable cameo as a scavenger smoker, one of many surprise guests.
Half Baked also touches on some of the same themes as Wayne’s World, like the importance of friendship and being true to yourself. It may not be as iconic as Chappelle’s later work, but it’s a solid comedy with plenty of laughs.
11. Superstar (1999)
Superstar stars Molly Shannon as Mary Katherine Gallagher, an awkward Catholic school girl with dreams of becoming a superstar. A spin-off of Shannon’s popular Saturday Night Live character, the movie follows Mary Katherine as she tries to win her school’s talent show and the affections of her hunky classmate Sky (Will Ferrell).
Mary Katherine’s quest for fame leads to all sorts of humiliating mishaps, from accidentally setting a priest on fire to getting her underwear stuck to a bus. But with the help of her grandmother (Glynis Johns) and her fellow special education students, Mary Katherine learns to believe in herself and put on a show-stopping performance.
Like Wayne’s World, Superstar is a goofy, over-the-top comedy anchored by a memorable SNL character. Molly Shannon fully commits to Mary Katherine’s awkward physicality and manic energy, making her a lovable underdog you can’t help but cheer for.
12. The Blues Brothers (1980)
The Blues Brothers stars John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as Jake and Elwood Blues, two brothers on a “mission from God” to save the orphanage where they grew up. To raise the money, they put their old band back together for a big show, all while being chased by the police, a vengeful ex-fiancée (Carrie Fisher), and a group of neo-Nazis.
Like Wayne’s World, The Blues Brothers is a hilarious musical comedy that pays tribute to a specific genre of music – in this case, blues and R&B. Belushi and Aykroyd are perfect as the deadpan brothers in black suits and sunglasses, delivering classic lines like “We’re on a mission from God” with straight faces.
But the real stars of the movie are the musical numbers, featuring legends like Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Ray Charles. The climactic car chase through the streets of Chicago is also a classic piece of action-comedy filmmaking.
13. UHF (1989)
“Weird Al” Yankovic stars in UHF as George Newman, a quirky dreamer who becomes the manager of a struggling UHF television station. To save the station, George and his friends create a lineup of bizarre original programming, from a kids’ show hosted by a janitor to a game show where contestants get tortured.
UHF is a silly, surreal comedy that parodies everything from Indiana Jones to Rambo to The Beverly Hillbillies. Yankovic brings his trademark wordplay and absurdist humor to the proceedings, with plenty of goofy sight gags and non sequiturs.
Like Wayne’s World, UHF celebrates the power of underdogs and outsiders to subvert the mainstream. It’s a loving tribute to the kind of weird, low-budget local programming that used to fill the UHF airwaves before cable TV took over.
14. PCU (1994)
PCU stars Jeremy Piven as Droz, a seventh-year senior at the politically correct Port Chester University. When a group of high school seniors visits the campus, Droz and his slacker friends take them on a wild tour of the school’s various cliques and subcultures.
Like Wayne’s World, PCU is a celebration of youthful rebellion and anti-establishment attitudes. Droz and his friends are the ultimate underachievers, more interested in partying and causing chaos than getting good grades or conforming to societal norms.
The movie also skewers the excesses of political correctness and identity politics, with various student groups protesting everything from meat-eating to the color of Band-Aids. But ultimately, it’s a feel-good comedy about learning to think for yourself and not take life too seriously.
15. Encino Man (1992)
Encino Man stars Sean Astin and Pauly Shore as two high school outcasts who discover a frozen caveman (Brendan Fraser) in their backyard. They thaw him out and try to pass him off as a foreign exchange student, teaching him about modern life and using his newfound popularity to climb the social ladder.
Like Wayne’s World, Encino Man is a silly, good-natured comedy that celebrates the joys of male bonding and outsider culture. Astin and Shore have great chemistry as the nerdy best friends, while Fraser is hilarious as the grunting, wide-eyed caveman Link.
The movie also features plenty of early ’90s fashion and slang, from baggy pants to “wheezin’ the juice.” It’s a nostalgic time capsule of a simpler, sillier era in teen comedy.
So there you have it – 15 hilarious movies to watch if you love Wayne’s World. These films all capture a similar vibe, whether it’s the absurdist humor, the rock and roll attitude, or the celebration of lovable losers. From old school classics to more recent cult favorites, there’s something here for every Wayne’s World fan to enjoy. So the next time you feel like partying on with Wayne and Garth, give one of these comedies a shot. Schwing!
