John Waters’ Christmas Show Finds the Humor in the ‘Non-Binary Disaster’ of the Holiday Season

This story is featured in CityBeat's Nov. 29 print edition.

Filmmaker John Waters has remained one of the most unique, bold and singular cultural voices for more than 50 years. 

His underground beginnings with infamous films like Pink Flamingos and a handful of other cult, boundary-pushing movies shocked audiences and poked fun at both societal norms and extremes. He and his troupe of friends that made up the cast and crew, the Dreamlanders, found wider acceptance starting in the ‘80s when they began working within the Hollywood system on films like 1988’s Hairspray, 1990’s Cry-Baby, 2004’s A Dirty Shame and Waters’ recently optioned 2022 novel, Liarmouth, which he’s set to direct.

Waters is in demand as ever, finding ever-growing cultural recognition and acclaim. He even gave a now-famous commencement speech known as “Make Trouble” to the Rhode Island School of Design class of 2015, and, in addition to Pink Flamingos and Hairspray being added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2021 and 2022, respectively, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in September. Also, the Academy Museum is currently hosting an exhibit of his filmwork that runs through August of 2024 with a companion book. Both are named after writer Willaim S. Burroughs’ given designation, “John Waters: Pope of Trash.”

Waters spends several weeks a year touring a freshly written show for his annual Christmas show and, like his seven books of nonfiction, the shows cover everything that currently or eternally amuses Waters, with his singular wit. The shows are followed by a Q&A to greet his adoring audience.

For this year’s edition of the annual Christmas show, Waters tells CityBeat, “I’m gonna cover all the extremes of Christmas for people that love it or hate it. For fashion, for politics, for controversy, for sex, anything that happens at Christmas because no one can escape Christmas, no matter what religion, race, creed, anything you are, you can’t escape Christmas. It’s a non-binary disaster.”

Waters has used comedy over the course of his career, lampooning trends and taste, like when he poked fun at the exploitation of true crime in Serial Mom (1994) or satirized the absurdities of the art world and celebrity in Pecker (1998).

“Comedy walks the edge,” Waters said. “If you think about it, in the very beginning, Lenny Bruce went to prison in 1961 for saying ‘cocksucker’ on stage in San Francisco. Now if you said that word, people would say ‘So, what’s the matter with that?’ So, words change and words are humorous and all jokes are political. So, everything you say that’s funny, in a way, is political, because if you can make someone laugh, they’ll listen to you and you can change their opinion.”

Waters often references rock and roll in his films, another boundary-pushing medium and he never seems too far from that world. It may be a key to his naturally rebellious instincts. “The first song that you buy that your parents hate is the beginning of the soundtrack of your life,” Waters said. I ask about a mutual love, Little Richard. Waters’ mustache is a giveaway but he took part in the documentary about the rock and roll legend released last year, I Am Everything. 

“Little Richard broke so many taboos that you didn’t even realize it because he was like an alien that landed on another planet,” Waters said. “I remember my grandmother hearing him singing. I remember that Specialty record (Richard’s record label) and I put that 45 on, him screaming ‘Lucille.’ My grandmother’s china shook.”

The conversation moves to punk and he seems to light up at the mention. “Well, punk is my people. I mean, believe me, I feel the most comfortable in a punk world. I’m gay but the first time I walked into a gay bar, I thought, ‘Oh, I ain’t this.’ It was too square.” Adding, “The punk world always was so accepting to me because it’s such a radical look and I feel that we’re not included enough in the new diversity and I talk about that in my Christmas show.”

Though between travels he splits his time at homes in Provincetown and San Francisco, he’s famously remained in his hometown of Baltimore. “When I go back to Baltimore, I have many, many old friends and I don’t trust people that don’t have old friends and none of my friends are in show business so I don’t have to talk about that all the time. How could I be a writer about normal life if I only know people in showbusiness?”

I mention Baltimore and Cincinnati seem comparable and Waters responds, “I can imagine.” Adding, in comparison, “You have Doris Day and Steven Spielberg, they couldn’t be more mainstream. People that are known in Baltimore for the arts are David Simon for The Wire and Barry Levinson who makes movies about tin men and anti-semitism — and I make movies about serial mom killers. We don’t make things like Doris Day and Steven Spielberg, things that almost everyone loves. Which, I love Doris Day and Steven Spielberg too but I’m still amazed that the people that are famous from Baltimore are all these people who are not in the mainstream, in a way, or they write about subjects that are not.” 

Waters seems to share a commonality with fellow creative figures Fran Lebowitz, Paul Reubens and Patti Smith. All four had somewhat recent rises in mainstream popularity and all four represent artists coming from a more distinct, rebellious and often subversive place while being accepted by the mainstream without compromise. 

“Well, I met them all,” Waters said of his fellow creative figures. “I think we all have a sense of humor. Now, Paul’s no longer with us. I did speak at his funeral, virtually. I think that we all make fun of the rules that we live by, that people think they have escaped their parent’s rules, but in today’s world, the outsider’s rules are often more strict than our parents had. That’s new. And I think maybe all the people you named are against self-righteousness. That is the worst sin to me, no matter what your politics are. Maybe we wore them down, they couldn’t get rid of us.”

On being referred to as an artist, Waters says, “Whenever I meet somebody and they say they're an artist, I always think, (Waters adopts a mock critical tone) ‘I’ll be the judge of that, not you.’ So, I think it’s very flattering when someone calls you an artist…I would say, if someone asks, ‘Are you an artist?’ I would say, ‘That would be your opinion, not mine.’

R. Crumb’s recent Cincinnati visit is mentioned, along with some local sightseeing tips. “Well, maybe I’ll drop in if I get a moment. On tours I get there, do a show, go to sleep to leave at 4 in the morning. Sometimes I just see the audience, that’s it. My audience, they dress well, they look good so I’m happy to see them.”

John Waters performs his show, “A John Waters Christmas,” at the Ludlow Garage at 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 14. Info: ludlowgaragecincinnati.com.