There isn’t really anyone like John Waters — few have had a career as unique and wide-ranging as his.
Waters is responsible for boundary-pushing cult classics and cultural touchstone films like Pink Flamingos (1972) and hit-film-turned-Broadway-favorite Hairspray (1988). Both films were added to the National Historic Film Register in 2023. He’s written a handful of insightful, wisecracking and often enlightening works of nonfiction, starting with Shock Value in 1981 up to Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder in 2019. He published his first novel, Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance, in 2022.
Just last year, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures organized John Waters: Pope of Trash, a career retrospective exhibit and book looking back at his work in film. He also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last year — Waters is as relevant as ever.
His quick wit, unabashed individuality and point of view make him one of the most unique cultural voices of the last 50 years. Because of that, his yearly Christmas show, A John Waters Christmas, is a can’t-miss for a chance to spend an evening with an underground legend.
Much like his movies, the shows, which Waters rewrites each year, address social observations and injustices big and small with comedic wit in his inimitable style.
His spirit of rebellion could be traced back to many things, but rock and roll seems to have had an effect on him from a young age. It’s well-known how important Little Richard was for him — his long-established image which consists of the pencil mustache and colorful style are inspired by the great rock and roll pioneer — and he mentions all the rockabilly singers were favorites but jumps to mention Elvis Presley when asked about other influential figures. “The first time I saw Elvis, I knew I was gay when I was 6 years old,” Waters tells CityBeat. “I thought, ‘Who is this Martian twitching in my living room that’s making my parents uptight?’”
“The day that you buy your first record that your parents hate, that’s the beginning of the soundtrack of your life,” Waters says, adding that punk rock had a similar influence on him.
Waters just released a 7-inch single of his own on the legendary Sub Pop Records label covering the classic novelty (as novelty gets) recording, The Singing Dogs’ “Jingle Bells,” originally released in 1955 then reworked in 1971. Waters backs his version with a spoken word recording titled “It’s a Punk Rock Christmas” on the B-side, both produced by longtime collaborator and Grammy-winning producer Ian Brennan (Tinariwen, The Good Ones [Rwanda], poet Raymond Antrobus, Parchman Prison Prayer)
“I love novelty records,” Waters says. “Why wasn’t there a COVID novelty song? Just like instrumentals, there’s no instrumental hits. I mean, even ‘Rumble’ (1958 Link Wray release) was banned, an instrumental that was banned for causing riots. That could never happen today.”
“The Singing Dogs doing ‘Jingle Bells’ is maybe the worst, most obnoxious novelty song ever, but you hear it every year on the radio, so I wanted to make the worst cover record ever,” Waters says. “I’ve only heard it once and it says on the cover, ‘Please do not play this record.’” Waters says it sells out every night at the shows.
The tour also includes a lot of other new merchandise and potential gifts for that certain person in your life. “I have the only celebrity cum rag that we can’t keep in stock; we have a signed barf-bag, we have t-shirts, action figures, yeah,” Waters says. “So, I’d like to help people with their Christmas shopping.”
The shows are rewritten each year and Waters maintains a regular work schedule, writing and working Monday through Friday. On the day of our interview, he’s in Seattle on a tour stop rehearsing for the performance, a 70-minute monologue, one-man show that thrills his loyal fanbase and shocks and/or charms everyone else.
Of his work ethic, Waters says, “Well, it’s my job. I have to think up weird things every morning and sell it in the afternoon.” He adds, “But I like my work so it’s not as anxiety provoking as going to a job I hated every day.”
The show has become a tradition in its own right, allowing Waters to talk about all the excitement and stress around Christmas and the holidays, among other topics.
“I like the idea that it brings people anxiety, it brings people happiness, but you can’t escape Christmas, you really can’t,” Waters says. “So, you have to give in and imagine the best of it, the worst of it.”
The shows also touch on current events, and Waters has suggestions on how to defuse potential family disputes this year. “A lot of people are gonna get in a lot of fights when they get home this Christmas about politics and everything. So, you have to come up with ways to give things that people won’t expect. You know, when I go home, I always try to get gift certificates for abortions for my niece and nephews, just in case, things like that.”
Waters has used comedy and irony to satirize and subvert cultural norms and even injustices throughout his career. “Comedy is politics, you know?” he tells CityBeat before moving to address the recent re-election of Donald Trump, mentioning the Yippies, the former political group that used humor and satire to go against opposing viewpoints.
“I keep saying, ‘Everybody stop whining about Trump winning, you know? We got to whine about it for a week, now bring back the Yippies,’” Waters says. “But, the problem with the Yippies — they used humor as terrorism to embarrass the enemy, but you can’t embarrass Trump; that’s the problem. And he ended bad taste, really. He did. That’s not even fun anymore. So, we just have to figure a new way. Stop whining and get out there and do something. We’ll see.”
Just a few doors down from the Ludlow Garage where Waters will appear, the Esquire Theatre is playing a John Waters film series in two parts this month and next. On the influence he has, Waters says, “People come over to me and start crying — I feel like Mother Theresa from hell. No, I’m really amazed by it and I’m so respectable I could puke these days. Sometimes, I miss being banned.” He mentions a time when a Canadian sensor board burned a print of one of his films after watching it, calling it his favorite bad review, juxtaposing all of his recent acceptance as an artist.
“So, but no, I’m really thrilled at all the great things that have been happening to me recently,” Waters says. “I’m just happy I’m alive for it. I mean, who would have ever thought the Academy Awards would give me a show that had 12 rooms with my stuff and the gift shop that sold t-shirts that said ‘He’ll make you sick,’ you know? That’s amazing to me. So, it’s wonderful. It’s very, very exciting.”
As for his Christmas plans, Waters says, “This year, it’s my turn to have Christmas dinner for my entire family — 13 people sit down Christmas dinner.”
Waters used to have a Christmas party every year but says COVID ended that, calling COVID “the dreariest of all things,” before adding “You know, suppose Santa gets it. That would be the end of the world. It would be the spreader event of the century.”
John Waters appears at Ludlow Garage for A John Waters Christmas at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 13 and Dec. 14. More info: ludlowgaragecincinnati.com.
This article appears in Nov 27 – Dec 10, 2024.