In addition to being known as an widely acclaimed filmmaker and the “Pope Of Trash,” John Waters also loves Christmas in a passionate way.
He also isn’t afraid to put in his two cents about the holiday season with opinions that’ll make you think differently about a few things. On a night filled with defying social norms, comical takes on the current state of the world, and plenty of laughs, Waters held court at the Berklee Performance Center for A John Waters Christmas this past Saturday (December 17).
For nearly two hours, Waters had the audience in tears while doing a conversational style of comedy that was absolutely brilliant. He’s always had a crazy and unique mind and Waters got to show it full circle in front of an excited crowd.
Wearing a red suit jacket and tie with black plants and shiny sneakers with a wreath placed on the left side of him, Waters from the get-go started talking about all sorts of things. His takes on getting Christmas gifts for people that perhaps they wouldn’t like, stories about his longtime drag queen starlet Divine and the horrifying election of President-elect Donald Trump started the performance off. He also frequently mentioned his book store Atomic Books, based in his hometown of Baltimore, and pitching ideas for different kinds of shops and business propositions to the people in attendance. Waters then delved in to the religious side of Christmas and how certain cultures celebrate it. In Spain, there’s a figure known as “The Crapper” which is a guy taking a dump as part of nativity scenes in the Catalonian region. While explaining this to the audience, Waters encouraged people to do it everywhere and leave piles of poop on nativity scenes all across America and it got a big laugh.
Near the end of his performance, he also went into how he’s been offered to do a kid’s version of his masterpiece Pink Flamingos titled Pink Kidingos that got another laugh from the audience. Waters received a standing applause, then took questions from various people in attendance; he talked about his distaste for Egg Nog, and the characters he hitchiked with in his 2014 book Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America. After the Q&A, Waters then got another ovation to finish off a hilarious experience.
Follow Rob Duguay on Twitter @RobDuguay.