John Waters brings his latest version of Christmas to town

John Waters is best known for outré movies such as “Female Trouble,” “Pink Flamingos” and “Polyester,” as well as the mainstream hit “Hairspray.” But his other pursuits — writing memoirs and novels and performing spoken-word gigs — are very much part of who he is.

With Christmas beckoning, Waters is on the road again. He has been touring a one-man show for 20 years, revamped every year with fresh material, called “A John Waters Christmas.” He’ll be performing at the Berklee Performance Center on Saturday, Dec. 16.

“It’s half-written,” Waters said when we spoke on the phone early in November. He worked on it later that day and would have it finished by month’s end. “Then, I’m going have to learn the whole thing,” he said. “The memorization process, which is always the hardest, but wait till you hear the s--- I say.”

As ever, when talking with Waters about his upcoming shows, he gave hints as to the content but eschewed specifics or punch lines.

"My last show was called 'End of the World' and I think that’s already happened, so this one is celebrating the new sexual revolution."

John Waters

“My last show was called ‘End of the World’ and I think that’s already happened,” Waters added, “so this one is celebrating the new sexual revolution.”

There is one?

“Oh my, are you kidding?” Waters admonished. “Every single person is trans. All the young people. There’s no such thing as boys and girls anymore. Pretty much a radical sexual revolution. I’m a leftover loser from the first one. My whole show is that: I’m a middle-of-the-road maniac now.”

Waters has written his share of appallingly hilarious books, including “Crackpot: The Obsessions of” (1986), “Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Edler” (2019), “Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America” (2014) and “Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance” (2022). The latter was optioned by Village Roadshow Pictures with Waters writing the script and directing.

“I just turned in the script and the few people I know [at the studio] have liked it,” Waters said, “but who knows how many green lights there are in development? That’s what I want all my Christmas lights to be this year: Green.”

Waters, 77, is something of a local. Though he has homes in New York City, San Francisco and his beloved native Baltimore, Provincetown is dear to him. Next summer, the man who has for years proudly carried the sobriquet “The Pope of Trash” will take up residence once again in Provincetown and become a habitué of Commercial Street.

"This will be my 60th summer,” he said, calling the town’s ethos “a bohemian all-inclusive sense of loco joy.”

But summer is far away and right now Christmas is on his mind. Though Waters is a fierce ex-Catholic, fans can still expect a Christmas theme of sorts. “I do a lot of religious stuff in my show because I am the Pope of Trash,” said Waters, who suffered the harsh discipline of nuns as a kid while seriously questioning the concept of babies being born with the original sin.

When asked if he has a favorite childhood Christmas memory, Waters said, “Well, the tree did fall over on my grandmother. She wasn’t taken to the hospital or anything and she thought it was funny. And later I put it in ‘Female Trouble’ and that’s [become] sort of a famous Christmas scene.”

Waters said he hears that all the time from people, stories about their trees toppling over. He figures it’s mostly due to the alcohol intake of the humans or the rambunctiousness of the dogs. And thinks, why not make it a Christmas ritual: “I think you should rig your tree to fall over so when you open your big final present, somebody nods and pulls a string and the whole family starts screaming and hugging each other while the tree is overturned.”

It's a good bet that a chunk of the Berklee monologue will be focused on the not unfunny quirks of his own sexuality, as Waters likes nothing more than skewering his own tribe. And the show will have many tangential digressions. Most shockingly, perhaps — despite his acerbic wit and penchant for wry, ribald jokes —people may find an undercurrent of warmth and fuzziness.

"I don't know if warm and fuzzy would be the first adjectives I've ever gotten in a write-up, but I'm not mean-spirited and that's why I've been able to do this for 50 years."

John Waters

“I think I am warm and fuzzy in a weird way, because my audience is brought together and they feel great with one another,” he said. “I’m not a separatist. I have all ages. I do think I am joyous and likable. My whole message has been ‘Don’t judge other people’ and that’s it. I don’t know if warm and fuzzy would be the first adjectives I’ve ever gotten in a write-up, but I’m not mean-spirited and that’s why I’ve been able to do this for 50 years.”

Waters, like many comic provocateurs, has wrestled with the concept of “woke” over the past few years, but said he’s come to a realization. “Nobody says ‘woke’ anymore except Republicans,” Waters said. “The right gave up on me a long time ago but I’ve never been censored by the left either and I don’t think I will because I think I make fun of the rules that I live by, too. Self-righteousness is the ultimate sin, and both the left and the right can have that.”

Most people who come to a Waters show have an idea of what to expect, but you’d think at some point he’d get heckled. “Never,” he said, before adding: “Maybe 40 years ago, I was in Europe and somebody said ‘You make filthy films from a filthy country.’ But I thought that was maybe a compliment.”

“A John Waters Christmas” plays at the Berklee Performance Center on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 8 p.m.