I saw John Waters perform his hilarious and filthy Christmas spectacular at Poughkeepsie’s Bardavon Theater a year ago. Afterwards, my husband and I went backstage and bumped into Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz in the greenroom. Not quite Divine returned from the grave, but still.
Never underestimate how far and wide Waters’ appeal stretches. What I love about John is how funny and connected he is in the moment, and how widely read and culturally savvy. He now has a new book, a combination of fiction and travelogue about hitchhiking from Baltimore to San Francisco called Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America. Here he is with Stephen Colbert doing the dog-and-pony show and nailing it:
I’m betting the highlight of my summer culture calendar will occur when Waters interviews “Filmmaker on the Edge” David Cronenberg at the Provincetown Film Festival. I think Waters is a great interview but what I discovered at Provincetown on Cape Cod is that he was also a terrific interviewer.