Bad Santa
BAD SANTA
It may surprise you to discover that the man known as the 'Pope of Trash', 'King of Bad Taste' and 'Sultan of Sleaze' is also an ardent fan of the most traditional of holidays: Christmas. Not one to do things by half, John Waters has celebrated the season on film (in his 1974 cult classic Female Trouble), on record (he released a compilation album of his favourite Christmas songs in 2004) and on stage, every winter, for the past 15 years. The Pink Flamingos and Hairspray director takes his annual one-man show, A John Waters Christmas, on the road this month – hitchhiking into a town near you with a sack full of yuletide profanity, smutty stories and Santa-sized laughs. Speaking to us on the phone from his home in Baltimore earlier last month, Waters promised that this year’s show would address everything you’ve always wanted to know about Christmas – “Is Prancer the only gay reindeer?”, “Has Santa ever been nude?”, “Should you disrupt living nativity celebrations this year in the name of political action?” – but were too scared to ask.