John Waters does not own any cowboy boots.
And, he probably won’t be wearing cowboy boots at his performance at Paramount Theatre in downtown Austin this weekend, unless he becomes a rancher in the next three days.
“I feel that if you are a Texan and you work on a ranch, you look great in it. Otherwise, in Las Vegas, you look like a bad hooker,” he told us.
Waters, the creator of “Hairspray” and “Pink Flamingos,” and frequent collaborator with the iconic drag queen Divine, is bringing his show, “The Filthiest Birthday Ever!” to Moontower Comedy Festival. We caught up with Waters before his trip to Austin in what can only be described as a dream interview. Here’s what we learned:
🎤 Waters’ Show Is About, Well, Everything.
If you were able to nab a ticket to Waters’ Saturday show, expect a 70 minute monologue. (Tickets are still available to see Waters and start at $30.)
The show is about, “politics, fashion, movies, sex, your parents, how you can rebel, how to be old, how to be young, everything," Waters said. “It’s a pretty crazy comedy show and it happens to be in my birthday week.”
😎 You Can Be Cool Anywhere.
Waters believes humor is political and you can use it as a weapon for change.
In Texas, anti-drag and anti-LGBTQ+ bills are progressing in the Texas Legislature. But Waters says Austinites shouldn’t feel like they have to leave a town where more voters swung right in the last presidential election than before.
“There’s cool people everywhere,” he said.
“Stay wherever you are and make it better. You don’t have to leave. You make it better where you were born and then every country, every city will be cool,” Waters said. “You don’t have to be the majority. Who wants to be the majority?”
🌈 Gay Is Not Enough To Make Good Films.
As a gay filmmaker himself, Waters has advice for queer Austinites looking to get into the filmmaking business: Your work has to be more than just gay.
“I think that gay is a very good start, but being gay is not enough. You have to be more than just gay. You have to be gay, and funny, and change things, and make people look at all sexuality in different ways,” Waters said.
