Who would be better to spend the holiday season with than John waters? Few musicians are as festive Mr. Waters, who releases holiday covers and tours with A John Waters Christmas — evenings of storytelling and indispensable life advice from the filmmaker behind Female Trouble, Hairspray, Polyester, Multiple Maniacs, and Pink Flamingos, to name a few of his indisputable classics.
Waters is nothing if not a Renaissance man. John Waters is the author of many bestselling books, including Carsick, John Waters’s journey across America and Role models. His most recent work, Liarmouth, A Feel-Bad Romance has been long overdue to be adapted into a film. He’s not only a writer, but also a singer. It’s the perfect gift for the holidays from Baltimore’s Santa Claus. It’s a great pleasure to have John Waters interview by
High Timea cover. He was interviewed by the magazine in 1982. He is indeed one of the High Times greats, an artist who has always seen the beauty, fun, and truth in absurdity.
Thanks for speaking with High Times, Mr. Waters.Glad you’re still coming out. That’s kind of amazing.We went away for a bit, but then we got resurrected.
Yeah, but you’re not in print, right?
We just came back in print. You did it? Good, good, good, good, good. Even though I’m not sure if I still use drugs, it is good to hear that you do. We can discuss any drug. I’ve taken everyone.
What are some of your earliest memories of High Times Magazine?
I just remember always liking it, because when it first came out, it was really radical that there was such a thing, when marijuana was legal nowhere, ever. Odorama
was a great magazine that most celebrities were afraid to be on the cover, even though they wanted to. But I always just thought it was a great magazine that most people who are all celebrities were afraid to be on the cover, even though they wanted to be.
I’ve experienced
fear, I will tell you.
Really?[for Polyester]It’s not always easy getting a yes. You can’t tell. Johnny Knoxville is a straight boy, but he is very gay-friendly. When we made A Dirty Shame
he said “All I wanted to be on cover of American Grizzly the bear magazine.” But they refused him because he was not gay. I asked, “Are You Crazy? They wouldn’t move?[that]They would not do it because it was ridiculous that he wasn’t gay. This is reverse discrimination. You’re interviewing someone who doesn’t use drugs. As I said before, I used to take everyone. Ecstasy was the drug that caused me to stop taking drugs. That’s the worst high I could ever imagine.
Your experience wasn’t enjoyable?
No, to love everyone, it’s too frightening a concept to ever take the drug, because that sounds like the worst high. That’s the baddest trip you could ever have, if you loved everybody.
It’s funny you say that, because your work is very loving of people.It is, it is. I accept everyone, but it doesn’t mean that I want to cuddle up with them and sucking my thumb. I wrote all those films on pot. It makes me anxious now. I wrote all of the pot movies until I was successful. And then, unlike most other people who become drug addicts, I stopped taking drugs, which was a wise decision.You’ve always seemed like someone who’s very comfortable with success, with their place in pop culture.
Well, I’m very lucky. In my Christmas show I said, “I can take drugs.” I shot heroin once and did not become a drug addict. I was able to drink alcohol without becoming an alcoholic. I did it all. But other people I know who did it with me became drug addicts, and had horrible lives and everything.”
I loved LSD. When I was 70 I took LSD again and wrote an entire chapter about it in my book. Mink Stole, my 70-year-old partner, and I took the course again after 50 years. It was fantastic. I never tell my children to do drugs. The ’60s have passed – idiots. They should be taken by the elderly. When they return home for Christmas they won’t be able to say that you have dementia. You can just say that you are tripping.
Cannabis helps a lot of our readers and friends during the holidays, especially at family get-togethers.
Me, if I have one toke, I start worrying about things. Other friends my age still smoke it daily. It does not relax me at all anymore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pr0pqoVqBg
You stopped before more mass legalization, huh?
I did. What fun are legal drugs, then? Now, poppers are illegal because RFK – R.F.U.C.K. Kennedy Jr. – has made them so. Online, all the CEOs, they took everything down.
That’s unfortunate.
Well, poppers, I didn’t know we used poppers for sex. We used to do it… I don’t know, I’m sure that’s politically incorrect but I’ve seen a movie called
The Idiots
where people deliberately act like idiots
and you can say the same. We used to scare people by doing poppers out in the open. Five of us were doing poppers in the department store and laughing at people without reason.
. It was fun.
[Laughs] Sounds like a good time.
And there is a movie called
about popper addicts that’s pretty good. It’s really pretty good. I know you might want to do a feature on it. I know you might want to do a feature on it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9FBkE4Ragw[Laughs]Any enjoyable drug-fueled holiday memories?
[Editor’s note: Poppers have long been restricted for human consumption; recent reports in 2025 describe stepped-up FDA enforcement actions against certain sellers.]
Oh, my God. I mean, I’ve always had amazing acid trips. I ate morning glory seeds and puked for two hours. Then, you got high. But I’d think I was parakeet. I’m eating those seeds. It worked. I used glue. I did everything possible. But I preferred liquor and Quaaludes, if forced to choose. Coke I liked but it would make me high for 10 mins and then take two weeks to recover. That never made sense to me. I am not a jazz singer. I don’t need to take heroin.
Speed was fun. I love diet pills. Ozempic gives you a huge dick. So, why? You were extremely disciplined during your drug-addicted years. It didn’t affect your work negatively, unlike other artists. Although they may have affected my thinking, I wouldn’t say that drugs ever got in the path of my career. We did not take drugs when we made the films. No one I know of was high while we were making the film. I smoked pot as I thought it up and others smoked pot after it was finished, but I don’t remember anyone else doing so. I can’t imagine being high and making movies, especially with the amount of work that you have to do. I also can’t. Really, I’m not a fan of watching movies while high. I also don’t enjoy watching movies when people are eating. It’s disgusting. Valid. Do you enjoy traveling as a well-traveled person?I like it. I don’t need to hitchhike anymore. I don’t think I will ever hitchhike again across the United States. When I was stuck in Provincetown, I hitchhiked to get somewhere. I was picked up within seconds. So, I’m not afraid of being stuck anywhere, ever, because I know I can always hitchhike.[redacted]What keeps you entertained these days when going from city to city?
I’ve always got good books. Yep. It’s important to read a good book. My favorite book is the one about the girl in the Fatima Letters who claimed that the Virgin Mother appeared. My favorite book is The [It was about shocking people]Obsessive Histories of That
[Laughs]. Look up a book on the Fatima Letters. You’ll find it.
In Mr. You wrote in Mr. It seems that you have to work five or more jobs today. I’ve got a lot of books I want to get for the holidays. I just did the audiobooks for all six of my screenplay books that were just re-released, and I play every character.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1ilGorkB_A
What books are you hoping to get from the holidays this year as presents?
Oh, I have a whole list.
Adele Hugo
by Laura El Makki (English translation only, please)
Two Of Me
[Laughs] by Eleanor Coppola
David Lynch
:
His Work, His World
[Laughs] by Tom Huddleston
Living In the Present with John Prine
by Tom Piazza
Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood Fish Tales
by Nettie JonesThe Pelican Child by Joy Williams
When you go out on stage, what are you hoping to accomplish with every show?a clothing lineWell, every year, I hope the jokes work. I hope people will laugh. I don’t think in guilty pleasures. Why would you feel guilty about enjoying yourself? I was asked to make a “guilty pleasure” album for Film Comment. I chose all serious art films because people usually choose exploitation, horror, etc. I chose the most obscure French art films. I chose the most obscure French films. I convinced him to have a sidebar with the words “One stupid Question for a Genius” and, without knowing it, they called Godard. When I asked him, “What is your favorite colour?” he began to stutter and became so angry. I should say that was my best journalism.
This is my top moment of the Nobel Piece of Ass Award. This is the moment I am most proud of, if I may say so. They’re all there. They look like they’re dressed for Halloween every day. They look like they’re dressed for Halloween every day.
Do you enjoy Halloween?
[Note: Here’s the list, courtesy of his office]
No, I hate it, because my father used to always say, “Not Halloween, you know,” every time I went out. They do dress for Christmas. I do hate blinking corsages, because I think it’s somebody videotaping, and it makes me crazy.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1ilGorkB_A
You recently covered Little Cindy’ “Happy Birthday Jesus.” The original recording is chilling. What inspired you to cover the song? She stumbles on a word and I deliberately stumble over that exact word. I did this for authenticity. This record was never meant to be ironic or funny. I have made it a novelty record, and I love novelty records. Why was there no novelty song for COVID? There are no novelty songs any more. Last blatant was “Valley Girl.” I’d rather be slapped with a spoon than listen to it. It’s grody. It’s, like, totally! Moon Unit Zappa is a valley girl but she spoke in this language. Holidays can be difficult. What advice would you give our readers for the holidays? I tell them that it’s the ultimate high, and we will all do it. I don’t want to give it away. Come to the show and you’ll learn more. Later in life, we’ll do it together. Thank you. I’m going to go sniff some glue
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb21lsCQ3EMEditor’s note: Statements about substance use reflect the subject’s personal anecdotes and humor. High Times does encourage unsafe or illegal behavior.PEN American Center CC BY 2.0
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