John Waters invades Hoff Theater

For you foreigners (i.e. non-Marylanders), you may want to click the link to see who John Waters is. However, I think most of the "clueless" are even familiar with him for his infamous Pink Flamingos or successful Hairspray (the damn thing is even being remade as a film based on the Broadway play based on his film).

At any rate, that was the funniest thing I've ever seen in person. It was billed as a lecture, but it was really a stand-up routine based on his experiences. My face was actually sore from laughing. He talked a lot about Divine, his influences, and there was a great deal of "limits" discussed. People brand him as completely outrageous (something I couldn't possible relate to, she says with heavy sarcasm), but even he has limits and is surprised by things or how others interpret them. For example, he taught at a correctional facility in Maryland for awhile. His students were murderers and after he screened Pink Flamingos, they told him he was totally fucked up. I wish I could remember all the zingers.

I was shocked that the place wasn't packed. Allie and I got there a little more than an hour before the doors were scheduled to open anticipating a huge line, but we found ourselves first in line. It's probably because half of the students at the University of Maryland hail from New York and New Jersey and don't have much of a clue about him!

This was a great thing to go to. While I've been lamenting the sadness I feel for leaving D.C. behind, there really hasn't been much thought about leaving Maryland and its "culture" and familiarity. John Waters is foremost a Baltimore icon, but he's really a Maryland icon as well. While I don't subscribe to Baltimore Culture (I'm a Washingtonian, dammit) nor do I have particular fondness for the clueless rednecks he often puts on screen, it's something I've grown up with that has had a particular impact (and probably exposure) because of my Maryland residency.

And you know he's Maryland pride when he doesn't tell some ridiculous crabs joke unlike other celebrity guests (hello, B.D. Wong!).