John Waters, on his love for Kevin Federline and why he can’t stop telling stories

Fifteen minutes with John Waters goes by quickly.

The iconic cult-classic film director talks fast, answering questions in a voice and cadence that is unmistakable to anyone who’s heard him speak. It was suggested the interview be recorded for later playback and it’s not bad advice.

If he’s hitting any talking points (about the new sexual revolution, or other subjects in his new comedy tour “Devil’s Advocate”) it comes off utterly conversational. By the end, he’s laughing and you’re laughing and you wonder if maybe you’ve just made a friend.

Some things you did pick up:

Waters is a natural storyteller.

He made a name for himself in the 1970s with a string of transgressive indie films known as the “Trash Trilogy,” which starred the drag queen Divine. Waters’ later movies were more mainstream, if not more subversive. “Hairspray” stared a pre-talk show Ricki Lake and was made into a Broadway musical. Ditto for the Johnny Depp-led 1990 film “Cry Baby.”

But Waters has also written a series of memoirs, including the hitch-hiking travelogue “Carsick,” a novel and a series of comedy shows, which he performs on tour at about 50 venues each year. He’ll be in Fresno on Friday at the Tower Theatre.

“They’re equally important to me,” Water says.

“I just need a way to tell a story.”

He tends to keep one big project in the works at all times. His last book was released in 2022 and it’s rumored he’s working on a new film (his first in two decades). These comedy tours tend to make more money than writing books, he says, and allow him to keep in touch with his audience, which is a pleasure.

“They get dressed for me. They get their roots done,” he says.

“Unless their undone roots are the look.”

And while, the performances may seem extemporaneous, the material is actually written (and rewritten at least twice a year), meticulously memorized and performed as more of a one-man show than a traditional stand-up routine.

“There’s no notes,” Waters says.

“It’s 70 minutes with no safety net.”

John Waters is a lost cause

Waters — still sporting his signature pencil-thin mustache and retro-suits — has long been embraced by the alternative, counter-culture and outsider communities (though he’s argued that no-such thing exists anymore and even now says the alternative community has more rules than his parents ever did).

In a press release for the show, he calls his audience a “happy family of all-age, cuckoo crossover: hip-hop hippies, pansy punks, queer gangstas, down-low hos, and s***-kicking skeezers.”

And he has been, at times, a controversial figure that would seem prone to protests and the like. But these days, “the people who hate me, don’t come,” he says.

“They gave up on me a long time ago.”

It’s one of those pick-your-battles kind of things, he says.

“I’m not a good battle to pick.”

He did get people outside of a show recently, protesting him, religiously. They were angry he was making jokes about Bethlehem.

People thought Waters had hired them to be there.

Fresno’s own Sam Peckinpah + Kevin Federline

Waters has been to Fresno before, though he doesn’t remember much about the city. He was just passing through on one of his car trips across the state.

He does get excited though, knowing he’s visiting the home of Sam Peckinpah and Kevin Federline.

Peckinpah was a film director and screenwriter in the 1960s and ‘70s who was known for his gritty westerns, including 1969’s “The Wild Bunch.” He was the first director to be explicit with what Waters calls the “ballet of violence.”

Watching a Peckinpah film, “you know you’re not going to be bored,” Waters says.

Federline, aka K-Fed, was a back-up-dancer-turned-actor who gained celebrity status via a relationship (and eventual marriage) to Britney Spears.

“He was so hated at the time,” Waters says.

“I just thought he looked cute.”

It’s hard to tell if he’s joking, but Waters says he really hopes Federline is in town on Friday visiting family. He’d like to invite him to the show.

If Federline happens to read this, there’s a spot on the guest list.