Las Vegas Mixtape v7: A Reconverted Historic Motel, Rat Pack-Era Eatery, and Hearty New Food Hall

Track #4: “A John Waters Christmas,” @ 24 Oxford at the Virgin Hotel

The stage is set for the outrageous  “A John Waters Christmas: Let’s Blow It Up” at 24 Oxford inside the Virgin Hotel. (Image: Vegas 411)

Long live John Waters. At 77, the legendary film director (“Pink Flamingos”) and author (“Crackpot”) is still killing audiences with his riotous stand-up act and ask-me-anything Q&A sessions.

Decorating a Christmas tree is like “forcing drag on nature,” Waters giddily noted to his rabid devotees, including Pia Zadora (whom he cast in “Hairspray”) at the intimate 24 Oxford showroom at the Virgin Hotel. Make no mistake, this is Waters’ version of Christmas. His rapid-fire wit and lovably twisted wisdom are second to none. “Can’t fall asleep?” he asked. “Try masturbation, it’s nature’s melatonin.”  

Waters threw darts at everything under the sun: straight men wearing shorts on airplanes, boxed water, pickleball, the difficulty of navigating a non-binary world, and fallen political imposter George Santos, whom Waters recently declined to profile for “Interview” magazine (as he mentioned onstage).

The secret to his career as a filmmaker? “I’ve made exploitation films for art theaters,” he said with glee, noting his major exhibition, “Pope of Trash,” that’s now at The Academy Museum in LA.