Wildly inappropriate but hilarious filmmaker John Waters performs one-man show at Royce

Before Wednesday night, I had no idea who John Waters was. Today, I’m still a little iffy on the who, but I can confidently say I know what he is. In a word, he is filthy. I know that word usually has a negative connotation, but I believe that in this case (and I’m sure Waters would agree), there is no higher compliment.

Waters, a 64-year-old prolific filmmaker and author, performed his one-man show, “This Filthy World Goes Hollywood,” for a nearly sold-out Royce Auditorium on Wednesday night.

Waters’ act was preceded by a four-song set performed by songwriter and folk musician Elvis Perkins. Perkins’ guitar strumming and liberal use of the harmonica were reminiscent of Bob Dylan, while his steady vocals were more similar to the likes of Win Butler of Arcade Fire. Perkins also contributed to the comedic spirit of the night, with humorous anecdotes between songs. His most memorable song, “Ta-da,” is best described as a lyrical acid trip, with each new line making progressively less sense than the one before, until he eventually began to sing about “unicorn porn websites” and the “end of the world fair.”

Actor Matthew Gray Gubler of “Criminal Minds” fame was the MC for the event. Though Gubler probably spent only about a combined total of five minutes on the stage, he did his best to showcase his comic ability. This entailed dressing up like Waters and cramming as many jokes as he could into his limited stage time, even going so far as to refer to Waters as “the Rosa Parks of perversion.”

After Gubler’s introduction, Waters took the stage to rousing applause from the audience. For those of you who, like me, know absolutely nothing about Waters, here’s what you need to know.

Waters, a native of Baltimore, Md., began his filmmaking career in the 1970s and early ’80s, creating trashy films that pushed the censorship boundaries of their time and would later go on to attain cult status. In 1988, he made the film “Hairspray,” which was later adapted into a Broadway musical and then remade as a film in 2007 with John Travolta. Throughout the ’90s, Waters made a series of less controversial films starring more well-known actors such as Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci and Edward Furlong. Waters’ last film, 2004’s “A Dirty Shame,” garnered an NC-17 rating and signaled a return to his controversial writing style of the ’70s and ’80s.

As I said before, Waters is nothing short of filthy. As he talked throughout the night, it became apparent that he was inappropriate, politically incorrect, blunt, irreverent, perverted and to be perfectly frank: extremely entertaining.

Waters is less of a comedian and more of an observer, providing witty commentary on both well-known newsworthy events and everyday experiences from his own life. His talk began with a long and explicit satire of the Oscars, chock-full of wildly inappropriate suggestions that he thought would make the awards show more entertaining. He went on to talk extensively about pornography and drug use, making many hilarious assertions and observations that are unfortunately unfit to be reprinted.

Waters then took the opportunity to go through each one of his movies, telling humorous stories relating to the filming and production of each one, before going on to talk about how he considered himself a terrorist of humor, give a few frank observations about religion and detail his deep yearning to die as a result of spontaneous combustion.

Waters is filthy at best, morally corrupt at worst, but an absolute joy to listen to all the same. Sometimes, this world can be a frightening place. It’s people like Waters who use humor as a tool to make us laugh at everything around us and give us a level of comfort and ease that I, for one, truly need.