As with other seasonal workers (think Rockettes, Rudolph, sidewalk Santas), John Waters is a hot ticket come Christmas, when the film director, screenwriter, artist, collector and stand-up comedian goes on the road with “A John Waters Christmas,” his staged monologue about all things merry and dark.

“I love it, because I’m working,” Mr. Waters said. “I’m like a drag queen at Halloween.”

Thanks to the Broadway blockbuster and mainstream movie “Hairspray,” the man whose gifts to the cinematic world included both cult classics populated by glorious misfits and the modest little parable of a plump teen’s triumph over mean girls and racial segregation has become, at 67, well off — modestly so, he insists.

Holed up at his San Francisco apartment, one of four homes he maintains (the others are in New York, Provincetown, Mass., and Baltimore) for script revisions, Mr. Waters recently riffed about a run that will have him appearing in 10 cities over 12 days, including Dec. 13 and 14 in New York. If there is anything truly surprising about Mr. Waters, it is that concealed behind the sardonic delivery, the sinister pencil mustache and his well-rehearsed cynicism is, as an online fan observed, “A nice boy who loves his family and friends.”

Q. IS THAT APPRAISAL ACCURATE? IS JOHN WATERS SECRETLY A FAMILY MAN AND SENTIMENTALIST?

A. I don’t think I’m sentimental. Although certainly my Christmas show has irony in it, I love Christmas without irony. I’m just telling people who hate Christmas how to get through it.