A Lesson In A Reply: 15-Year-Old Fred Armisen's John Waters Fan Mail

This is a story about a letter from a teenager to a famous director in 1982. It stars Fred Armisen as the (self-described) weird 15-year old, and John Waters as the famous director. If you were a weird teenager in any way, you’ll find this supremely relatable and probably inspiring.

Armisen had already started making movies, and the movies had already started getting him in trouble. He wasn’t in a rut, but he was alone on an island looking for some external validation to keep going.

So he did what kids did in the early 1980s, and he sent some fan mail to his favorite director, John Waters.

He told Waters to not regard his letter as “just another fan letter.” He explained how he also makes “not ordinary little movies.” How “Every time you make a film, people praise you as a genius (including me), but my films only get me to a psychiatrist or kicked out of where I’m showing it.”

“Why??”

The letter reveals how Fred looked up Cookie Mueller (one of Waters’ regular actresses), sent her a letter asking for Waters’ address, and she sent it to him. He made sure to add “don’t get mad at her,” before asking for a personal reply, and explaining, “One day, I will take over your puke-dom (if you don’t mind). You should see my movies.”

It’s one part ambitious, another part adorable, and mostly - man, it’s hard to 15, you know?

John Waters got the message on this one and actually responded. This is a minor miracle in and of itself. But the advice is what this post is actually for.

Waters thanks him for the “enjoyable and funny letter.” He points out that he has a time advantage over Armisen. That might seem like a tiny detail, but it’s actually pretty significant.

How many times do we look at someone with admiration and wonder how they got there? They’re on step 3,000 and we’re about to take step 3. Waters stating he’s already been up to this for years is a very important detail to lead with in talking to a beginner. Waters goes on to say, “Just don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it and just keep plugging away.”

The rest is the kicker though. Because after the just keep going and see what happens message, the real advice arrives. Note how Waters wraps this together.

“I do hope you can ‘take over my pukedom!’ Just remember to keep it funny because it’s simple to just be disgusting but not so original. The most important thing is humor and originality.”

This nod, about what’s simple but not original is a massive insight wrapped up in a shell of encouragement. He’s letting Armisen know that if he knows his work is both funny and original, it’ll eventually get noticed. That’s the standard for Waters level work.

If our greatest differentiator is leaning into the idea that we are all different, i.e. “weird,” then all we have to do is make sure that we are always the through line.

Waters got away with drag queens, the dog poo scene (IYKYK), and what the Motion Picture Association referred to as “a wide range of perversions in explicit detail” because everybody believed he was already a weird guy, so it wasn’t that surprising he’d come up with these stories and characters.

Alignment is a way of taking a good shot without asking for permission. If you miss people will still think you’re odd. And if you succeed, they’ll think it makes sense (and still think you’re odd, but maybe brilliant too).

As a bonus, at the end of the letter, Waters also drops this gem, “Read ‘Variety’ - it’s the best text book.” For a school student to be told to focus on a magazine, this subversive advice column masked as a fan mail reply is complete.

If you’re doing something at a high level, people will ask you for advice.

You don’t have to reply every time. The more that come in - you can’t. And that’s ok.

But when someone on the precipice of working something out gets in touch, you have to try.

Recognize their effort, not their current outcome.

Nudge them to keep developing their own voice (or sound or style).

Let them know they’re already different and that’s the thing they can’t lose.

Everything else needs to be alignment with those differences. No permission is needed from there. Just a direction to go in, in the name of entertainment (hey - do no harm, let’s not miss that).

And make sure they know not to follow along with whatever garden variety advice is out there.

If Waters doesn’t send Armisen this message - does he end up on SNL? Do we get Portlandia? Is there a Documentary Now? Maybe. But there’s a reason he still talks about this letter in all of its unconventional glory.

The conventional wisdom will never get you there.

Ever.

When it’s time to, click reply. In both directions. You never know what might happen.

ps. There’s a video of Fred Armisen and John Waters reading each other their letters to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pink Flamingos here.

Pps. Here’s Fred talking about the “what would you do if it was your last day on earth” assignment that ended up prompting the letter: