Original subtitles

-Who ls Santa Claus?

-He is a guy with a white and fluffy beard and...

Rosy cheeks. - Rosy cheeks.

[ "Up on the housetop" plays ]

- Oh, he -- - he has a white beard.

When he's happy, he gets a twinkle in his eye.

-Um, he's magical.

-He lives at the north pole.

It's cold. Like a -- like a big cold.

-He's fat, but he's medium fat.

-And then he just waits for the --

for the elves to make the toys,

and then -- then they give them to Santa.

And then he just delivers them all around the world.

- Um, I don't know. - He actually...

Doesn't do anything for fun. All he does is...

-Work.

-All he does is work and eat and deliver presents.

-You know, let's face It. You're born with what you got,

and I'm blessed with a good look.

[ Twinkle! ]

I've had many of my other professional colleagues

tell me, like, "Russ, you really look good.

"We saw a picture of you, and you really look like Santa.

You are Santa," you know?

You begin to take that persona on,

take that personality on every day of the year.

But, you know, I mean, in your mind,

you know you're just some guy named Russ,

and you're just sitting at home,

living off of social security, waiting for Christmas to come.

[ Heroic music plays ]

[ Grunts ]

I think, you know, in this economy, everybody needs money.

You know, unless you're a lawyer or something,

there's nobody who's got a safe bank account anymore.

I got $3.30.

What else do I need?

Having worked for 30 years, 40 years --

I was catering weddings at 15. I'm used to working.

And then, all of a sudden, you get to be 58 years old,

and your boss says, "you're done."

And you say, "well, that's okay.

I'll go get another job in sales. It's easy."

And then, all of a sudden, nobody hires you

for age discrimination and bad economy.

You can get depressed. I mean, you lose your house.

You can get real depressed. And next thing you know,

it's a state of mind that stays with you.

And you don't really see it,

but one day, you wake up, and you go, "I'm miserable."

-I had a pretty big house, and we just --

we were talking about it one day,

and I'm like, "well, if you want to move in the basement,

you can move in with us." And it was good

that he was able to be there with the kids,

and then he helps me cut the grass and take out the garbage

and do all that kind of stuff.

So, It actually worked out really well.

- Hello. - Hi, Santa.

- They being good today? - Yeah, they are.

-Okay, that's good. I'm watching.

-When I finally found out

that there was any such thing as men who liked men,

I knew that was what I'd been all along

and suddenly was very comfortable with It.

♪ Santa boy ♪

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

-I'm a member of the bear community.

I was in a contest. I was a member of a bear club in Dallas,

the Dallas bears,

and they needed someone to run for the title of Mr. Polar bear,

and they talked me Into it.

I'd never done anything like that before. And I won.

So ever since then, I've always been Mr. Polar bear,

TBRU, Texas bear round-up,

which is the largest bear gathering in the U.S.A. Now.

I suddenly became in demand.

And people who saw me at the contest,

being from all over the world, actually --

I started getting requests from people

to pose for them for different things.

Some of them got published in magazines.

Some of them didn't.

But I enjoyed that.

Suddenly, I was able to do things

that I never did when I was in my professional field.

♪ I just can't stand ♪

♪ Christmas without my man ♪

♪ Santa boy ♪

- [ Chuckling ] Can you get up? - I might not get out of the tub.

I might have to sleep here tonight.

- [ Laughs ] - Sleep with the chickens.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

-I have to change my name on my license.

-Really?

What do you want to change your name to?

-The court order is for, uh, change It to...

-[ Laughs ] You're fucking crazy.

-Let me give you a little background

of before I was Santa -- long black hair, beard, tattoos.

I'm on the long island railroad.

For some reason, nobody wants to sit next to me.

Couple months later,

my wife, you know, lets me bleach my beard, bleach my hair.

All of a sudden, the same people that wouldn't come near me

are now sitting next to me,

are putting their kids on my lap,

are striking up conversations with this person

who, you know, the only difference was the hair color.

-Are you gonna get plates?

-The plates on my pickup truck say "Santa sleigh."

I've come to learn that my Santa Claus persona

is nicer than frank. [ Chuckles ]

He doesn't argue as much.

He doesn't get aggravated as fast as frank did.

And I think, in the beginning, I, you know --

I wanted to hold on to the frank character

to be able to blow off steam.

But I don't want to blow off steam.

I want to just be the person that I want to be.

-You know, I'm not a California guy.

Even though -- [ Chuckles ]

I've lived in California for 43 years,

but I still don't think of myself as a Californian.

I'm still a hillbilly from West Virginia.

You know, you can take the boy out of the hills.

You can't take the hills out of the boy.

So, uh, that's who I really am,

and California just happens to be where I live.

These are all the new listings that have just come out

in the last 24 hours in cities in this area.

I'm a real-estate agent in southern California.

Oh, well, I don't just do real estate.

I also take pictures of the easter bunny.

That's been a lot of fun.

It's actually almost as good as being Santa Claus,

'cause I get to do it from the other side.

As Santa,

you know, when I started doing it,

I thought I had a unique idea. [ Laughs ]

♪ Y'all better run ♪

♪ soon as I get my gun ♪ [ Gun cocks, gunshot ]

♪ Bust a cap on everyone ♪

♪ right before I sing a Christmas song ♪

-Forbs is a unique organization.

The luncheon today ls the big event.

It's the only ongoing get-together

of Santa clauses ever, I think.

This is just a social get-together

of Santas who, after Christmas,

get together and have lunch and have a little fun.

And it's been going on for 18 years.

I'm gonna pass on the desserts.

Well, it's not the beard, and it's not the red suit.

It's not even the bowl full of jelly.

It's really what you have in your heart.

I think anybody can be Santa

if they have Christmas in their heart.

[ Tires screech, glass shatters ]

[ Crowd shouting, cheering ] - Oh, no!

Good god almighty!

Good god almighty, that killed him!

As god as my witness, he is broken in half!

Oh, no!

-Oh, my god!

Off the top of the second turnbuckle!

-Well, like most kids, I loved Christmas.

But It wasn't until I had children of my own,

I took them to Santa's village in Jefferson, New Hampshire.

I don't think It was until that time

when I realized just how much Christmas could mean to me,

and how big a part of my life

treasuring the magic of Christmas year-round could be.

At that time, I was on the road about 300 days a year,

and we would literally use -- Santa's village was our place

that we would talk about going for months.

I mean, it's like the most surreal thing,

you know, seeing Mick -- you know, the guy who was known

for the king of the death matches

and falling off the hell in a cell.

And, you know, most of the guys back then,

you know, to get psyched up for a match,

would listen to, like, Marilyn Manson

or some kind of heavy metal.

And he's like, "hey, guys," you know,

"mind if I put in this tape?" We're like, "yeah, whatever."

So, he puts It in, and...

Nat "king" Cole comes on the radio, and you're just like...

-I've got the reputation within wrestling

of being one of the nicest guys they think that you could meet,

and also one of the guys

that you least want to go on road trips with,

partially because of my insistence

of listening to Christmas music year-round.

-Gonna get -- and he does! Mr. Socko!

-Oh, I think Mick Foley has the perfect heart for Santa

because, simply, you know,

what has to be in the heart of a real, true Santa

is the true love of Christmas and the Christmas season

and the Christmas spirit.

And Mick embodies that without a doubt.

-It's one of his callings in life, you know?

I mean, Mick has been successful in everything that he's done --

you know, wrestling, author.

You know, I think his next calling in life is Santa Claus,

'cause he does. He loves It.

-Mick has a Christmas room in his house,

a room solely dedicated to the spirit of Christmas

all year long.

-This is not just any tree.

But what makes this tree special

and the reason I went with this one --

"a" ' it's very lifelike. I like it.

But watch this -- boom! I just changed the colors.

When I get tired of that -- bam!

I put on colors and clear lights, which I really like.

But I think -- usually, I just keep it this way.

Maybe we'll go, uh...

That's a little too powerful

for everything but the most special of occasions.

-I think he gets some inner joy, some inner peace.

You know, at the time, he was this violent, violent wrestler,

but, you know, it's Christmas morning.

You get to open up those Christmas presents.

And he just -- you know, I guess that's a real peaceful time

or something in his own life

that made him, you know, love Christmas that much.

-With -- I -- to this day, my wife and I --

we differ in opinion

over why we decided to have younger children.

But I know, at least in my mind,

there was a sense of panic

that my kids were getting too old for Santa's village,

and I wanted to have more of them.

So, Hughie, did you know that you were born

so that dad could go to Santa's village more often?

- No. - [ Chuckles ]

-Come on!

Oh, there you go!

-I've always been Mick Foley as Santa Claus or St. Mick,

but nobody's ever been under the Impression

they were actually meeting Santa Claus.

So I would like to see if I have what it takes.

I don't want to be the guy who thinks

I could've, should've, would've done that

if not for the Intestinal fortitude.

So I'm gonna give it a try.

And maybe I'll be a very good Santa.

Maybe I won't. But at least I'll find out.

-Ha, guess who I got my first birthday card from --

a medical company

trying to sell me, uh, fucking medicaid when you're 65.

So, on my 61st birthday, they're sending me Information.

I thought, "you assholes."

Here you go, Mike. Happy St. Patrick's day.

Happy St. Patrick's day.

Happy Thanksgiving. - Happy --

happy Thanksgiving? - Um, happy St. Patrick's day!

- Happy birthday. - I knew It was something.

Thank you. - [ Laughs ]

-I'm a human being like anybody else.

I don't drink much.

But one day a year, I have a birthday,

and it falls on a drinking day. Why can't I go out and drink?

And I'm a gentleman, I be careful.

But once a year, what's wrong with celebrating, you know?

-Are you Irish?

-Only on today.

-Happy birthday, Santa.

-I'll tell you another story.

Her mother and I were engaged. - Yeah?

-We were not, should I say, active.

Her roommate started telling us

that we should enjoy the finer things in life.

So we did. Within one week...

She got pregnant.

I said, "well, I'm a gentleman.

I've got to go home to her parents

and tell them their daughter ls pregnant."

But then I started thinking. Her father...

Was Adolf Hitler's mechanic.

-He was in the army. He wasn't his mechanic.

-He was a German offic-- he was a German mechanic.

-And he left Germany 'cause he didn't agree with it.

-Yeah.

I'm talking, I'm a student in eastern Michigan,

and I got to go home and tell this gestapo guy

that I banged up his daughter.

I got to tell you, I was scared shitless.

So, we got to the house, and I stood by the front door.

And I said, "Hans, I want you to know

that your daughter ls pregnant, and I want to marry her."

And he got this look on his face.

And I'm thinking, "oh, shit. I'm dead."

And then, all of a sudden, he goes,

"I'm a grandpa! I'm a grandpa! That's cool!"

And then he said, "my daughter's gonna be a senior

at the university of Michigan,

one of the most expensive schools in the nation,

and you get to pay her tuition Instead of me."

I'm telling you, it was the most difficult life of my year.

I worked my ass off to get this money.

And I thought, "Jesus Christ, was a piece of ass worth that?"

But I have a beautiful daughter. I love her dearly.

She's been good to me. I've been good to her,

and we had a good marriage for 25 years

and had two good children.

But that scared the shit out of me.

That scared the living shit out of me.

- I would be terrified. - [ Laughs ]

- I would be terrified. - Yep.

♪ There's no gold at the end of the rainbow ♪

♪ just empty bottles of wine ♪

♪ there's no gold at the end of the rainbow ♪

[ Glass clatters ]

-Got ya. Got ya. Got the table.

Got the table. Got the table. Got the table.

- [ Laughs ] - [ Coughs ]

You got to turn your cameras off.

The night's over. - All right.

-I'm too -- turn 'em off.

-After my professional career,

I had started to dabble in antiques just a little bit.

I owned my own antique shop for a long time

in McKinney, Texas, which ls my hometown.

And that was too much work.

I was never able to do anything fun when I owned my own shop,

so I then became a dealer.

Do you need help, sir?

- No, thank you. - Okay.

Shortly after I rented an antique mall booth,

one of the dealers came in.

She was meeting me for the very first time,

and she said, "I have something you need."

And I said, "what?"

And she said, "I have a Santa suit."

And I said, "well, I'm interested."

I'd been trying to find a good Santa suit,

and I couldn't afford one.

I said, "how much do you want for this?"

She said, "how about 30 bucks?"

And I said, "it's mine." [ Laughs ]

Being Santa to the kids

when they're old enough to relate to Santa

and really concentrate on what they're doing --

that's altogether different from the people who come

and put their infants in my arms

and want their first picture with Santa Claus.

A couple brought in their little 4-month-old baby daughter.

And then the very next day,

another couple came in and brought their son,

who was all dressed in blue, in little blue sneakers,

and he was 4 days old.

This was his first Christmas.

[ Voice breaking ] And I realized then...

Excuse me.

...you're a part of people's lives.

[ Sniffles ] Hold on a minute.

Unknowingly, you become part of people's lives

that may not even realize it.

I can't say -- [ Chuckles ]

But it gave me such a thrill that I know that, uh,

years from now, when I'm completely out of the picture,

there's gonna be people looking at me,

and their mother's in my arms. [ Sniffles ]

♪ You talk about santy Claus ♪

♪ you want to know what it's all about ♪

-♪ Santa ♪

-♪ santy Claus got drunk last night ♪

♪ everybody tried to throw him out ♪

♪ but I want to tell you, folks ♪

♪ how It all began ♪ - [ Coughs ]

-♪ Santa stopped at a neighbor's house ♪

♪ he started drinking good gin ♪

-♪ ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh ♪

-♪ now, while I was with him, I named a few ♪

-♪ Santa's drunk again ♪

-♪ I'd love to name some of them whiskeys ♪

♪ that Santa was drinking to you ♪

-Ohh, bright.

-♪ And way back in the ancient age ♪

-♪ Santa ♪

-♪ down in mid Springs valley ♪

♪ where the crab tree grows ♪

-♪ ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh ♪

-♪ old granddaddy bought a rocking chair from Mr. Boston ♪

- ♪ shame on Santa ♪ - oh, here's my cake we forgot.

-♪ Rocking in the mellow breeze ♪

♪ the rocking chair broke and threw him bottom-up ♪

-I can't believe I've barely eaten.

-♪ He jumped up, thinking about his old rum ♪

-♪ Santa's drunk again ♪

-But It was a very nice party. I enjoyed it.

Quite frankly, when you haven't had a birthday party

in a couple of decades, It was nice.

I quite often just sit here at home, relax, have --

family calls me or something. But that's about it.

We don't make a big issue out of it,

but it's nice to do it once in a while.

[ Sighing ] Oh, my gosh.

-I've been waiting for this.

[ Chuckles ] Yep, there It is.

I design fire sprinkler systems.

You know, I've been doing the same thing almost 35 years now.

I hate working in the construction Industry.

Morning, Donna.

And at the end of the day, when I get home,

I'm just a bundle of nerves,

which is not the way I want to spend my life.

I'll be upstairs.

I would much rather be Santa Claus 24/7.

I don't want to be saddled to a desk and be aggravated all day.

And no matter how much you do, no matter how good it ls,

it's still not good enough.

This is just aggravating the shit out of me.

-I enjoy doing what I'm doing. Santa is something I love.

It's not the only thing in my life,

but it's one of the most important things in my life.

My Christian faith is number one,

my family is right there at number two,

and Santa becomes number three, I guess, in that line.

Oh, I see.

That's where they're doing it.

My Bible's in the car. [ Chuckles ]

-What greater spirit is there than the holy spirit.

And if we have given our hearts and lives to Jesus Christ,

you and I are filled with the holy spirit this morning.

And is there a better spirit for a Santa Claus to display

than that of the holy spirit?

- [ Clears throat ] - There we go.

[ Guitar plays ] Okay, ready?

The words are right there, and you know the melody.

[ To the tune of "jingle bells" ] ♪ Jesus saves ♪

♪ Jesus saves, Jesus is the way ♪

♪ oh, what joy it ls to be a child of god today, hey ♪

-Mick, this is Jennifer.

Jennifer is the tailor who's building your costume.

-Hey, Jennifer. Nice to meet you. How you doing?

- Good. How are you? - Good, thank you.

-I need to know if you're gonna end up

wearing a wig or not, though.

-I think I'm going to have to do the wig.

Well, I can do -- if I dye the hair...

- Bleaching is a huge process. - It ls, and it comes out --

like you said, you don't want to be yellow.

-That's why my hair turned purple. I tried to tone the yellow out of my hair,

so it stays purple for a few days.

-We'd probably go with a wig, then. Yeah.

-Okay. Then, well, we can at least grab one

so we can fit it with a wig

so we know the approximate size for you.

-Okay.

- [ Laughs ] - Huh?

-How do the pants feel?

-You know, oh, the pants feel great.

-Once it's there, it's gonna, you know, have a little bit

of the fur tips that hang off of It,

so you're not gonna see the edge of that at all.

-Okay.

-So, and that'll, you know, lay nice and flat.

We're obviously gonna, of course, have the fur.

-And that's real baby seal fur, right?

- [ Laughs ] Of course. - All right, okay.

Nothing but the best for Santa. - Of course.

-The guys that have real beards,

they absolutely -- they hurt themselves for the craft.

What they do is they start growing It probably around July.

- Yeah. - And it grows out long.

But the problem is -- like, you've got gray in there.

When I grow a beard, it gets gray.

But it's not white. - Yes.

-Santa Claus has to have white,

so they go to the hair dresser and bleach it.

And they tell me it's three times they have to go through

to get It truly white. - To get really white.

-And it hurts like a son of a gun.

-Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I like that. And it's not too crazy.

Some of the ones, they have Santa with the hair, you know...

-And then, if you want to sit down, I'm gonna check for you.

-Okay.

"What would you like, Johnny?"

"Ho, ho, I'm sorry. That's a little bit too expensive."

-[ Laughs ] Santa never says it's expensive.

-[ Chuckles ]

[ Engine turns over ]

[ Cellphone ringing ]

-It's Alex.

Hello, Alex.

HI. We met on the Internet.

We've been talking on the Internet for probably --

I believe he added it up.

He had the first message we'd ever --

he sent me a message, a greeting,

and It was like six years ago.

And we just met face-to-face this last year.

She bought a what? We started talking online

and realized that we had a lot of things in common,

and yet we're so different.

What's a kindle fire?

At first, it was just maybe once or twice a week,

and then it got to where it was every day.

And then it was several messages a day.

Oh, I've never heard of a kindle fire.

It's a mini computer. Okay.

And then, after he came here and we got on the telephone,

we talk probably 10 times a day,

even though I'm not a phone person.

[ Chuckles ] It's different with Alex.

It's not like a laptop, you mean?

Well, we're committed, but we don't report on our sex lives.

Neither one of us does very much anyway, I don't think.

We do when we're together.

Okay. Love you. Bye. Bye.

I'm a sexual person, but I don't --

it's not foremost in my mind.

But It is at these bear gatherings.

I mean, they're on the prowl, you know.

The Texas bear round-up is a gathering

from all over the world, actually,

of people who are of the bear persuasion.

They're -- in general, they are husky men and usually hairy,

or people who like that kind of people,

are comfortable around that kind of people,

whether they -- whether they get a sexual fantasy out of it

or just the comfort level.

-Ohh, there's endless food back there.

-Good evening, round-up!

[ Crowd cheers ]

There we go! - Yay!

-I don't even have to call for a second one.

Hell, yeah! - Hell, yeah.

-Welcome to TBRU 17 and the Mr. TBRU 2012 contest.

[ Crowd cheers ]

-We had no snow. We had no sleet.

[ Laughs ] [ Crowd cheers ]

But how many people have gotten laid at TBRU, so far?

[ Crowd cheers ] - [ Laughs ]

-♪ 24 hours a day ♪

♪ we're partyin', partyin' ♪

♪ I'll drink till I black out ♪

♪ then I'll do It again ♪

♪ 24 hours a day ♪

♪ we're partyin', partyin' ♪

♪ doesn't matter to me ♪

♪ wanna do it again, again, again ♪

-I don't wear it often.

It's too pretentious except to wear it at TBRU.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

-HI.

- HI. How are you? - Good. How are you?

I've had a great weekend.

I've seen people that I only see once a year at TBRU,

from all over the world.

And there are even people here in Dallas and fort worth

that I only see at TBRU.

We're just not in the same social circles,

and we all meet up at TBRU and have fun together.

It's fun meeting people from all over.

And Alex is going to be here next year.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

- You excited about that? - Yeah. [ Chuckles ]

[ Sniffles ]

[ Voice breaking ] I'm just sorry he's not here.

[ Sniffles ]

[ Clears throat ] I'll be okay.

Yeah, he wanted to come, but he couldn't come this year.

Alex lives in Denver, and...

[Voice breaking] ...He's my special boy.

[ Sniffles ]

I'm looking forward -- he'll be here next year.

[ Sniffles ]

Sorry. [ Chuckles ]

[ Sniffles ]

[ "Up on the rooftop" plays ]

-[ Sighs ] Fuck.

Frank, you in here?

- Are you Russell? - Yes.

[ Sighs ]

- Nice to meet you, finally. - Nice to meet you, yes.

It's been a -- we've talked a lot on Facebook.

We've never met. - This is true.

-My friend Joel. This ls --

- how are you, sir? - Hi, Santa.

-We used to call him frank,

but he actually had his name legally changed,

so he is legally Santa Claus now.

He went to court and had his name changed.

-Are you still with the same company?

-As far as I know, they're gonna have me back. The manager --

when I left at Christmas, he said, "see you next year."

- That's good. - So it's -- that's a good sign.

-You can tell him that you've been good.

You know what I mean? - Yeah.

- [ Chuckles ] - Yeah.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

-What about his lifestyle?

-I'm happy that he's willing to talk.

I'm -- I'm a pretty good judge of character.

-This is why I'm in Santa Claus, Indiana --

because this was going to be an issue.

-I don't object to him doing It.

I object to him doing it and being president of forbs.

-Yeah, swinger Santa.

"Rob Figley, the swinging Santa."

"Santa Rob, the swinging Santa."

-But you don't do that?

-Well, of course I do, but that's not anyone's business!

-If he would cut his beard off and leave Santa world,

he can do anything he wants. I don't care.

-Exactly.

But I want to hear from his lips that that's what's going on.

Right now, it's just an idea, that's all.

-John Stossel gets ahold of It, we're in trouble.

-I'm on staff of what is popularly called a sex club.

We are at Club Sesso in downtown Portland, Oregon.

And this ls the club that Diane and I like to come to

on the weekends, unwind, and relax, and enjoy ourselves.

This ls our buffet.

And you'll notice, it says right here, "no nudity at the buffet."

We really don't want to see you naked next to our food!

Please, cover up! We appreciate that.

This is...

What I like to call the group observation area,

but they refer to on the club website as the orgy bar.

I don't much care for the term "orgy bar."

It doesn't really -- I don't know --

doesn't really do it for me, name-wise.

But what other name is there?

You get to sit and watch people have sex in front of you.

I guess that's kind of an orgy bar.

One of my three brothers ls gay, or was gay.

He's since passed away, unfortunately.

I saw what Doug went through as a young gay man

in a very conservative community in a very conservative world.

And when Doug passed away from aids back in 1986,

you know, basically shunned by his family --

my mom and dad more or less rejected him.

My brothers had rejected him.

I was essentially the only member of the family

that communicated with him regularly.

Lt was an ugly, awful situation.

And when he passed away, I just --

I decided that, the rest of my life,

I was going to reach out to people like that.

And part of my ministry

is working with people who are sexual minorities.

I work with people who are completely torn inside, who --

who have come to a decision about themselves,

that are horrified of that decision.

They -- they are terrified

of what the decision means for them.

Whatever It ls -- if they're gay, if they're transgendered --

whatever that decision is, they feel awful about it,

because society has made them feel awful about It.

That is the rewarding work of my life.

Santa Claus is wonderful, and I help the children.

But, you know, helping out children to be better

is relatively easy.

Fixing broken adults ls a lot harder.

-I'm not gonna judge anybody, because what a person does

in their personal life that does not --

you know, that does not ruin the Santa Claus life,

I'm not gonna judge.

-You know, we're out --

I'm not trying to drag any attention to myself.

My wife and I, we're not --

you know, we don't want this kind of attention.

-And no matter what anybody says,

you're willing to talk about it. - Absolutely, to anyone.

-Which -- which, that should end the whole conversation.

-Yeah, precisely. You know, and this has been going on

since 2007 -- this background stuff.

-And I just found out about It this year.

-You -- you're the first person to come and sit down

and ask me face-to-face, "hey, what's this story about?"

Everyone else has been making up stories and --

-see, my problem ls, I got a -- I got a big mouth.

- Ah, wonderful. - And if I'm gonna talk,

I have to get the facts, 'cause I'm not perfect.

-What an original idea. [ Both laugh ]

-So I'm -- I'm really happy to know you.

-Thank you. Thank you a lot.

- No problem. - Appreciate It.

- No problem. - Let's go watch some basketball.

- Let's do it. - All right.

-Whoa!

-I'm in the Chicago area for an appearance,

and I heard there was an amazing Santa

who'd be willing to share his knowledge

so that I could be as good a Santa as possible

when I put on that red suit.

Pretty sure this is the right place.

Hi, I'm Mick. Nice to meet you.

- Hi, Mick! How are you? - How are you doing?

-Good. Good to see you. Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.

- This is great. Hey, hey. - Can't be better

than Michael Francis Foley coming to the house.

-Ah, well, I appreciate that.

But while you were talking to me, I just got goose bumps.

-Well, the truth is, god gave me the right to channel Santa.

And when I'm in the suit...

[ Deep voice ] ...I can't help myself. I'm always Santa. Ho, ho, ho.

[ Normal voice ] I mentor Santas around the country.

I don't charge them anything. I don't want any of their money.

I want them to represent what I represent as well as I do.

-You want to hear my -- my moment

where I realized this was something I wanted to do?

I mean, I don't think I consciously said,

"I want to -- I want to be Santa.

Lt was more the idea of, "I want to feel like this again," was,

I was at a department store in Massachusetts in 1999,

when WWE and my career was at its absolute peak.

Lt was a free signing. In the middle of the line,

500 people in, I see the telltale sign --

this little boy, and he's got severe burns.

You know, you could see that.

So I called him up to the front.

Everyone just seems to understand

we do that type of thing.

And his mom told me that when he was burned,

he had to wear a mask to help him heal.

- Right. - He's 3 years old.

He didn't want any part of a mask...

- No. -...Until the mother told him

that his favorite wrestler, mankind, wore a mask...

-Mankind wore a -- that's great.

-And I felt so -- you know, so touched by that,

and I watched him walk away.

And I just kind of felt, like, my conscience calling out to me.

And I, like, yelled. I said, "hey, come back here!"

And I asked the mom. I said, "there's a big line.

"Do you mind if Antonio sits on my lap

while I sign for the other people?"

When he got up to leave after about another hour,

and people were in line,

and they all cheered, and they were crying,

I had this distinct feeling, like, "I feel like Santa Claus."

-That's what you did. You had a Santa moment.

-And up until that time -- like, I was good with the kids

when they would come through WWE with make-a-wish.

And I always said to myself, "I'm willing to do something

sometime to help people with the fame I've had."

Lt was after that moment that I started making phone calls,

seeing if I could volunteer.

-Knew how Important that one --

that boy changed your life. You didn't change his.

- Yeah. - You made his life lovely,

but he changed your life for the better.

And you would make a great Santa if that really touched you.

You have to do these little, bitty things.

The whole thing ls, can you tell a fantasy

and look like you're telling the truth?

Some people say, "can you lie good?"

The whole thing ls believability.

Don't let yourself smell like anything.

I'm very, very particular about the Cologne I wear --

vanillas and chocolates and patchouli oils and everything.

I wanted to smell like a chocolate-chip cookie,

okay, but they don't have them.

You know, you can't scratch anywhere.

Never let a kid straddle your legs.

And do one of these things here.

Here's a question you always get -- "are you the real Santa?"

And then they'll do one of these?

- They do tug the beard, huh? - They do tug the beard.

Trim your nose hairs. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-Because they're looking up your nose, you know?

I mean, these little things are so important.

You can't eat things that make you have gas.

You can't eat things that make your skin smell.

- I need to try that Cologne on. - Absolutely.

-Can I try It on real quickly?

-I spoke to him. I spoke to his wife.

They're very open about everything.

I really don't think that what they do

is gonna get in the way of being Santa Claus.

It's their own private lives,

and everybody's got a private life.

-Mm-hmm.

-So I'm -- I'm -- I believe I'm staying.

-Yeah, my biggest hold-up is I don't think...

His lifestyle suits Santa Claus.

-I know plenty of Santas -- not personally,

but I know plenty of Santas are gay.

Now, if that came to light, would that be a problem?

-That's a good question. I don't know how I feel about that.

- You know, so... - How do you feel about --

-I'm just -- I'm just weighing all of the things that people do

and saying, "you know what?

They're trying to bring love to people."

-I saw a post one time, there, recently, that said

that they have Jewish Santas, atheist Santas, Muslim Santas.

- Exactly. - I don't know.

I have a hard time accepting

that a Santa Claus would be anything but Christian.

-If a gay man was a Christian, It would be okay.

He's trying to do

the exact same thing that you're trying to do --

bring peace and joy and happiness to everybody

and bring everybody together as one.

- I understand what -- - not segregate everybody.

-I understand what you're saying,

but I just told you a few minutes ago,

I haven't drawn -- I haven't made a decision on that.

-Okay. All right.

-I haven't drawn a policy on that. I'm undecided.

-Santa is a regular human being.

He does things wrong, just like every other human being.

Does he do It wrong when he's in your house?

Does he do it wrong when he's making your family happy?

Does he do It wrong when he's bringing magic to your child?

No, he's not. He's doing It with his wife,

and he's doing It with consensual adults.

Do I think it's going to hurt the Santa Claus community?

I don't think so.

-Too many people are concerned about other people's sex lives.

I'd just like not to know.

I don't really care about other people's.

Mine's bad enough. [ Laughs ]

So -- so, don't make me jealous.

[ Laughs ]

-Well, I'm probably a good example of being a gay Santa.

It's no different from being a swinging Santa.

That's a personal thing,

and that shouldn't project Into your job as being Santa.

And to me, it should be completely independent.

I can't imagine somebody not hiring me as Santa

because I'm gay. Why should --

if somebody -- if some Santa

wants to swing with other couples

or whatever they're doing, that shouldn't enter into

the professional part of being Santa.

There's no conflict to me.

I'm very religious, and I go to church every Sunday.

And I'm even Santa Claus at my church in the Christmas season.

For the children's church, I'm Santa Claus.

-We took advantage of his skills, and we --

he's been Santa Claus for our Sunday-school kids.

And they loved It.

-I personally have never had a problem with a straight person

about being gay and being Santa.

I've never been admonished for that.

I've never been questioned.

I've never -- it's just never been -- never come up.

I don't know. I don't know what it ls.

It's just my demeanor, I guess. I'm just good with the kids.

-You doing all right? Nice to see you.

-Yeah, yeah, how about you?

- All right, good, yeah, yeah. - All right.

-You're still the king of these things, right?

-Hey, shit, I just do what I do. [ Both laugh ]

-I'm just glad I somehow still fit into the horror genre.

-I consider that, like,

one of the most classic matches you had.

The way you and undertaker brought the house down with that

was amazing.

-How you doing? All right. Where do I sign, here?

There you go.

- I want to get a photo with you. - Yeah, come on over.

All right.

- Thank you so much. - All right. You're welcome.

And, in case you're wondering why I smell so good...

- [ Laughs ] I was. - The Cologne was a gift...

- Yeah? -...From the real Santa Claus.

- Awesome. - You see where he lives?

- The north pole? - No, no.

-"Santa Claus --" is that Santa Claus Lane?

-Santa Claus Lane. I'm wearing the Santa Claus t-shirt.

-That's awesome.

-I had a chance to spend some time with him.

- Was that this weekend? - It was yesterday.

- Yesterday? - He gave me his Cologne.

He had a little extra. He gave It to me.

Thanks, man. You guys are great. - God bless you.

[ Cheers and applause ] We love you, too.

Thank you for letting me come up here.

[ Bagpipes playing ]

-I spent all -- I spent yesterday.

I went to Santa's house. You know, he --

-you went to Santa's house?

-I went to -- I'll show you the picture.

Let me see. I've got the picture right here.

- Oh, you went to Santa's house! - He lives on Santa Claus Lane.

Driving down the street, hoping I can find the right house,

and there's this red house with all these things in there.

-How cool is that?

-I'm ready, like, to be kind of, you know, like, "oh, my god."

- You're a real Santa Claus. - I was there for 10 minutes,

and I thought I was in the presence of the real Santa.

Like, he says he channels -- he's asked god

to help him channel the spirit of the real Santa

so that when he's doing his thing, he feels like he is --

but how much does that sound like what we do --

suspending disbelief to where you are capable

of doing things that you could never do?

That's why I'm growing this thing out.

- Ah. - I'm gonna get a chance

to be Santa Claus for a couple hours

at one of -- at probably my favorite place --

Santa's village in Jefferson, New Hampshire.

-You'd make a great Santa Claus. I'm not kidding you, man.

-Well, I appreciate that. Well, I --

-yeah, Santa Claus, man.

-I'll be taking care of you, okay?

-Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!

-A lot of fellas taking advantage of being Santa

and expand their cookie zone beyond belief.

Some guys -- you'll see them --

only seeing fellas sometimes once a year,

they gain a lot of weight sometimes, so...

In fact, I've lost 30 pounds since last year,

'cause I was allowing myself

to fall Into that trap of saying,

"oh," you know, "I can eat as many cookies as I want.

I'm Santa Claus." [ Laughs ]

So, I've tried to avoid that trap.

-I'll take two of these, and fill this with hot chocolate.

-Two custards and a hot chocolate.

You want whipped cream? - No.

- No whip. - And I got the cup.

I'm gonna hop on I-75, drive north for two hours,

and then start looking at mobile-home parks.

I would love to get my own house,

but I can't financially afford it.

So you look at, what can you financially afford,

and one of my friends told me

that trailers are cheaper than used cars.

And you can't beat that.

Hello, there! - How you doing?

-Oh, I guess I'm okay, but I can't find what I came to find.

-What are you looking for?

-Well, these GPS's are useless.

I'm looking for mobile-home parks.

I live in the Detroit area,

and I want to relocate up here to god's country.

And mobile homes are the cheapest way to go

when you live on social security.

And according to my computer,

there's one called Westgate trails

at Lawrence and Horn roads in Pinconning.

-Uh...

[ Chuckles ]

-Ls it down by Wilson's cheese store?

Which one's the sharp?

How much per pound is that? - $7.49.

-Okay. Give me a hunk. Whatever...

Yeah, well, what I'm looking for, actually --

mobile-home parks.

I was told there was one called Westgate trails --

Lawrence and horn roads, pinconning.

What's this say?

Signs are so fucked up, you can't read them.

Let me put the -- see if I can put the address

in the GPS, see if it picks it up.

It can't be more than a mile or two from us.

How can it not be found?

[ Sighs ] Assholes.

Marina, Santiago road.

I don't know where any of that shit is.

Anybody know where we are? I got a...

I'll be dipped.

It's gonna work.

We must be close. Like, right here.

-Arriving at address 1766 on left.

-Oh, you're a sweetheart, lady.

Where have you been all my life?

You've been out on a smoke break all day.

So, some of them look pretty rough,

but if I could find something that I could afford

that's halfway decent -- -that blue one --

that one's a two-bedroom, and that one's being worked on.

I know he wants to sell that one.

And I do know that one's ready to go right now.

- You don't have a key for it. - No.

-Think I could peek through the windows?

Yeah, that must be one of the bedrooms.

Oh, hardwood floors.

Oh, this is another bedroom.

Oh, man, you can hardly call that a bedroom.

What the hell ls that?

That must be antenna to that dish.

I can't believe they would do It like that.

That's so dangerous.

They're not in very good shape.

-Ohh, you know, I've been talking about you more.

-[ Laughs ]

-I had pulled pork last night,

but I'm sure it wasn't anywhere near yours.

All right. Bite together.

-I started professionally cooking

a year and a half, maybe two years ago.

I make mean barbecue -- ribs, pulled pork.

I would love to eventually, hopefully soon, get a mobile --

a trailer with a full kitchen in it and do neighborhood fairs.

You know, do a couple things like that

and get my name out there so that people know my product,

and then open up a restaurant.

And I can be Santa Claus at the same time.

That would probably be, you know,

the end-all, "oh, my god. I'm so happy."

-Have you cooked anything spectacular lately?

-This afternoon, I'm making the raviolis.

-[ Gasps ] Are you gonna bring them back this way?

- I could. I could do that. - [ Laughs ]

-I have invented pulled-pork raviolis.

When you eat one of my barbecued raviolis, you will smile.

You'll get that warm feeling in your stomach

[gasps] Just like Christmas morning all over again.

Anybody hungry? - Yeah.

- [ Rapping ] ♪ hey, Santa ♪ - ♪ if you don't like ribs ♪

♪ you probably don't like barbecue ♪

♪ but I know that you do ♪

♪ 'cause Santa's gonna make It just right ♪

♪ you can take a bite ♪

♪ I'll probably take a bite, too ♪

♪ and if you don't like Christmas ♪

♪ you probably don't like barbecue ♪

♪ but I know that you do ♪

♪ 'cause Santa's on the grill all night ♪

♪ you can take a big bite ♪

- All right. - ♪ I'll take a big bite, too ♪

- Round 3. - Ravioli!

-Taste test.

I'll go out of my way to get people to eat my food

so that, hopefully, they'll tell two friends,

and they'll tell two friends.

And after 650,000 people are buying my barbecue,

I don't have to do fire sprinklers anymore.

-Very good.

-I'm a happy man. [ Laughs ]

-Santa, you might have to mail these to me every week.

-[ Chuckles ] Every week. I like that.

-Mail-order business.

-For my birthday, I planned to go to Denver and be with Alex.

It's gonna be real emotional, because it's been a while,

and we've -- a new relationship.

We've known each other for a couple of years online,

but we haven't known each other in person

but about a year now, so...

It's traumatic, a little bit, being apart so much.

-I see him. Right there.

-There he is.

-[ Laughs ]

[ Laughing tearfully ]

[ Woman speaks indistinctly over P.A. ]

[ Frankie Avalon's "why" plays ]

-♪ I'll never let you go ♪

♪ why, because I love you ♪

♪ I'll always love you so ♪

♪ why, because you love me ♪

♪ no broken hearts for us ♪

♪ 'cause we love each other ♪

-♪ ooooh ♪

-♪ and with our faith and trust ♪

♪ there could be no other ♪ - ♪ ooooh ♪

-♪ why, 'cause I love you ♪

♪ why, 'cause you love me ♪

♪ I think you're awfully sweet ♪

-[ Laughs ] ♪ why, because I love you ♪

-Thank you.

- Happy birthday. - Oh, I have a present, too?

-Yeah.

-Coors pottery.

- [ Laughs ] - That's made in golden.

[ Pot clanks ]

I hope I didn't break the lid.

[ Car alarm beeps ]

-We just need a couple more vocals.

Put some headphones on. Let me get the Mike squared away.

-All righty.

Well, Gary's a musician. I'm a singer.

[ Laughing ] I don't consider myself a musician.

- You want to try one? - Sure. Let's do It.

- Okay. - My only expectations

with doing the CD with Gary was to do a CD

that I was able to do something else

in the Christmas community

and that was just a fun thing to do.

It's more of a fun thing.

My expectations is to maybe sell enough of them

that we'll get the money back that we spent to produce them.

[ Slow-tempo music plays ]

♪ Merry Christmas ♪

♪ to you ♪

-I like that. It's gonna be a nice ending for the album.

I think we should probably end with this one.

- You think? Okay. - Yeah.

♪ Merry Christmas ♪

♪ to you ♪

-All right.

- Liberace. Bing! - Bing!

-[ Laughs ] All right.

-It's amazing. They got a drive-through dairy queen.

You know, people so fat and lazy

they can't get out of their car even to get an ice cream.

Santa's here and no children. Boy.

-Yep.

-I want...

The dish of ice cream with hot fudge.

What do you call that -- a hot-fudge sundae?

-Yeah.

$3.55 ls your total this evening.

-Geez. A little more than they used to be when I was a kid.

-Yep.

-Used to be 75 cents.

Yummy.

Bass pro shop in New York

hired me and a guy named Dave out of Ohio last year.

We both worked there. We both worked full time.

I feel we both did a good job.

You know, the manager, James, said, "Russ, merry Christmas.

See you next year."

So when I went to Santa Claus, Indiana,

and I met all these agents, I said hi to them,

but I said, "well, I guess I'm working in New York.

I don't really need to fill out an application."

They said, "oh, good." I got -- a couple weeks later,

I got a message from my agent saying, "James don't want you."

I'm like, "what?"

Regina bacon is a -- I call her a Santa headhunter,

but that's not what she calls herself.

And she works as an agency hiring Santa clauses.

You know, I'm hoping that, any day now, she'll call me

and say, "yeah, the manager at such-and-such a store

said, 'your experience is good. Come on out."'

I'm just waiting for that call.

It all goes back to him saying, "see you next year."

'Cause I asked him point blank, "am I coming back here?"

And he said, "yeah. See you next year."

And he didn't have the balls to look me in the face and say no.

-What happens if you don't get one?

-I'll be devastated. I'll be financially devastated.

I won't be able to move in to the house.

I won't have the money. I'll have to stay here.

Lt will greatly affect me if I don't.

-Do you want any mustard?

- No. - No?

It probably isn't the easiest thing to do

is to have a long-term relationship, I guess.

Jim lives 700 miles away from me, so...

-[ Chuckles ] It's not like just around the corner.

-I mean, it's not like I can just jump in a car

and say, "well, I'm going across town. I'll see you in a minute."

I'm working on transferring my U.P.S. job down to Dallas.

One of the conditions of transferring u.P.S.

Is there has to be an open position.

That's with any company.

I'm hoping to leave by the end of summer.

-When there's an opening. There has to be an opening in Dallas.

-There has to be an opening before I could ever get there.

-You know, I miss -- I miss his touch, his hugs.

He is so easy to talk to, and we just -- we relate.

And I just -- I miss being with him, you know, face-to-face.

But you can't reach out and touch their hand.

- Yeah. - When you're sad or needing...

- A hug. -...Companionship.

Just needing a hug or just to sit in silence together

and just appreciate each other.

-This corner looks good.

I don't know. Right here by this sign, maybe.

[ Grunts ]

-Have you signed a contract for your December work yet?

-No. I'm getting very nervous.

She keeps telling me verbally that everything's cool,

but, somehow, it never shows up on paper.

I'm moving into a mobile-home park.

I could use the tall one. So I was gonna sell this one.

But then it dawned on me people buy them in sets,

so I may have to sell that one, too.

Are you interested in both? - Yes.

-Well, let me take you in the house.

Excuse the dirt and the mess in the house,

and I'll show you the other one,

so you'll know what you're looking at.

Hopefully, I won't be sorry I sold it.

I'll take It. You gonna come back later today or tomorrow?

- Might come out today. - Okay.

Oh, whatever. Santa Claus ls trusting, you know?

[ Indistinct conversations ]

Hey, there. How are you? - I'm doing well.

-HI.

Here's to good health.

- Oh. - Hear, hear.

- Cheers. - Great year.

-Happy holidays. [ Glasses clinking ]

-[ Chuckles ] We did It.

[ Laughter ] - There you go.

-I heard on the radio -- they were talking about

best jobs to get in the holiday season -- the best jobs.

And they said number one on the list was being Santa Claus,

which I agreed with.

You know what the worst thing on the list was?

- What? - Santa's elf.

[ Laughter ]

Is this ambrosia? - Yes.

- Mm-hmm. - Gonna have some of that.

-I can never make this right.

-I don't remember you ever trying.

- See you later, sweetheart. - What's Steve doing?

-He's got a Santa gig.

-I know, but I mean -- but doing what?

- Just a private -- - just a private party. Oh.

- Private house, yeah. - Yeah.

-Don't get many Thanksgiving --

-Steve said, "they really bugged me."

-I tell you, they'd have to bug me with a big check

to work Thanksgiving. - That's right.

- Lt might be, too. I don't know. - It might be.

-You know, she gave me a verbal "okay" nine weeks ago.

And there's other agents

who are giving away jobs every day that I can't get.

You know, what if she doesn't live up to her verbal agreement?

If she just says, "oops," then I'm out $10,000.

[ Triumphant music plays ]

Right there. I got it!

Hooray, hooray, hooray. Ho, ho, ho.

It's all spelled out in six pages of lawyerese.

I'm going to Ridgedale Mall in Minnetonka, Minnesota.

-I've yet to find a Santa

who gets as good a deal as I get on --

I have an apartment in the mall.

This is the apartment they've given me this year

to stay in while I'm here.

I work pretty long hours,

so this year, I got pretty luxurious.

Two-bedroom, two bath.

-Home, sweet home.

-And into the master bedroom.

Getting ready to go to work today.

Nice size walk-in closet, as you can see.

-I can't decorate my home 'cause I'm not there.

Santa Claus has no Christmas decorations.

Duh!

So I bring It with me.

My friends probably think I'm nuts,

but they decorate their house. Why can't I decorate mine?

This hotel room is my house for two months.

-This is our little balcony. It's actually pretty nice.

It overlooks the swimming pool,

and our Christmas tree is right over there.

Our weekly farmer's market starts in about 30 minutes.

-Hormel, Dinty Moore. These are shelf-stable.

They don't have to be refrigerated or frozen.

And what did I have last night? Pick it out of the garbage.

Chicken breast and dressing.

That was very good -- very good flavor.

What do I got? Oh, fudge.

Fudge.

And I've still got, I think, about five cans of ravioli left.

Sometimes when I get tired of those meals,

I just put ravioli in a bowl

and throw it in the microwave and eat it.

I brought some real China from home

so that I would feel more at home,

instead of feeling like a hotel room,

'cause this has been my room for seven weeks.

So I like to make it feel more like home, so...

-This has been a tradition for, like, six years,

where I drive the car, and they pelt me with snowballs.

So, you guys want to do that?

- Yeah. - Sure.

-Aah!

Oh! Aah! Ohh!

Oh!

-Oh, what?!

-Ohh! Oh! Aah!

For a lot of kids, it's the biggest --

I mean, it's the biggest moment of their year,

and I'm -- and I'm sure, you know,

there's -- there's some deep-seated reason

why I-I come to this beautiful place every year

and why I have a room in my house

that's dedicated to Santa.

Uh, those were important --

important -- important meetings for me.

And I'll try to make sure -- I'd be flattered to think

that, you know, 40 years down the road,

some -- some family will take out their photo album,

and then they'll be like,

"you know, I think I've seen that guy somewhere before."

It's -- yeah, it's -- It ls a big moment.

L-it'll be my first time, you know.

I won't get it perfect, I'm sure,

but my intention is to make every kid

feel comfortable and special.

Wow, look at that, Hughie.

-Whoa.

-That is nice, huh?

Wow.

-Dad, what's this?

-Those are the pants.

-Oh. I don't think they'll fit.

-They'll fit me.

-Dad, do you think the pants will fit?

-I do believe they'll fit.

-I don't know.

The waist size will definitely fit.

Dad, I can fit my whole body just in your pants.

-That's exactly what I wanted to tell people.

You want to -- want me to practice?

Come here.

Ohh!

Y-You got to swing your leg over here.

That's what I learned from Santa in Chicago. There you go.

[ Gravelly voice ] Ho, ho.

What can Santa get you for Christmas?

-Uh... [ Laughs ]

-Absolutely nothing? Ho! What a coincidence!

That's exactly what Santa had planned for you --

ha ha, absolutely nothing.

[ Both chuckle ]

Yeah?

All right.

You're gonna be my elf tomorrow?

- Yeah. - All right, good deal.

-[ Chuckles ]

You look like one of those, like -- like, lunch ladies.

-That's what I was shooting for.

This is the right call.

I-I just wish I'd grown it out another month.

But I'm glad I made it through, you know.

And it's been tough having a long mustache

and trying to learn to eat a little bit differently.

But I-I think it will definitely be worth It.

Tomorrow, especially, when one of the kids pulls my beard.

That's the --

you know, that will be the -- the real payoff.

[ "Carol of the bells" plays ]

Ho, ho, ho!

Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!

[ "Jingle bells" plays ]

Ho, ho, ho, ho. Yeah, I'm ready.

[ Sighs ]

Ho, ho, ho, ho.

Well, hello, Carson. How are you today?

Would you like to come up and say hello to Santa Claus?

Would you like to have a seat on Santa's lap?

Here you go.

Oh, there you go.

-Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!

Give me a hug.

Give me -- okay.

-Well, tell me -- tell me what you want for Christmas.

Remind me.

-I already told the other Santa at Walmart.

-Oh, you told the other Santa at Walmart? Okay.

-Remember? What were you gonna tell Santa?

-[ Crying ]

-Here, will this help?

-Where's your I.D.?

-What do you want? What do you want?

Driver's license, credit cards? - Yeah. - Yeah.

-Well, I really do want a flurbot,

if you know what that is.

- What is it? - What?

-Flurbot.

-Well, I don't know what that is.

-Mommy! Mommy!

- Mommy. - Mommy!

-Any suggestions?

What does Santa do with his hands when he greets people?

- Flurbot. - Flurry bot.

-Flurbot.

- Flurry bot? - Flurbot.

-Flurry bot. Is It a little furry animal?

-Yeah.

-Oh! Now we know what it ls!

I guess I'm just too old to understand.

-What would you like for Christmas?

-Uh, a ball.

-A ball.

Could you tell me what type of ball?

-I think round like a circle.

-Oh, a round ball.

I think Santa can -- he can make sure

that the elves make you

a very special round ball for Christmas.

Does that sound good? - Mm-hmm.

- Is there anything else you'd like? - Yeah.

-Could you tell Santa?

-Mm-hmm.

Another ball.

-Oh, okay. I think Santa can make that happen.

I've got -- I've got that kind of pull at the north pole.

Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho. I'll put my favorite elf on it.

Two -- okay?

Two round...

Athletic... spheres.

-When they come see you,

they're -- they're -- they're just so full of joy.

You can see, if I'm sitting in my Santa chair,

and there's a line of people,

they're smiling, they're laughing,

they're talking, they're yelling,

"hey, Santa, hey, Santa," while I'm talking to another kid.

They're -- they're just so full of joy.

And that brings me joy.

-[ Crying ]

-I'm losing him.

[ Laughter ]

-When I put on the suit

and I'm Invited to somebody's house

and I knock on the door and the mom or the dad opens

and I can all of a sudden see the glistening in their eyes,

I feel like I'm the best person on earth.

-♪ Jolly old St. Nicholas ♪

♪ lean your ear this way ♪

♪ don't you tell a single soul ♪

♪ what I'm going to say ♪

♪ Christmas Eve ls coming soon ♪

-Being Santa is a job

that if you didn't love doing it,

you couldn't do It at all.

-♪ Whisper what you'll bring to me ♪

♪ tell me if you can ♪

-Having one child on my lap, looking into my eyes,

and -- and being able to see the magic of Christmas

in that child's eyes

was every bit as Important as having 20,000 people

chant my name at Madison square garden.

Thank you.

-I mean, you've cleaned up already.

-[ Laughs ]

-I think he really missed his calling earlier as a wrestler

because the wonder that comes out

and the way he loves the children

ls like no other I've ever seen.

-You want to sit on Santa's lap?

Well, I don't have children of my own,

so I know it's an opportunity for me

to -- to play almost like daddy to all these little kids

and listen to what they want for Christmas

and their ambitions.

And you really get a feel Into their lives.

-♪ Ahhh ♪

-At the end of the day, when all is said and done,

portraying Santa Claus ls about love.

All right, give me five again.

You have a -- you're a good buddy.

Go see your picture.

-♪ Jolly, jolly, jolly, jolly old St. Nick ♪

-Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.

Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.

While no one ls perfect,

I firmly believe that every Santa's intention

when they put that red suit on

is to never let a child down.

Although the interaction may only last a minute,

the memory it provides may last a lifetime.

And Santas -- they take that minute very, very seriously.

[ Laughter ]

-Oh, Santa. I love you.

-Oh, thank you. Oh.

-Hi, Alex.

Finally got a little break.

I'm okay. Yeah.

I'm -- I'm missing you. Wish you were here.

Wish we could be together at Christmas,

but... probably not till in the spring.

Maybe you can come down for that bear festival thing.

Yeah, I'm hoping so. Yeah, that'll be fun.

I got to go. Love you.

Talk to you later. Bye.

Well, I haven't had a family now for a good long while.

Been several years since they all passed away.

And, yeah, I miss that from times past.

I remember the good old times when I had a family.

And Alex is my family, but he's family from afar.

[ Chuckles ]

We don't get to see each other very often.

He's got a new job, so he can't have time off.

Wish he was here.

He'll move here someday.

Job prohibits it right now.

And I can't relocate, either.

I've learned to be patient and wait.

I just miss him.

[ Sniffles ]

Everything will be okay.

-Look, he's --

-Hughie, you got to watch Santa.

-These are how many presents Santa has delivered.

-Where are the other kids?

-5 million.

[Announcer speaking Indistinctly ]

-I'm not sure if it's real, but you never know.

He delivered to New York City!

He delivered to New York City.

-Watch this.

Oh, man!

-He delivered something to Greenland.

-Wait, he delivered to New York City.

-Gonna be okay?

Why doesn't he just come right here, then?

- No, no. He'll come back. - Okay.

-He always does.

They're, like, saying he always does at 2:00.

-Well, look, I'm going to bed at 12:30.

-[ Speaks indistinctly ]

The car's really got it cinched in there.

[ "Jingle bells" plays ] Oh, here it comes.

- Wait a minute! - Come on. Come on, Santa.

- Ooh! - [ Laughs ]

-Hey, wait a minute. What?!

-Ho, ho!

-Oh, no!

Is that a Santa sucker?!

-Two... he did It!

[ Bell dings]

Santa came back!

-[Announcer speaking Indistinctly ]

-Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

-Geez, that was good, huh, guys?

Ahh.

I was really worried about how Christmas Eve would go down.

I knew my son Mickey would be waiting up,

and I knew he'd be really disappointed

if he didn't get a chance to see Santa Claus this year.

Maybe his last year of being in that magic age.

So I really wanted to create

one last magic Christmas Eve moment.

-Oh, let's go downstairs.

-Shh.

-Let's go.

[ Camera chimes ]

-Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.

[ Bells jingling ] Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.

-Aw, it's dad.

Dad, it's you. - Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho.

-Dad, it's you.

-Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho.

Oh, no.

Ho, ho, ho.

Ho, ho. Hello. - Dad, it's you.

Well, hello, little -- -yeah, it's you.

-Oh, hello little --

- that's you. - No.

-Dad, it's you!

-[ Speaks indistinctly ]

[ Bells jingle ]

-Well, but Santa ls real.

-I know he's real,

but I just don't know when he's gonna come here.

-No, he's gonna come at like 2:30.

He does that, like, every single time.

-What are you listening to him for?

[ "Silent night" instrumental plays ]

[ Bells jingling ]

-[ Whispering Indistinctly ]

[ Dog barking ]

[ Bells jingle ]

-[ Gasps ]

-Oh, no!

-It's Santa!

Santa's here! Santa's here!

Santa's here! Santa's here!

-Look. Hughie.

Hughie.

-Wow, I haven't seen you in a long time.

Buddy.

-HI.

- How are you? - I'm Mickey.

-I know, Mickey. How are you?

-Good.

-Wow.

Oh, my --

-will you -- will you --

will you wake up for me?

-[ Laughs ]

-Look who it is.

-Hughie. It's me.

-Hughie.

You're missing the best moment.

-Hughie, you're just awake.

-And when my son ran up those stairs

and he had that camera

and he saw Santa -- the real Santa --

It was -- it was --

it was just a moment beyond description.

-[ Speaks indistinctly ]

Hughie, this is the real Santa! Real Santa!

-I got a black one.

Black might show up better.

[ Dog barking ]

Do you want to wake up mom?

-Hughie, it's the real Santa!

-I think he's having a little trouble waking up.

-To say it was one of the greatest moments of my life

is not an exaggeration.

And after the fact, I remember telling my family

that no matter what else happened,

no matter how cranky the kids -- anyone got on Christmas day,

we would always have this moment.

A few weeks later, I told my daughter

that although I hoped It would be many years --

decades before, you know, she lost her dad,

if on that day, I ended up leaving the world

with a giant smile on my face,

it would be because I was thinking of the words,

"Hughie, wake up. It's Santa!

It's Santa!"

So that feeling hasn't left me, you know?

Every day's been a little bit brighter

because of that experience on Christmas Eve.

-It's done.

It's over.

I'm gonna miss it.

I spend all year looking forward to this whole month of visits.

And I got a couple more tomorrow,

and then it's over.

So, I had a great time.

[ Scoffs ]

But, you know, it's an emotional thing.

Um, I'm sad that it's all over.

[ Sighs ]

[ "O holy night" Instrumental plays ]

[ Sighs ]

Oh, thank you.

People think, "oh, Santa must --

he must have the greatest Christmas of all."

But actually, we have the least Christmas sometimes

because we have no decorations.

We have to hide.

You can't go out on the 24th because everybody would say

you're supposed to be up in the air

going from house to house.

And it can get lonely.

-Merry Christmas. Happy new year.

-Merry Christmas.

When you see children

in your suit at the mall,

or when you just see them at Kroger’s buying groceries,

their eyes light up and you make them happy

and they're excited.

And whatever is going on in their life,

you know, mom's telling them

they can't have this or they can't have that,

all of a sudden, they see Santa Claus,

and It changes their whole demeanor.

I mean, they get so excited.

Santas are the same way.

You know, we have things in our life,

like losing jobs,

just not having, you know, a spiffy time,

and you go out and see people during the year

or at the mall at Christmastime, whenever,

you cheer them up.

And seeing them cheer up cheers Santa up.

Happiness is contagious.

And if you make them happy, they make you happy,

and then their parents get happy, and...

I-It's just a wonderful feeling.

I was happy when I came,

and I'm happy now that it's ended.

You just can't do that every day.

Seven weeks was enough.

We had a lot of good times.

The children had a good time.

While I enjoy the job and could do It longer,

I'm also happy to be back home

in my own chair and my own computer,

and now it's time to do other things with my life.

And come next Halloween, we'll get ready to do It again.

[ Clears throat ]

[ Sighs ]

[ Typing ]

[ Typing continues ]

[ "Deck the halls" plays ]

-♪ Deck the halls with boughs of Holly ♪

-♪ fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la ♪

-♪ 'tis the season to be jolly ♪

-♪ fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la ♪

-♪ Don we now our gay apparel ♪

-♪ fa-la-la la-la-la la-la-la ♪

-♪ troll the ancient yuletide Carol ♪

-♪ fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la ♪

-♪ see the blazing yule before us ♪

-♪ fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la ♪

-♪ strike the harp and join the chorus ♪

- ♪ fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la ♪ - Santa!

Santa!

-♪ Hail the new, ye lads and Lasses ♪

-Fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la

-♪ sing, we joyous, all together ♪

-♪ fa-la-la la-la-la la-la-la ♪

-♪ heedless of the wind and weather ♪

-♪ fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la ♪

-♪ deck the halls with boughs of Holly ♪

-♪ fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la ♪

-♪ 'tis the season to be jolly ♪

-♪ fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la ♪

-♪ Don we now our gay apparel ♪

-♪ fa-la-la la-la-la la-la-la ♪

-♪ troll the ancient yuletide Carol ♪

-♪ fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la ♪

-What can I tell you?

It's St. Patrick's day. We're all drunk!

-♪ I'll have a blue Christmas without you ♪

-Aah! Ooh! Aah!

- ♪ I'll be so blue ♪ - oh!

- [ Laughs ] - ♪ just thinking about you ♪

♪ decorations of red on a green Christmas tree ♪

♪ won't be the same, dear, if you're not here with me ♪

♪ and when those blue snowflakes are fallin' ♪

♪ that's when those blue memories are callin' ♪

♪ you'll be doin' all right ♪

♪ with your Christmas of white ♪

-How does that feel on your scalp?

-It's more of the balls rubbing against my shoulders.

-Yeah, well...

-[ Laughs ]

-I'm sure it's the first time that's ever...

-I mean, at least it's a nice figure.

Bur if people pretend to be Hitler all year,

that's, you know...

It's better to be Santa. [ Laughs ]

-I won't walk Into Walmart 'cause Walmart's UN-American.

They sell you Chinese shit instead of American stuff,

so I will not walk into one.

-♪ I'll have a blue Christmas without you ♪

♪ I'll be so blue just thinkin' about you ♪

♪ you'll be doin' all right ♪

♪ with your Christmas of white ♪

♪ but I'll have a blue, blue Christmas ♪

♪ I'll have a blue ♪

♪ a blue, blue Christmas ♪

[ Fireworks whistling ] ♪ I'll have a blue ♪

♪ blue, blue Christmas ♪

I get people wanting me to have sex with them

in my Santa suit,

and I've never done that and never will.

I'm just not comfortable with that.

I do have red long Johns, though. [ Laughs ]

-Those you don't have a problem with.

-No.