On Tuesday, Raven O—the performer perhaps best known for his X-rated work at The Box—will expose himself in a completely different way when he performs One Night With You, a one-man show at The Bleecker Street Theatre.

We tracked down the native Hawaiian to kiki about the show, his new album, the tyranny of the smoking ban and dancing while one has a boner.

You’ve got this new show at The Bleecker Street Theater coming up; tell me about how the idea came about.
I had seen Mario Cantone’s one-man show on Broadway and it was a big inspiration for me, so I decided I wanted to do my version of that. A lot of my friends would say that I should do a show and talk about my adventures, but I didn’t want to do it in a nightclub, I wanted to do it in a theater but someplace Downtown because that’s where I’m comfortable.
It came really organically, when I think there’s something I want to do. I left Hawaii with a one-way ticket to NYC… When I decide I want to do something, I just go for it.

Were there any parts of your life—the drugs, the hustling, the living in Nevada—that were too horrifying to bring to stage?
No, not at all. It’s life. I’ve always been honest and straightforward, so I have no problem going for it. When I was at The Box, we wanted to do a number to say ‘fuck you’ to the press and so Simon suggested doing a number to the Nirvana song ‘Rape Me.’ When the curtain opened, my back was to the audience and I was completely naked. I decided to be completely erect, so when I turned around I was singing with a hard on. I’ve always been about going for it. Nothing’s off limits with me.

So, you just finished a two and a half year stint at The Box, which is one of the clubs that the City recently spanked for smoking violations. What’s your take on the man trying to police everybody’s good time?
I think it’s a witch hunt! I don’t believe in the smoking law and think it’s unconstitutional. I think club owners and people who work in clubs don’t have the authority to tell people they shouldn’t smoke yet they’re held responsible. It’s a way for the mayor to get brownie points and I think it’s ridiculous and they go after venues—and I’ve been working in clubs for 25 years—that have a lot of people relying on them.
We’re regular people but we live a different lifestyle and by closing these clubs they put a lot of people out of work. The Box is very legit, there is nothing wrong with the club, I was there for a long time and saw it. They try to accommodate the neighbors and everything; so you can’t smoke inside but if you go outside it bothers the neighbors. It’s ridiculous.

Everyone’s always yammering about nightlife being dead, though some people think it’s just faked its own death. Where do you go for a good time?
I don’t think its true. Nightlife in New York is alive and kicking. You’ve got to find a place that’s right for you. I would love for a cool big club to come back, but right now there aren’t any big places that appeal to me. I like the F Word, The Cock... but I haven’t gone out for a while because I’m so busy with the show.

What have rehearsals been like to keep you so busy?
I have to do a lot of physical stuff on stage. And then of course I’m doing this album, coming out this summer, so I am writing a lot of material. There’s a single, a Psychedelic Furs cover, ‘Heaven,’ and I am doing a version of that in the show, but it’s going to be a jazz version. The music in the show is secondary to the story—to punctuate the feelings and emotions of the moments in my life.