Jai Rodriguez Gets Dirty

The weekend after Folsom Street Fair often sends your average queer San Franciscan spiraling into an existential entertainment crisis. Particularly, after witnessing (and perhaps participating in) some of the world's most public displays of private fetishes, is there any secret left un-witnessed and untold?

Take heart, dear San Francisco. The answer is resoundingly yes - many, many dirty little secrets, as a matter of fact. Only this time those secrets aren't exposed on sun and beer-drenched streets amongst mouth bits and rosy-whipped cheeks, but rather over glamorous cocktails while seated in a lush lounge, and tantalizingly dripped from the lips of a beautiful guy with a very queer eye, Mr. Jai Rodriguez.

On Friday September 26 and Saturday September 27, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"'s Jai Rodriguez brings his one-man show, "Dirty Little Secrets," to the Society Cabaret at the Hotel Rex in Union Square. Starring the man himself and a single pianist, Jai uses the stripped down set to cover - and uncover - everything from family, to sex, to Hollywood, and back to sex again through the media of storytelling, stand up, and reinvention of timeless music - or as Jai calls it, "the Moulin Rouge effect."

Intimate, raw, and at times embarrassingly funny, the man you thought you knew makes you think again. In a recent interview, the beans spilled.

Known as Queer Eye's "Culture Vulture," the 35-year-old confessed to an unlikely upbringing for an openly gay TV celebrity.

"Both of my parents were born again Christians, so while growing up, I wasn't even allowed to watch TV or listen to secular music," he said.

Regarding the Emmy-award winning stint on the show, Rodriguez revealed, "I didn't have friends during Queer Eye. They give you a wardrobe and you play a character. I let them put me into things that weren't me. I hadn't found my identity and sense of self separate from career yet."

The young veteran star of stage and silver screen (and now the world's most watched gay web series, Horizon), isn't afraid to let it all hang out, well, at least under the right circumstances.

Rodriguez recalls, "One of my favorite moments in the show is when I talk about my first girlfriend and everything I did to try and get out of having sex with her."

But not everything about Jai Rodriguez traces back to culture and sex. The summer after Jai's senior year at a performing arts high school in New York, he was the youngest actor cast on Broadway when he was offered and accepted the role of "Angel" in Rent. This began not only the gig of a lifetime for any young performer, but also set him firmly on the path as the face of fundraising for AIDS and HIV research.

"By accident, I've ended up devoting my adult life to raising money and awareness around HIV," Jai said. "My aunt and cousin passed [from AIDS] when I was 16. Two years later I was doing 'Rent,' raising millions of dollars and giving a speech as the character after every show. It's inadvertently become my legacy."

Not a bad legacy to have, and not the only one. The man that helped bring gay sense into homes across the country and around the world counts Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Lang and John Leguziamo as a few of his heroes. Without a doubt, he holds that same status with some in the next generation.

But hero status is not his goal as an artist. Jai hopes that through Dirty Little Secrets, formerly on Broadway, his vulnerability exposes a hope and ideal that he espouses and tries to live out on and off stage.

"My first tattoo on the back of my neck says, 'Live Truth,' and that's what I believe and hope comes across with this show," he said, adding, "to try to live an honest life with no apologies. I hope people leave [the show] empowered to embrace the things that have formed and defined them. Everyone has something they're not proud of, but you only go around once. Embrace the things that have molded you."

The show is only two nights, and the venue is intimate. If you don't get tickets now, you'll not only miss out on a voyeuristic night of Jai's dirty, beautiful secrets, but you'll have to wait until this fall to see him opposite the hunky Nick Jonas in the upcoming television series "Kingdom."

And if television isn't your thing, you can watch him do his thing as the "Richie Valentine" on the web-series Horizon. You can also find him on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook (sidebar: he has strong opinions on the Facebook name debacle), and if you message him, he promises to message you back.

Finally, if you try to get tickets at the door but are unable, stick around for the after-party, because according to Jai, "I've done the AIDS walk, and Cabaret for the Stars for the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation. What I haven't done much of is explore San Francisco's nightlife! I want to explore the scene and see what the community is like."

Did you hear that, San Francisco queer folk? After Jai Rodriguez tells you all his secrets, maybe you could show him a few of your own.

Jai Rodriguez, Friday 7 Saturday September 26 & 27. $25-$50. 8pm, Society Cabaret at the Hotel Rex. 562 Sutter St. 857-1896. www.societycabaret.com