Paul Reubens, 'Pee-Wee Herman,' Making a Comeback

(CANVAS STAFF REPORTS) - Hey, Pee-wee's back.

Nineteen years after a tabloid extravaganza obliterated his red-hot career, Paul Reubens, the comic who brought Pee-wee Herman to theaters and TV, is making a comeback.

A large-scale, live production of "The Pee-wee Herman Show" hits Broadway in New York in October. Earlier this year, the show sold out four weeks at Club Nokia in Los Angeles .

In an interview with Playboy , Reubens opens up about his high-profile fall, which started on July 26, 1991, when he was arrested in Sarasota, Fla., for masturbating in an adult theater. In the interveiw he denies the charge and said he pleaded no contest to avoid further feeding of the media frenzy that followed the scandal.

The second scandal occurred in November 2001 when police raided his Hollywood home on an alleged false tip. A charge of possessing child pornography was reduced to a simple misdemeanor obscenity offense and later expunged from Reubens' record, according to PopEater.com .

Reubens, 58, tells Playboy he could have proven in court the masturbation arrest was an error. He describes himself as "more infamous for two misdemeanors" than probably any cult hero in history.

Of his 1991 arrest, Reubens says he was hurt by fellow celebrities – Arsenio Hall, Jay Leno, among others – whom he had considered his friends.

"I opened the door and saw my mug shot on the covers of the New York Post, the Daily News and The New York Times. I went from feeling safe to Gaaaaah!," he tells Playboy . "That night I turned on the TV and saw people I mistakenly and naively thought were my friends making jokes about me. That was really painful."

He also discusses the magnitude of the media frenzy surrounding his arrest.

"Keep in mind I got arrested at the same time the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer's story was breaking – and yet my story led the news for five days in a row. This man killed lots of people, drilled holes in their heads and poured acid into them. And he got the second spot on the news, after me."