Mickey AvalonSubmitted photo

Mickey Avalon may be best known for what is essentially a joke. The Los Angeles-based rapper released “My D***,” a double entendre-filled paean to a certain male body organ, as the hidden track on his 2006 self-titled debut. The song went on to be featured in the 2008 stoner comedy “Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay,” TV show “American Dad” and others.

Avalon’s wicked sense of humor anchors not just “My D***,” but the rapper’s entire recorded output, from the uproarious single “Jane Fonda” through to his most recent EP release, 2013’s “I Get Even.”

But more often than not, that humor comes from tragedy. Born and raised in Hollywood by a heroin-addict father and marijuana-selling mother, Avalon (born Yeshe Perl) slipped into heroin addiction and prostitution himself for many years. After a short stint in Portland living with his sister, who died from a heroin overdose, Avalon vowed to clean up his life and returned to L.A.

His music over the course of two albums (including 2012’s “Loaded”) and multiple singles covers his drug use in harrowing detail. His frank espousal of his weaknesses, combined with his androgynous, makeup-ed stage presence, has helped to set him apart from the rest of the braggadocio-fueled hip-hop world.

Avalon takes the Domino Room stage tonight with protégé Dirt Nasty.

Mickey Avalon, with Dirt Nasty; 7 p.m. today; $20 plus fees in advance, $25 at the door, $75 for VIP tickets; The Domino Room, 51 NW Greenwood Ave., Bend; www.redlightpro.com. —Brian McElhiney