DETROIT _ He’s a sports world demigod, right up there with the likes of Michael Jordan, Steve Yzerman and Barry Bonds.

But until recently, unless you were an adolescent boy _ or a parent of one _ the name Tony Hawk meant nothing.

Now, Hawk _ the world’s foremost skateboarder _ has crept into the mainstream of sports. Or is that entertainment?

Like so many luminaries, Hawk’s fame bobbles back and forth between the two. He’s won scores of medals for skateboarding. But he’s also been in nearly two dozen feature films, made four best-selling video games and has launched a massive arena show touring the country.

The show is extreme sporting’s version of a three-ring circus _ a million-dollar maze of vertical ramps for skateboarding, BMX biking and motocross, with rock ‘n’ roll, a few clowns and fireworks tossed in for good measure.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever done anything on this scale,” says the unexpectedly soft-spoken Hawk, talking by phone from the E Center near Salt Lake City, where his pumped-up road show performed recently. “I’ve done a lot of different tours, but they were to skateparks or being part of a larger event. This is more like Cirque du Soleil on steroids.”

In 2001, he created the Tony Hawk Foundation to help construct skateboard parks in economically deprived areas. (The first grant helped build a skateboard park in Algonac.) The fees from most of his performances go to support the foundation.

For all the good guy stuff, it is Hawk’s unabashed love of skating that has won over fans.

The success of Boom Boom Huckjam has led to speculation that Hawk might re-shape the event into a Vegas-type show. Or perhaps into more cerebral entertainment for Broadway.

“I don’t think so,” says Hawk. “Basically, my biggest joy is just to go out an skate in front of people.”

The wheels-gone-wild element is just half of the show. The other half is music. Live music. Loud, aggressive, high-testosterone, in-your-face music. Every few shows, Boom Boom HuckJam switches bands. First, it was the Offspring, then Face to Face and Devo, now CKY, hammering away throughout the show like the nu-metal version of an old circus brass band.

“Skateboarding and music go hand in hand,” says Neel Pruett, 26, a longtime skateboarder and manager of Transitions Ramp Park in Dearborn Heights, Mich. “But it has to be a different kind of music, you know? Like punk, they hear music differently.”

It’s perfect for skateboarders, who pride themselves on seeing the world differently.

The whole world is a playground for us,” says Pruett.