COMEDY : HAVEY’S HEAVY WORKLOAD : TV has kept him from touring. but he’s back.

Irvine likes Allan Havey, and Allan Havey likes Irvine: He says the local Improv is one of his favorite comedy clubs. So why is it so long since he’s been around?

It seems he let a job get in the way of his touring. He’s been hosting “Night After Night,” a comic talk show that airs weeknights on HBO’s Comedy Channel. Havey says the opportunity was too good to pass up. “They gave me an office and a note pad and said, ‘Make up your own show.’ ”

Although Havey has been able to keep his stand-up skills polished (he works weekends in the New York area where he tapes, and gets one week a month off from the show), he says the TV workload wasn’t leaving him much time to write.

He’s been making time lately, though, and he promises some new material for his Irvine gig, which starts Tuesday, July 24, and continues through the 29th. Those who know Havey know the kinds of things he’ll be covering: “My favorite topics, sex and relationships.”

Havey, a master of audience interaction and one of the top observational monologuists around, also has a keen eye for other foibles of the career set. On microwaves, for example: “Our parents had to wait 45 minutes, an hour for a baked potato. Not us!”

And of course, with an Irvine audience there’s no way to avoid the y -word, for which Havey has his own definition: “I don’t mean young urban professional. By yuppie, I mean, ‘Wanna make money, wanna get ahead . . . .? Yup .’ ”

Who: Allan Havey.

When: Tuesday through Sunday, July 29. Show times are 8:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday; 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Friday; 8 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday.

Where: The Improv, 4255 Campus Drive, Irvine. Havey shares a bill with George Lopez and Tom Martin.

Whereabouts: In the Irvine Marketplace shopping center, across Campus Drive from the UC Irvine campus.

Wherewithal: $10 Fridays and Saturdays, $7 other nights.

Where to call: (714) 854-5455.