'The Soup' is on with Joel McHale in Salt Lake City

Poor Maurice Abravanel.

Abravanel built the Utah Symphony Orchestra out of a part-time community orchestra and lobbied for years for a home. His longtime wish was granted when Salt Lake City's Symphony Hall opened in 1979, and then in 1993 was renamed Abravanel Hall.

Trust me, Joel McHale, host of E!'s popular TV show "The Soup," has been instructed on how to properly pronounce the name of the famed late conductor, but for weeks he's been announcing his upcoming live appearance at ... ahem ... "A Brave Anal Hall."

"Is that how you say it?" McHale asked during an interview with The Tribune after his pronunciation was corrected. "What did I say on 'The Soup'? 'Abe-ra-vein-el'? He was conductor of what?

Oh, I thought you meant 'train conductor.' In which case my 4-year-old would be very interested."

He can be excused. McHale, 37, is returning to Utah at a time his comedic star is ascending. Besides skewering TV every week on "E!" as host of "The Soup," McHale has landed the lead role in an NBC sitcom, "Community," that will premiere this fall, and is co-starring with Matt Damon in Steven Soderbergh's next movie, "The Informant," scheduled for a September release.

McHale will perform a stand-up concert Friday at Abravanel Hall, one year after the classically trained actor performed at Ogden's WiseGuys Comedy Cafe.

"WiseGuys was terrific," McHale recalled. "Coming back, I'm very excited. ... Ogden was the first place

I ever headlined. I was not a stand-up, and I did like five shows in one night. Or maybe four. I can't remember. Because you guys can't do shows on Sundays, which actually, I love, because that means I can be home with the family."

Besides his busy career, McHale and his wife are raising a 4-year-old and an 18-month-old -- the latter whom he was feeding during the interview. He is calling this concert tour the "Thanks for the Pool" Tour.

McHale moved to Los Angeles from his home state of Washington to be an actor, and in 2004 happened upon the gig hosting "The Soup" despite having no stand-up experience. Despite TV and movie roles, he has no intention of leaving "The Soup" anytime soon.

"It's fun and enjoyable, and [I'm] on contract," McHale said about the show that replays clips of reality and chat shows aired on TV the previous week, with McHale and his "interns" taking potshots at Ann Curry, Tyra Banks, Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus and other celebs. "I love doing 'The Soup' and do not want to stop doing it. The great thing about 'The Soup' is that it's on every week and it's so much fun to do and I enjoy it tremendously. I know that's one of the reasons why I got noticed to go out for parts like 'Community.' And I know that Soderbergh liked the show, so that was one of the reasons why they allowed me to come in and audition."

One of the reasons McHale was attracted to host "The Soup" was its pedigree, he said. Greg Kinnear received his big break hosting an earlier incarnation of "The Soup," and has since landed above-the-title roles in movies such as "Sabrina" and the Siamese-twin comedy "Stuck on You," the latter with Damon.

McHale joked that Damon was always comparing McHale's comedic talent against Kinnear's when the two were filming "The Informant." "If I can have 5 percent of [Kinnear's] career I'll be happy," McHale said.

It seems odd that a busy TV personality -- who never had a stand-up career -- now has the time to tour the U.S. doing stand-up. "It's a great way to meet the fans and get a workout onstage, and have a good time, and hopefully gather more people to watch 'The Soup,' 'Community' and 'The Informant,' " he said.

While he doesn't have a personal assistant, his schedule suggests he may need one soon. "Believe me, I have often driven the streets of Hollywood looking for a homeless IV-drug user [to ask them], 'Can you just watch [my kids] for a half-hour?' "