VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Jann Arden Reveals How She Started Her TV Comedy ‘Jann’

Jann Arden revealed how she made the shift from singer-songwriter to comedy star with her sitcom Jann.

“Over the years I’ve had all kinds of television offers, but it’s always been like talk shows,” she told uInterview Founder Erik Meers exclusively. That is until one of the producers from Schitt’s Creek, Andrew Barnsley asked her a key question almost six years ago.

“He’s like, ‘In a perfect world Jann, if you were to do a television show what would you do?’ And I’m like, ‘What are you talking about Andrew?'” She explained that an entire year went by, which she spent on tour working on her music career, until she sat down with a friend to work on a pitch sheet.

“You don’t have to know anything about Canada to get the humor on the show,” she said. “It’s about trying to figure out what makes you relevant, trying to figure out you relationships, getting older, constantly failing, and then now your mother can’t remember stuff, and whose going to look after her.”

“Five years later we’re are starting to shoot Season 3 now,” she said.

Still, acting in a comedy can be a challenge, especially for a musician whose known for her sad songs.

“In my live shows, I mean I’ve just performed so much and my talking in between my songs is the complete antithesis to the music,” Arden said. “People are always telling me how depressing my music is. They are so wrong! My music’s like Abba!”

“But scripted comedy of course is another thing because I’m not just making stuff up,” Arden said. “People are like, ‘Do you just improv everything?’ No, there’s other actors that have to know what the eff is going on. So, as much as I would love to stand there and make shit up, I can’t do it.”