ABOUT ME
Janet Varney
email: janet@janetvarney.com
Instagram: @thejvclub
TikTok: @janet-varney
Janet Varney is an Emmy-Nominated actor, comedian, writer and producer. In the animation world, she is lucky enough to be the award-winning voice of Korra on Nickelodeon’s critically-acclaimed standout hit “The Legend of Korra,” a role for which she continues to be invited to comic cons to give sweaty handshakes the world over. You can find her on Apple TV in "Platonic" alongside Seth Rogan and Rose Byrne, and she can be seen as the unpleasant Becca on FX’s (via hulu) “You’re the Worst” (named as one of the last decade’s best comedies), and fighting dark forces alongside John C. McGinley as Evie Barrett on IFC’s (via hulu) “Stan Against Evil.” You can also head to YouTube for Janet’s show “Fortune Rookie," which she created, stars in, co-wrote and co-produced.
In the podcasting world, Janet created and co-hosts Nickelodeon's Avatar: Braving the Elements with Dante Basco (Zuko; General Iroh). On the Maximum Fun network, her pod The JV Club has been going since 2012 and features almost 600 interviews with celebrities about their awkward teenage years, and her podcast E Pluribus Motto features her and John Hodgman exploring state mottos and symbols across the US and territories! She also co-hosts on Truth & Justice with Bob Ruff, a pod actively working to fight wrongful convictions. And she's the proud "4th Host" of Headgum's amazing Hey Riddle Riddle podcast.
Onstage, Janet performs with Rachel Dratch, John Michael Higgins, Michael Hitchcock, Oscar Nunez, Simon Helberg and more in their improv supergroup Theme Park, and is a WorkJuice Player for the beloved Thrilling Adventure Hour.
She's 25% of SponTourCo, the Spontaneanation live spinoff show with Paul F. Tompkins, Eugene Cordero and Tawny Newsome, and a regular improviser on Stephen Jackson and Brandon R. Reynolds' Los Angeles-based live Journos show.
On the development and production side, Janet co-created, co-wrote and co- produced Neil’s Puppet Dreams, a series featuring Neil Patrick Harris and his puppet-filled dreams (which you can check out on YouTube). She can also be seen on Geek & Sundry’s Escape! which she hosted and produced. She is a writer/performer for Rifftrax with Mystery Science Theatre 3000’s Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy. Janet is Co-Founder/Creative Director/Producer of one of the largest and most acclaimed comedy festivals in North America, SF Sketchfest: the San Francisco Comedy Festival, now in its 22nd year.
Janet spent seven wonderful years hosting TBS’s “Dinner and a Movie” and was a series regular on the beloved E! and Yahoo series “Burning Love” seasons 1 and 3. She recurred on HBO’s “Entourage” and showed up on hits like “How I Met Your Mother,” “American Housewife,” “Maron,” “Shameless,” “Key and Peele,” “Kroll Show,” “Psych,” “Childrens Hospital,” “Bones,” and “Take My Wife.” She also appeared in films such as “Still Waiting,” “Drillbit Taylor,” and “Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer” (sporting maybe her weirdest movie hair to date). She also launched, produced and co-hosted for HuffPost Live, the Huffington Post’s news and conversation television network.