LONDON - With Jann Arden you get songs -- and you get jokes.

Make that songs of good and bad hurts all her own and jokes that are totally Arden originals.

The Calgary singer-songwriter had both the hurts and humour before a near sold-out crowd of 3,100 fans at the RBC Theatre at the John Labatt Centre last night.

Arden opened in strong voice with the defiant -- and happy -- Where No One Knows My Name.

Almost two hours later, Arden was finishing up the encores with Unloved, an anthem of hurt and pain -- and no self-pity.

She had brought the crowd to its feet with a magnificent held note during another of her anthems, Good Mother.

Just as important as her songs was Arden's stage outfit for most of the night -- an attractive white pant suit. She looked great. She also looked great in the jeans, boots and the down vest she wore for the encore.

But it was the unending whiteness of the pant suit that made it a straight line for Arden, the

funniest Juno presence ever and a quick, merciless wit.

"I just have to say that I'm really glad I don't have my period," Arden announced.

No product would have given her confidence to strut her stuff in that white suit if that had been the case, she joked.

There was applause for the song -- and laughter for the outrageous, true-to-Jann joke.

Later, she returned to the theme -- there was a theme to the evening, she said -- by introducing a fine version of Cat Stevens's Peace Train with a story about Arden and two of her high school gal pals.

To hear the singer-songwriter-standup comic tell it, one of her pals' new maxi-pads had somehow hit the floor as the three wall-flowers danced with each other at the end of the high school dance. Arden's pal had been able to smooth the maxi-pad under her boot and slide her way to the women's washroom. No one was the wiser, Arden said -- except for the London fans who were laughing at the story and Arden's way of getting to the punch line.

Long ago, Peace Train was the song Arden and her pals enjoyed in their shared loneliness. Somehow, that tied the theme of the jokes and the reason for the tour -- Arden's new CD, Uncover Me, (Universal).

Uncover Me is filled with songs Arden sang in her teen years, such as Janis Ian's At Seventeen and Carly Simon's You're So Vain. The Ian classic received a lovely treatment from Arden, who says it's the first song she learned to play on the guitar.

The Simon song was dressed up by a couple from the audience, Dave and Heather, who joined Arden on stage at a table. It turned out Arden will not be able to join them at their wedding. The two played along nicely. They danced sweetly and Heather sang a few choruses with good-natured verve.

The fans knew their cue to sing along later when Arden went quiet during Good Mother. The fan chorus took over almost instantly.

One distraction in the excellent show -- it was long, it was funny and her voice was there -- arrived during Hanging by a Thread. For some reason, the mechanical systems in the

building began to whoosh, unfortunately at the quietest moment in the concert. Then, a chill air swept over the downtown London arena.

Things were definitely back on track during the encore. While Graham Powell in Arden's fine band sang a tune, the star of the show painted an attractive piece -- a woman in red on a black background with what looked like mountains. The instant painting would be sold to benefit World Vision that night, Arden said.

During Arden's set, her ace guitarist, Russell Broom, switched guitars three times by the time Arden reached the third song, Willing to Fall Down.

Broom sounded terrific all night, really turning it up for California Dreamin' and other Uncover Me rockers.

Broom was also the friendly target of some of Arden's oddest jokes, including one about the time in Mexico when she saw him shirtless -- a rare sight for her, apparently. She was so moved by the vision that she began to connect the moles on Broom's back, only to be shocked when the image of Rita MacNeil emerged.

Noteworthy because of its apparent absence at Arden's first London show since she lost about 50 pounds was any significant mention of her weight. If she joked about it, the words didn't reach Section 109.

Opening for Arden was the sister act SHeDAISY, who played a solid set of unplugged-style pop country.