Jax Irwin’s “best wrong number” she’s ever called

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This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is The Current podcast. [phone ringing]

Hello?

Hey. Who's this?

Paul.

Oh, my ... Paul.

You sound sweet, honey, but I think you got the wrong-

I have chubby fingers. I must have put the wrong numbers in there. What are you doing?

I'm cleaning blueberries.

You're having a blueberry bath.

I'm gonna need one.

You might recognize that voice. Jax Irwin is a Toronto broadcaster, originally from Nova Scotia, self-described phone call enthusiast. She's been charming her social media audience for a couple of years now with her East Coast calls. Basically, the deal is she phones up strangers down East and sees how long they will chat, and hint, lots are in no hurry to hang up.

Where are you ca- calling from?

Nova Scotia.

I'm in Brigus, Newfoundland. When you get off the phone-

Okay

... look up townofbrigus.com, please. Walk walls everywhere. The streets, well, not the streets, the pathways, 11, 12, 15-feet wide, you know? But anyway, we like it.

You're a mover and shaker.

We'll be slower and shaking more. [laughs]

Oh, gee. [laughs]

[laughs] We, we spoke with Jax Irwin last month on this program, and Paul Matthews in Brigus, Newfoundland, heard that interview. Then about a week later, his own phone rang. Not only was Jax on the line, but she was making a special call that day surrounded by the Hollywood stars of Below. Below is a new Netflix series shot in Newfoundland, and they wanted Jax to phone up random Newfoundlanders to promote that series. The stars of Below, Josh Hartnett, Charlie Heaton, and Mackenzie Davis, were all in on the call, and Paul, from Brigus, didn't know any of this.

It's interesting, you know? I was listening to CBC Radio, and they had this lady on, and she does this as a sort of a hobby. She cold calls people, and I'll be damned. If today I just picked up the phone, and it's you. [laughs]

Can I tell you a secret? That's that lonely woman who calls people calling you right now.

[laughs]

I wouldn't be surprised.

Oh! [laughs]

[laughs]

I'm actually, I'm not in Nova Scotia. I'm sitting here in Toronto. I'm in a hotel, and I'm with the cast of Below, and we thought we'd call Newfoundland. Say hello to the cast.

A tax on all of you. [laughs]

[laughs]

[laughs] Well, this morning, Jax Irwin is with us in our Halifax studio, and Paul Matthews is at home in Brigus, Newfoundland. Good morning to you two.

Good morning.

Good morning. Good morning, Matt. Good morning, Tex.

Jax-

Good morning, my friend

... I've seen-

It's nice to hear your voice again

... I, I've seen this video, Jax, of you on the line. You look stunned when Paul kinda clocked you and realized [laughs] who you were.

It's wild. Like, the stars are all aligning, you know? Um, I had the pleasure of, you know, teaming up with Netflix. We made fully random calls. We had no idea how they would go. Uh, and not only did we get, I mean, a charming guy like we have here, but, like, we had somebody who had heard