‘It’s nice to just talk to people’: Toronto podcaster prank calling Nova Scotians

Maritimer Jax Irwin is grabbing attention online with videos of her calling random people.

Toronto radio and podcast host Jax Irwin has recently gone viral for videos of her cute -- and at times confusing -- phone conversations.

She dials random Nova Scotia numbers simply to see how long the person on the other end of the line will chat.

In one of Irwin’s more popular videos, she had a long conversation with an older woman about her long weekend plans, looking after three dogs and the cool autumn breeze.

“It’s the wind that will get ya,” Irwin joked on the line.

Irwin, who used to host a radio show in Halifax, says the idea started during a trip back home to Dartmouth, N.S., last summer.

She moved to Toronto several years ago and was feeling nostalgic for the East Coast.

“So I was like, why not call the White Pages? It kind of just spiralled,” she told CTV National’s Heather Wright.

Millions of people have watched videos, of what are perhaps the nicest prank calls, on Irwin’s Instagram page.

Irwin’s East Coast accent tends to quickly charm the strangers who happen to pick up.

“I think that through the pandemic especially there was such a loss of connection in so many ways and sometimes it’s nice just to chat about how the weather is, what’s for dinner and how you’re doing,” she says.

If Irwin senses any hesitation or confusion in someone’s voice, she will say “wrong number” and hang up.

“Usually, they keep just talking because they don’t want to admit they don’t know who they’re talking to,” she says.

Irwin says she enjoys the calls and the connection it gives her to friendly strangers.

“In a world that sometimes feels a bit dark and isolating it’s nice to just talk to people,” she says.

When she’s not making random calls, Irwin also co-hosts a podcast with longtime friend Adam Wylde.

“It is relationships, dating, mating and relating,” she said. “I think it’s an interesting pairing of a guy who loves hockey and life and a lesbian with a shaved head.”

With files from CTV National News and CTV Atlantic’s Katie Kelly.

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.