Still Standing (2015) s01e03 Episode Script

1
If the people who founded
this town could see you
guys now they would say
something French I guess.
I wouldn't know what it was.
[Laughter]
[Meditative chant]
Holy!
The lobster fishery is two
months non-stop going hard
and 10 months off.
Sort of like playing for
the Toronto Maple Leafs.
When you grow up in a small
town in Newfoundland,
you see the
people have a sense of
humour about hard times.
Check Check
I turned that into a career
and hit the road.
MC: Mr. Jonny Harris!
Now I'm on a
mission to find the funny
in places you'd least expect it,
Canada's struggling small towns.
Towns that are against the
ropes but hanging in there,
still laughing in
the face of adversity.
Welcome to Souris, P.E.I.
The town's name
might mean mouse, en Francais,
but it takes the heart of a
lion just to get by here.
And folks have been;
clinging stubbornly to
this fishing village
on PEI's east coast
for almost two and
half centuries.
Here we are in Souris,
PEI, one of the oldest
towns in the country.
People have been here
for centuries.
This was originally a little
small French settlement.
They had a mouse plague,
there wasn't enough food
and the mice came out
of the woods, literally.
So many mice drowned in
the river that it slowed
down the boats and this is
where we got the name Souris.
Mouse town.
I think if forty years
of mouse plagues
didn't make your
ancestors pack up and go
somewhere else that says
that this little corner of
PEI is something special
I think.
[Applause]
Was it honestly forty years
before someone
decided to get a cat?
[laughter]
You know in a little town
like Souris it helps to
have a big guy in your
corner, a big guy fighting
for ya and I think in this
town that big guy is Big Mac.
Mayor Dave MacDonald.
Mayor what would
you say the main exports
of Souris are?
Ah fish and potatoes
and young people.
Souris have trouble
hanging on to young people?
Very much so, well
see there's no jobs.
Is that right?
- Yep.
That's our white
elephant right there.
Ocean Choice PEI.
Biggest fish processing
plant on the island when
it was going full bore.
Used to hire 300 people.
What is it doing now?
Nothing.
Mayor Mac explained to
me the decline in Souris'
traditional industries has
hit the town as hard
as the plague it
was named after.
Some of these fisherman,
these younger fisherman
especially when they're
done lobster fishing,
they'll tie their boat
up and they'll jump on an
airplane and go to Fort
McMurray to work.
They guys in the crab fishery
go out, they can get their
crab limit in a couple of
weeks so then they'll fly
off to Alberta and work at
Fort Mac and out there
you get your crab
limit in no time.
[laughter]
I can see there's a
determination here for
people to still live off
the water, off the land, in
a traditional way of life.
You walk around
looking for holes,
there's holes right there.
That means-Oh yeah.
I see em. I see em.
So I went out
with Jim Reggie and
Art Peters to get some clams.
In this day and age where
the fishery can avail of
state of the art equipment.
You've got your depth
finders and sonars
and GPS points.
The most advanced
equipment to hit the clam
industry is a toilet plunger.
Those are genuine
toilet plungers.
Now this one here is about
probably 65 years old.
This toilet plunger is
going to start getting
a pension next year.
These guys have been
buddies for over 60 years.
Jim told me that one
time they got hammered on
moonshine, stole a hearse,
drove out to the national park.
Two of us climbed into the
Anne's bed and flaked out.
Climbed into where?
Anne of Green Gable's.
And slept in Anne of Green
Gable's bed.
You imagine what a
crisis that would be
today if you seen that.
What do you got to do to
get arrested in this town?
For that matter,
what do you have to
do to get a steady
paycheck in this town?
What's different about the
fishery now in Souris then
it was back when
you guys started?
You know there was clams
every place a few years
ago but not anymore.
What happened?
Fished out.
The last two years I
worked I think I put more
labour work than I
ever did in my life.
I was clamming, I was
loading potato boats.
I was helping farmers
and I was unloading crab.
You seem fit as a
fiddle there now.
Yeah I'm 29.
You went at that hole
better than I and
I'm fit let me tell ya.
I finally got the hang of it.
I'm plunging away, one of
the clams eventually pops
right up to the surface.
It was easy I could just grab
him up and I lifted him up.
There you go.
Oh yeah there you go.
You're a real clam digger now.
And he pissed on me.
Look see that?
Little bastard.
He pissed all over me.
What kind of clams are these?
Piss clams.
Excuse me waiter are
the piss clams fresh?
Are they fresh?
Smell my plunger!
[laughter]
Two hours later he was
slathered in butter,
I don't need to tell you who
won that one.
They're good cooking them.
Though Art and Jim have sworn
off the sauce long ago,
They let me wash down the clams
the traditional way.
With moonshine.
I haven't had a drink for
34 years, but I can tell
you if the shine is good or not.
That's 150 proof.
No I can feel it with my hands.
You feel the alcohol
going into your hands.
Try that.
That's tasty actually.
That's a tasty drop.
People have looked to the sea
for as long as we've
been on the planet.
You relearn the
appreciation for it.
You can kind of hear
the wind in the trees.
You can hear the water
lapping on the shore.
Off in the distance you
know, you hear a seagull.
A little further in the
distance you can hear
Jim and Art plunging
for piss clams.
[plunging sounds]
Beautiful, just beautiful.
It's interesting
that Souris is part of the
only county in PEI with
a declining population
because everyone I met
is dying to stay here.
I met all kinds of people
reaching back to the past
traditions for a new
way of doing things.
I went out with Johnny Flynn,
of The Colville
Bay Oyster company.
These are traditional
oyster tongs that
have been used for
centuries because it
doesn't hurt the bottom.
The secret to growing good
oysters is a good oyster bottom.
He said the most important
thing to cultivating
oysters is a good oyster bottom.
So they got a deeper
cup and a nicer shape.
And if you don't have a
good oyster bottom you
better hope you got
nice oyster tits.
[laughter]
How long have you been at this?
Right after the closure
of the cod fishery.
Oysters are here naturally
so we developed it into
a small family business.
And now he's
famous, taking PEI's ocean
friendly tradition, national.
Well they go right from the
east coast to the west coast.
70 restaurants
across the country.
That's pretty impressive right?
An oyster empire, but it hasn't
made him shellfish.
What was it about Souris
that you would figure
out a way to stay?
It's a great place
to raise a family.
You don't have to worry
about locking doors.
The biggest thing you
have to worry about
I guess is making a living.
We didn't stay here
to be millionaires.
We've all heard that oysters
will make you feel amorous.
I don't know if it's the
oyster Johnny but the
way the evening sun is hitting
your blue eyes right now.
That's enough oysters for you.
Okay.
I'm just saying you take
care of yourself is all.
I was with Jonny, I had
four or five oysters and
then I was right in
the mood for a clam.
[laughter]
I was nervous about
telling that joke with
father Raju here.
I thought I'd be
struck by lightning.
In a town so steaped in
trandition
I figured I have to stop by the
Catholic church to meet
Father Paul and Father Raju.
So in a town that has
had a plague of mice.
Right.
Potato blights, ah fires, is
Souris biblically in trouble?
How much is resting
on your shoulders now?
Not a whole lot
thanks be to God.
No I find the people here
are absolutely delightful.
Is it fair to say that people
seem more invested in
a traditional way of life
than say monetary gain?
Yeah the people here farm,
they fish and when you
make a choice like that
you give up certain things.
Father Raju has
come from India to Souris.
[applause]
Is culture shock
even the word for it?
God brings you on a plane and
drops you on a snowbank.
I think most people in
your scenario would be on
the phone with the
Vatican pretty quick.
Like there's got to be
sinners down in Florida.
[laughter]
And this has been
really something to be
able to come to Souris and
be accepted by the people.
They seem to be really
open-minded, accept anyone.
They love you.
Father Raju told me that
before he came here he
couldn't even find
Souris on the map.
I said Father Raju no
worries most Canadians
couldn't find Souris on
the map but that's what
we're going to change
right here tonight.
[applause]
♪
I was able to go out with
Captain Darren Mackinnon.
Darren is 8th generation.
His people have been fishing
these waters for 200 years.
Holy cow look at the
claw on that one!
Nice Holy frig what a size!
Lobster fishing
is one of the most
dangerous traditional
jobs on the planet
let alone the island.
It's a scary looking
creature right?
Those big claws coming at ya,
it's got eyes bolted
off its head.
The prickly horns, antennas.
Disgusting things
that go like that.
I just don't know who was
the first person to look
at that creature and
think, garlic butter.
[laughter]
But the trick with Darren
is he has tourists come
out with him for two
months of the year.
The lobster fishering
usually just pays the bills.
You know with a young
family I don't want to
travel west so I decided
about four years ago
to start experiential tourism.
That's brilliant.
Darren told me he got a
lot of American tourists.
They pay money to have
an experience as a
real lobster fisherman.
Darren can deal with the
American tourists just
fine cause he's got four
kids, so he's used to
ignoring stupid questions
and saying don't touch that.
[laughter]
Did you ever see a
lobster go to sleep?
Just keep stroking him.
I've been put to
sleep like that.
At first I was nervous,
I'm a Newfoundlander
but I've been in Toronto
for a while now.
But I must say, the rhythm
of it felt oddly familiar.
Ah there you go.
I hope that helped.
Take your time and leave
whenever you're ready.
The lobster fishery is two
months nonstop going hard
and then ten months off.
Sort of like playing for
the Toronto Maple Leafs.
[laughter & applause]
♪
This is the happiest
ending you're going to see.
♪
For a change of pace
I went and visited
Teri Hall at the Sea Glass
Creations place.
Sea glass is glass that's
been thrown in the water,
usually off the ships.
During prohibition PEI
was great for rum running.
There's been numerous
shipwrecks.
She reminded me that you know
people have looked to
the sea as an inspiration
for peace and tranquility
for as long as
we've been on the planet.
I was a probation officer
for 23 years and I would
walk the beach as a way
of relaxing and I got
into the habit of collecting
sea glass and I knew
I had to leave my work.
I was burning out and I
thought what am I going to do?
So I put my hands in my
pocket and I had all this glass.
Teri took the
glass and the message
the sea gave her.
Now she sells beautiful
things made out of
free stuff from the beach.
I wondered what could
she make of, say, me?
That you have more than
your physical body,
there's an energetic system,
which is called the chakra.
Can you tell I'm an arsehole
from my terrible chakras?
Terry teaches Kundalini yoga.
We tried some meditation.
How many chakras do you have?
Seven and then your
eight is your aura.
So what am I thinking about?
Or trying not to think about?
Just want to make sure
that your spine is erect.
Erect spine.
The thing
about meditation is that-
You're losing me already.
She was telling me that
it's very important for me to
quiet my body so that I can
be alone with my thoughts.
I thought it was going
to be easy trying to not
think about anything and
then that's when you
think of everything.
What you're going to
be chanting is satnam.
I think I've got a satnam
in my new SUV, sorry,
see I have trouble
turning it off.
I said Teri the worst
place for any comedian
is to be alone with
their thoughts.
Just a whirlwind of dirty
limericks and fart jokes.
[laughter]
[chanting] Saaaa
Teri was trying to show me
a way that I could access
my inner happiness
without moonshine.
And you just sit here and
do that for 20 minutes.
If we didn't have a biting wind
off the cold north Atlantic,
it might be a little easier.
Or if you had a big
blanket around us.
That would be all right.
And fire
- and marshmallows.
To tell you the truth I
wasn't hating the moonshine.
[applause]
You know the old nursery rhyme
about the three blind mice?
Those mice are from Souris.
[laughter]
And you know how they
became blind kids?
Moonshine.
[laughter]
♪
I went and had a
chat with Ken Mills,
the myriad moonshine maker.
Have you ever smelled 90%
alcohol?
No but I would like to.
Holy!
PEI had prohibition longer
than anyone else in Canada.
47 years on an
island without booze!
It's like a cruel joke.
To get a drink you had
to make it at home.
What you wanted to do was
not allow your neighbour
to know that you were
making the shine so you
had to try to find stuff
that was already being
consumed by the farm or
the house in order to do so.
You needed molasses,
you needed sugar and
you needed lots of it.
It must have got awkward
after a while when people
kept going back to the
store, saying to the store
clerk, yeah oh I was just
you know just in the mood
to make two three hundred
pounds of cookies.
[laughter]
I'm really happy to be here.
I'm really happy
to have you here.
I'm also feeling a
little weak in the knees.
Just lean against the barrel,
that's why we've got them.
Souris is the
place where necessity has
long been the mother of
invention with moonshine
being her bastard son, funny
enough it was an outsider,
the town doctor,
who came up with a plan.
Like most rural
communities we had a hard
time keeping our rural doctors.
The doctor had moved into
the community and we
made sure we took him
to every party.
We were at a party one
night and psst doc,
you want a smash of shine?
He said, why isn't
somebody doing this legally?
And here you are.
I think the people who
founded this town hundreds
of years ago could see you
guys now they would say,
something in French I guess,
I wouldn't know what it was.
French people eh?
But it's pretty impressive.
I was about to throw
down with a local fiddling
legend with a fishing
tale so tall
you couldn't make up.
♪
I thought I must have still
been feeling the moonshine
when I went to meet a guy who
gave up fame and fortune
for fish and family.
JJ Chaison, the
fiddling fisherman.
I made a conscious
decision that I wanted to
make Souris my home.
I had offers to go to
Berklee College of Music.
I had a scholarship to go there.
I passed it up.
I couldn't believe it.
I started thinking maybe
tradition here is like an
anchor, hard to tell if
it's keeping you in place or
holding you back
Six generations of
fiddlers in this guy's family.
In fact I think it was
one of his ancestors
that played the mice
out of Souris.
Like the pied piper
right only with a fiddle.
All the mice got in sets
of four and square danced
out of the
[laughter]
Out of the 52 first
cousins, everybody plays
or sings or dances.
We all have the
same opportunities.
He's got 52 first cousins.
Not very good if you need
a lot of attention,
really good
if you need a kidney.
My mom tells me that
whenever I was a kid
I'd break the fiddle out
and I'd go in and sit in
the toilet because the
acoustics in the
bathroom were so great.
Which is funny because
sometimes when
I'm on stage performing for
people I like to close
my eyes and pretend
I'm in the bathroom.
[laughter]
See, same thing only different.
The Differnece being
JJ turned the maritime
stereotype on its head,
instead of leaving
the seas for opportunities,
he picked up fishing as
a way to stay.
♪
Hindsight I think I made
the right decision because
I live in Souris with my
family and that's what
my goal was all along.
♪
Who knows where the tradiction
of tanacity began in Souris.
Maybe it was the mice.
You guys have done
whatever it takes to
stay on the island.
300 years living off the
land, living off the sea.
Mayor Mac came back from
Montreal to raise a family here.
JJ Chaisson turned down a
musical scholarship
so he could raise his
family here.
Johnny Flynn took a side
step from fishing to
aquaculture so he could
raise his family here.
Darren McKinnon figured
out a way he could get
tourists to pay
him to do his job.
So that he could stay here.
Listen folks if there's
one thing I'll take from
my visit to Souris is
people want to stay here
in Souris.
If you packed up and went away,
you wouldn't be from here.
And if you weren't from
here, you'd be from away.
[applause]
Right before I came
over to the show hall my
mom called me for the first
time since I got to PEI.
She said Jonathan
how is the place?
I said mom, it's great.
I hauled lobster, raked
oysters, plunged piss clams,
drank moonshine,
aligned my chakras and
was in bed by 8 pm.
She said what are
you talking about?
I said mom I'm talking
about Souris,
Prince Edward Island.
You guys have been great.
[applause]
Can't beat a small town comedy.
It's really wonderful.
A lot of laughter.
I enjoyed it.
It was a great show.
I was well impressed.
He's got a pretty good
handle on what makes us tick.
Really good for our community.
I had my dinner I think
after laughing laughing
I need I think another dinner.
I would like to see you
all come back sometime
when you're not working.