01x03 - Fly Free, Little Fishy

[bunniefuu]

You're listening to 97.1, The Point.

One of the reasons why
I love living here so much

is that we get this amazing weather
well into the fall season.

Temperature high of 104 degrees
today in the greater Las Vegas area.

Tonight, a high of
66 degrees and clear.

Morgana has offered me
a guest performance spot

to perform in the tank in Vegas.

This is the opportunity
I've been dreaming of.

But it could also mean,

"I've given you this chance

and you blew
it again, kid."

Let's get it.

Um… Hello?

- Um, wait. What do I get?
- I don't know.

Something sweet
and… What about...

- Can I take a picture of y'all?
- Uh, yeah.

Love the Pride flag in the background.
Three, two, one.

- I'm gonna get a c*cksucker next.
- Perfect.

- Can I have a Caribbean Tea?
- Perfect.

Jameson, rocks.

- We're gonna need the Rainbow Show shots.
- Okay.

- Yeah. Okay.
- Yay!

Oh, does it change
color? What? Magic!

- Ah!
- Wow!

All right, so, to our
first time in Vegas

and to many, many happy returns.

- Whoo-hoo!
- Cheers.

I was actually having
that conversation in the airport.

This is the first
time in a long time

I've been to Vegas
without a bag full of weapons.

- Yes.
- And I got to the airport and felt naked.

I'm like, I forgot something.

Like, where is…
Where is my golf bag full of swords?

So, my seaster, Chè Monique,
tagged me on Instagram.

There is a King and Queen
of the Sea pageant

on the Virgin Voyage
Mermaiden cruise ship.

"This exclusive event will feature
mermaids and mermen from around the world

as they sail the Caribbean to compete
in underwater skills and pageantry

for the honor to be crowned
King of the Seas and Queen of the Seas."

First, it's the first
cruise with a mermaid on it,

and she's brown-skinned.

Like, come on, I
have to be on there.

I have my phone.
I'm doing the application.

Underwater contest in tails.

Uh, talent show.
Definitely doing that.

"Intro. Who are you?
And where are you from?"

"Why should
you be chosen?"

"And Platform.
What cause is important to you,

and how are you working
towards a solution?"

Ooh!

Splish-splash on
'em. It's The Blixunami.

Ah, I messed up.
Let me re-record.

I should be chosen to be
one of the 20 for this competition

because I'm The Blixunami.

Messed up again. g*dd*mn!

All right, take 35,000.

We gonna do this
again. Come on, dolls.

The competition's
gonna be fierce

because I do have
some sea-blings out there

that always slay everything,
but I'm ready to be fierce just as much.

Oh, I didn't see you there.

Hello. My name is Merman Andy.
I'm from sunny Southern California.

I would love to be a contestant,

since this would open up
so many doors for my community.

Why should I be chosen?

I'm the current Miss
Mermaid Nevada,

a sailor, a free diving
and mermaid instructor,

and a professional mermaid
stunt performer and fire entertainer.

I think I should be chosen
for this pageant

because mermaiding is
my greatest passion in life.

To me, it's more than just an art form
or a sport. It's a lifestyle.

I'm an attorney, a professional mermaid,
a competitive swimmer,

and also Miss Mermaid Arizona.

I think that's the one.

My hair was fine, and then…

Is anyone bringing
their makeup kit for touch-ups?

Oh, yeah.

This is
the only eyeshadow palette I have.

No, that's not gonna work.

Mmm.

We should have brought rum.

They probably deliver.

Probably.

So I went to the Silverton
eight or nine years ago with a friend,

we saw the mermaid
show, and I was like,

- "This is cool. I want to do that."
- Really?

- Yeah.
- This is gonna be amazing.

These mermaids are
used to swimming in deep cold water tanks.

I practice in
a nine-foot-deep pool every day.

Cold water is my
mermaid weakness.

Any time I get in cold water,
I tend to clam up,

and it affects my breath holds.

They've got so much more experience
just entertaining people,

being underwater,
interacting through the glass.

I have none.

- Hi!
- Hey.

Come on in.
Hey, baby girl.

- Sparkles is here.
- Yay!

It's nice to meet you,
fellow sparkle fish.

Yes! I'm so
happy to be here.

- We are so excited to have you.
- I'm very honored.

We're a bit behind schedule.
So we gotta get going.

No one's wearing glitter.

- You got the memo? Fantastic.
- Yes.

And then everyone has
their eyes, ears, sinuses health kit?

All right. We're
good to go.

Everybody over here.

Okay, let's go two to a seat.
Try getting body first, then bag.

If you're gonna sit,
you're gonna need to sit.

- Okay. Sorry.
- I can't hold this very long like this.

Trying to make sure
I was getting in the right spot.

Okay, sorry.

There we go. I'm in.

Do you do your rainbowness
yourself, or do you have…?

- Had a friend... These are extensions.
- Oh, they're extensions!

Yes, and I had
a friend dye them for me.

- I hope you're not attached to the color.
- Oh no, I'm not.

'Cause it'll be gone
after one dive.

Everybody in?

Please keep all legs and fins
inside the vehicle at all times.

Fasten your seat belts.
Off we go.

So, I'm at Mertailor,
and it's my birthday.

And while I love
when I'm inside of those walls,

life became very lonely for me.

And then I get a message
from somebody that I used to use with.

And he invited me to
a Memorial Day party.

And in the first hour,
out come the drugs.

I took just one hit,

and then the instant shame.

And it got bad
very, very quickly.

It got so bad. Um…

I didn't go home to where I was living.
I was living in my truck for weeks.

And I'm seeing, like, my phone
is blowing up from Eric, Candy,

all the mermaids.

And I didn't know what to do,

and I finally just, like,
threw my hands up in desperation

and I talked to
Eric's mom, Candy.

I wanted to afford him
an opportunity to get back to the place

and the person that he was.

That he is.

I was concerned about Tristan.

And I wasn't sure what was
going to happen with him.

But I'm a believer
in second chances.

And because he is such a
"I'm going to do better" person,

"I want to do better,"

you know, why not give somebody
the opportunity to do better if you can?

And that woman
and that man, together,

are the only reason
that I may be alive right now.

I was living with
Merma Naja in the middle of Georgia.

But Naja's living situation changed,
and I basically had to move out.

It's been super stressful
because I need somewhere to go.

Well, I reached out to my mom,

and I asked if I could stay
for a couple of weeks.

And the response I got
was basically a, "No, you can't."

"But live your best
life and good luck."

I got more friends
that I can go to.

So, I hit up Gabi,
and now I'm here in the big city.

- I'm going to make some tea.
- Thank you, sis.

Financially, I am
very low on funds.

So right now, I
am couch-surfing.

Couch-swimming.

I've known Blix for 12 years.

He's helped me in the past,
and so now I'm here to help him.

His family is pushing
him to the side.

You'd think this is the time
he needs them the most,

and actually they just
kind of left them out in the dry.

I gotta keep swimming.

Ah, look at the fish!

- Wow!
- So pretty!

The Silverton Aquarium
is a crazy place to perform.

You almost have to work harder to
draw that audience in, to take them away

from the slot machines and bright lights
and be even more magical

than everything
else going on in Vegas.

Wow!

Look at the ray. Look.

Oh my God. He's so cute.

As aquarium gigs go,
this one is harder than most

because casinos are open 24/7.

So you don't get a practice dive
before being on display.

Take inspiration. Gonna
make me emotional.

- Too early to get emotional.
- I know.

- You ready?
- I think so.

All right, guys.
We gotta head up.

I love this smell.

Wow.

All right, circle up.

Welcome to the 117,000-gallon
Silverton saltwater tank.

- Whoo!
- Yes.

Yay!

Working in
a live stocked aquarium

can be very
dangerous, very fast.

Hypothermia is a constant risk
with aquarium work.

In less than 80 degrees, we want
to really limit our time in the water

in order to make sure
no one gets too cold

to the point where they have
a loss of motor control.

Gonna be doing 20-minute sets
to make sure no one goes hypothermic.

As far as hazards and animal life,
you guys need to move slow.

This is a heavily stocked tank.

If you're gonna
go to the bottom,

land nice and slow,
and don't land on a ray.

There is also a porcupine puffer fish.
Everybody see him?

Don't try to pet him.

- He gets a little nippy.
- Hm.

We're going to start tailing up
and put on a show.

Awesome. Exciting.

I tend to wake up on show days
already having the nightmare

that something's
gone horrifically wrong.

That something has busted or broken
or is leaking somewhere.

If the pump has failed,
if the filter has failed.

What if the entire thing explodes
catastrophically, the glass breaks,

and the mermaid
shoots out the side

while lacerating all her major arteries
on the way out,

dies, and traumatizes
47,000 children?

There's so many members of this team
that have trusted me with their journey,

that trusted me with their safety,
trusted me with their livelihood,

and if I make the wrong calls,

all of that goes away.

If I get selected for this cruise,
I have to have money to get to Miami.

Because that's where
the cruise ship is docked.

So, it's hustle time.

Imma be back here. Mark my words.
Radio City Music Hall.

It's gonna say,
"The Blixunami World Tour. Sold out."

Big arms, Blix.

Is this your real job?
Or do you have a day job too?

Yeah. This it.

- This is your real job? Cool.
- Uh-huh.

Bring on the tail.

A lot of mermaids
have one pirate,

but The Blixunami needs a crew.

The transformation.

Then just get the buttons.

In New York, friends are willing
to help me get to be where I want to be.

- Your lips look good, honey.
- Okay.

Since I'm in New York, I'm going to
make sure I get Instagram followers.

Getting the brand out there
and doing my thing.

Going to make sure
everybody knows who The Blixunami is.

- Yes!
- Gorgeous!

Thank you! Make
sure y'all tag me on Instagram.

Flip that fin.

Excuse me!
Merman coming through!

He just splashed
in the city. Making big waves.

The Blixunami!

A lot of people
see me with a smile on my face,

but deep down inside,
a lot of the times, I'm...

I have a sad
face that I'm hiding.

And I try to mask it with,
"Oh, that's the past."

But deep down inside,

little eight-year-old Eric
still is hurting.

And it's lingering
to 30-year-old Eric.

My parents still haven't
accepted me fully for who I am.

I got to keep swimming.

The Fox, 96.7.
Good afternoon. It's Kelly Wright.

With me, got a special guest,
Eric Ducharme,

from Mertailor's Mermaid
Aquarium Encounter.

You're doing something wonderful
for Halloween. What's going on?

We have our first,
what we call, Underwater Spooktacular,

where we transform the entire aquarium
to a little spookiness.

And, uh, basically we're inviting
all of our guests to come in

and be transformed
into this underwater world.

Then we'll have a special performance
in our underwater theater

with our mermaids
and underwater skeletons.

So we're gonna dry practice
for a little bit,

and we're gonna get
in the water and run through this.

The Mertailor Halloween Show
is a very big investment.

This was a very big move for me.

The financial
stress is… Is tough.

And this is when
we all push off.

We are very dependent

on this being successful.

We hope that people are gonna come
to see these new mermaid shows,

but the recovery from the investment
in that tank alone will take years.

If this doesn't work,
you could potentially lose everything.

No speakerphone conversations.

Please keep your phone
conversations at a minimal tone

so you don't disturb
other passengers.

The restroom is in the back
of the coach for your convenience.

If you need to move
throughout the coach, use the handrail

by the overhead compartment,

or use the headrests
at the back of the seating area.

So, even though
my real family doesn't really accept me,

my mermaid family
accepts all of me.

And I can't wait to see them
and meet them all at Afro Mermaid Summit.

So, we made it.
We are here in Miami.

My seaster, Carrie Wata,

she's the first Black woman
to host a mermaid event.

She is Sea-yoncé.

Shello!

Hey! Hi!

Hi, guys!

Hi, sis!

Growing up, there was never really much
representation of Black princesses,

of Black mermaids,
or just anything Black and beautiful.

I created Afro Mermaid
because Afro Mermaids

didn't have a pod or
a place to call home.

- Yes, hi!
- Hey, welcome to your own party.

- Hi, everyone!
- Come on, girl.

Rolling through. We
want to really see…

Afro Mermaid is a lot more intimate
than MerMagic Con,

and therefore, everyone feels
more connected.

Like, it really does feel
like a family reunion.

Pulling your arms
like you're twisting a rope,

but you want to keep
spinning, spinning.

We'll practice it a little more.
Probably… We'll do a little bit today.

We'll do a little more tomorrow.
Hello! Hello! Shello!

At Afro Mermaid,
everyone's welcomed,

and we're all just teaching each other
how to grow and be great together.

This is like
the unlearn-your-bad-habits class.

Yes.

That's why
I'm hoping more people do this

within their, like,
first six months of mermaiding

so that they don't create
the bad habits in the first place.

- Ready? All right, let's go.
- I'll go.

We've never had
a place where we could be ourselves

and swim as brown mermaids.

The fact that we now have something
catering to us just means the world.

At Afro Mermaid, me and Mermaid Naja
are going to be filming my music video.

Three, two, action.

Oh, that's perfect!

Just flip your fins
and stay in one place.

And I plan on having
all the Black and brown mermaids

from Afro Mermaid
at my video sh**t.

Mermaids, can
I get a "Shell yeah!"

Shell yeah!

Go, Kelsey, go!

There she goes!

Five, four, three, two, one!

Okay, y'all,
so right now, for the video,

I want all of us to gather over here
and be lined up,

so we can do the one shot.

Then we're going to film just us,
B-footage, just dancing.

Then we're gonna swim about
and just flip tails.

Just do all that.
And it'll be... Yeah, just like that.

Splish-splash on 'em!
Whoever's in the water, splash your tails.

She's so sparkly.

Make your instructor proud.

Yes, always.

Tuck your leggings in the back.

- Well, the…
- Tuck anyway.

Sit up. Thank
you. Better.

You got 15 minutes
to be a magical, magical fish.

Just go down and find your zen.
Go see your friends.

Oh, there she goes. Oh, that's my girl.
Oh my God, look at her!

God, she's got a great backflip.

That's my girl.

Yes, full extension.
Watch your head. And perfect!

You're nailing it.

I'm so afraid
that they're going to be

so flawlessly free diving
down to the bottom of that tank.

Her depth is perfect.

Hitting their
beautiful, elegant poses.

I love it so much.

Hey, Michelle, one more time,
go through the arch.

Anything worth doing
is worth doing twice.

And I'm scared
I'm going to be flailing at the surface.

Gasping for air.

You gotta breathe at some point.

Maybe they don't.

Gorgeous. Amazing.

Warm shower.
Hypothermia bad, warm shower good.

- Tasha, you did eyes, ears, and sinuses?
- Yep.

Okay.
Sparkles, go get your tail.

Okay.

Blue is fascinated by Halloween.

The way he treats Halloween is like
most people would treat Christmas.

And this is an
example of what he does.

See? Every time.

It's phenomenal. He's gotten so awesome
at creating this Halloween world.

We were replacing the toilets
next door for our neighbor,

and I had this great idea
to use it for a prop.

And I had to have
someone throwing up this year.

So I have the guy
puking in the bucket.

Aw, It didn't go off.

Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to the Magic Palace.

Tonight's performance,
by Magic Eric…

Oh, Eric Ducharme.

He was always building.
He was always making.

He would build
stages at the house

and figure out how to produce
these magic shows.

Hello, folks. Ladies
and gentlemen,

I'm Eric Ducharme, and first of all,
I would like to welcome you

to the Magic Palace.

Now, today we have
a first wonderful trick…

I'm not talking about
the typical little kid stages.

My entire back
porch was a stage.

Voilà!

Then, for a little while,
we were into clowning.

Clown!

Everything was
entertainment and artistic.

I would come home and find my mother
dressed up in the silliest outfits.

And my father dressed up,
sitting in a chair,

not looking as happy
as my mother would be.

Part one of The Invaders,

where real invaders come to this Earth
and destroy people on Halloween night.

Thank you. I
hope you enjoyed this show. Bye.

It's because I really wanted it
so bad that I made it happen.

- Okay, we got four minutes to open.
- All righty.

We're very excited about of our first
ever event, the Halloween Spooktacular.

I feel like
I'm looking a little raccoony.

This is more stressful
than doing the shows.

The shows I got down.

Okay. Are we ready,
guys? Doors open?

Can we open
doors? Are we ready?

Hi, how are you? Welcome.

Go left and have a
seat in the theater.

A full house per
show is only 40 people.

We have sold 15 tickets.

This has been a little scary.
Of course, we went over budget.

I never got to do
a Halloween show at Weeki Wachee.

I really wanted the first
Halloween performance at Mertailor

to be beyond my wildest dreams.

I am a cursed pirate
for the Halloween show.

I get to act up and be silly,
in the best way.

We're not gonna wait any longer.
Doors are closing.

One minute to show, guys.

- Do we have a lot of people?
- Uh…

I want to say 20.

I'm building a life at Mertailor
for a whole new type of history to happen,

and I want everybody
to experience that.

That's so cool.

That's beautiful.

Whoo!

People have to come
through the door

in order for us to be able
to continue to do this.

But now we know
what we're capable of,

this is just a very small piece
of what I know he wants to come.

Thank y'all for your patience.

I know, that's why…

Fat fishies, gather!

Let's take a Society
of Fat Mermaids group photo.

I think everybody is here.

- Who is holding it?
- Oh, I had one end.

- Gonna hold an end.
- That's your side.

All right, all right. Let's get tight
like we like each other.

I think because I started
Society of Fat Mermaids,

I think I just kinda popped up at a moment
where people were ready to see who I am.

So, even though I don't feel
I've been doing this long,

I feel very known
and very present.

- Fat Mermaids!
- Make waves!

- Fat Mermaids!
- Make waves!

- Fat Mermaids!
- Make waves!

There really aren't
a lot of merfolk my size.

I'm on the bigger side of, like,

the plus-size you're gonna find
in not a specifically plus-size shop.

I really want a silicone tail because
those experiences where kids touch it,

and it's like, "Ooh! You really are real."
That does seem absolutely magical.

I've got 60-inch hips,
so it's hard to find a mermaid tail.

Mermaid Kariel has agreed
to make me a silicone tail.

She's been working on more
plus-size stuff lately.

And we've been talking about
having, like, a partnership.

Totally blindsided me. Like…
I didn't really know she knew I existed.

She's like a legend
in our industry.

I kinda thought that
Kariel represented

that thin, white,
Barbie-like mermaid dream.

I never thought that Kariel and I
would have any type of partnership,

but we talked waiting for coffee
at MerMagic Con.

And she just really
wanted to work with me.

- Shello!
- Hi, Chè, how's it going?

Beyond excited for this moment.

I need to take all your measurements
so that I can make you

your very first
silicone mermaid tail.

Yay!

So you can take those amazing mermaid
dreams of yours just a little bit further.

- Babe?
- Yeah.

- Could you come here, please?
- Okay.

- Supportive husband.
- I am ready.

Oh
Yeah! All right.

You have to
tell me too. Like…

I think part of this is
I don't want to be offensive in any way.

Okay, that's fair.
Say what you need to say.

I'm comfortable in my skin.

I want to do the largest part
of your butt area.

That's it.

- All right. Talk soon.
- Bye.

Shake, shake.

Who's next?

My seaster, Carrie Wata,

asked me if I could perform
"Splish-Splash on 'Em,"

and I immediately told her yes.

This'll be my first performance.
It's going to be amazing.

And I hope when everybody sees me
perform this song they see the magic,

and the passion, and the sparkles,
and the glitter, and everything!

All the dramatics, and the bubbles.
I'm about to k*ll it!

It's gonna be everything.

- Y'all got no more bubbles?
- We do. You're good. You're divine.

- I need the mic too.
- You want the mic now?

- I don't know where it's at.
- Right here.

Hey. Hi. No, I need
the real mic, girl.

Uh-uh. What are you doing?
Where the mic at?

Now we have… Blix!

Blix, Blix, Blix, Blix!

Go, go, go, go, go, go.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Blixunami!

Whoo!

Yes!

Afro Mermaid!
What's up? What's up?

Go, Blix!
Go, Blix! Go, Blix! Go, Blix!

Shello, everyone. The results
of who is accepted to participate

in the King and Queen of the Seas pageant
will be coming up very soon.

We're going to be announcing the top 20
Kings and Queens of the Sea.

So, keep your fins crossed
and check your notifications.

You don't want to miss this.

Oh my God!

Okay…

Ah! g*dd*mn! Ah!

Oh my God!

Oh my God!

Oh, sh...

- I got selected.
- You got it?

- I got it.
- I just got accepted.

Yes!

Whoa.

It says they want me to be on their…
Finperial Council.

Like… a judge,
except they're not having "judges."

They're having a "council"
'cause it says, "Mermaids don't judge."

It's on now,
y'all. It's on now.

Oh, I'm so excited!

It's gonna be so good!

Oh my God!

- Hey, Sparkles.
- Uh-huh.

Breathe.

- Yes.
- Okay, this isn't a race.

Deep breaths. Take
your time getting into your tail.

- Keep your heart rate down.
- Okay.

My heart rate has been
out of control all day, so thank you.

You have an ankle wrinkle.

You want to get it
or do you want me to get it?

- You're a little twisted too.
- Yeah. I see. I see.

If you do that again,
I'll have a heart attack.

When you grab this tail, I need you
to grab it from the actual tail,

not just the hip fins,
'cause they are gonna come off one day.

My bad. Honestly,
I was not paying attention.

- It's your tail.
- It's a beautiful tail.

- Let's be nice to it.
- I'd hate to rip a fin.

All right,
Anna, she's coming in.

Whenever you're ready,
fly free, little fishy.

You're gonna swim
underwater to Anna.

Let go, and you're
gonna swim over there.

All right.

Come here.

Look at me.

You're gonna duck dive under
and swim to that sparkle fish right there.

She's gonna meet you underwater.
You can do this.

I'm watching you get in your head.
We're not gonna do that. Ready?

Yes, ma'am.

We're gonna
do a one, two, three.

You're gonna take a deep breath on three,
then you're gonna go swim to her.

- Okay?
- Okay.

All right.

One, two, three.

Breathe in.

Go get her.

There we go.

She's good. She
just had to let go.

Yeah.

Yay!

Look at
her still going. Nice.

There it is.

Beauteous.
Beauteous. Beauteous.

Keep going. Keep
going. Keep going. Yes!

Yes, sparkle fish!

Stunning.

Getting past the nerves
and getting to who you are. Love it.

I'm gonna go down there and watch.
Have my proud mama moment.

- Are you okay?
- I'm fine. I'm fine. I just…

…need a second, I think.

Okay?

Are you starting to shiver?

- I'm all right. Thank you.
- You're welcome.

- This is amazing.
- Yeah.

But you cannot
be cold in the water.

- It's all worth it.
- I know.

But also, no dead mermaids.

I know. No dead mermaids. You're right.

She's hypothermic.
She's hypothermic. I gotta pull Sparkles.

Can't wait.
She's hypothermic.

We have to pull Sparkles.