Rémi Gaillard (; born 7 February 1975 in
Montpellier
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
, France) is a French
prankster,
YouTuber
A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006.
Influence
Influent ...
and animal rights activist.
Well-known for his videos on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, his channel is the 100th most subscribed comedy channel on YouTube with more than 7.29 million subscribers as of January 2023.
After losing his job at a shoe store and leaving
Preston Manor School, Rémi began to use his free time to run pranks on the public. Gaillard gained attention in the French media after performing a series of pranks, including an appearance disguised as a
Lorient
Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France.
History
Prehistory and classical antiquity
Beginn ...
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player in the ''
2002 Coupe de France'' final match, during which he took part in the winners' celebrations and was greeted by then
president of the French Republic
The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...
,
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
. He plays football non-professionally, and has posted numerous trick shot videos, including one with Brazilian footballer
Ronaldo
Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People
Notable people known as Ronaldo include:
As ...
.
Gaillard has appeared in several sports events,
TV game shows and
political rallies
A political demonstration is an action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause or people partaking in a protest against a cause of concern; it often consists of walking in a mass march formati ...
as well as the 2011
Banksy
Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigrams ...
-produced documentary, ''
The Antics Roadshow
''The Antics Roadshow'' is an hour-long 2011 documentary film focused on iconic acts of activism and pranks.
Production
''The Antics Roadshow'' was produced and directed by the British street artist Banksy and the director/producer Jaimie D'Cruz ...
''.
Concept
Rémi Gaillard became known for his videos, in which he displays an "outrageous" style of humour.
Recurring themes include dressing up as and interpreting the behaviour of various animals in public, racing unsuspecting car-drivers whilst dressed up as
Mario
is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...
''à la'' ''
Mario Kart
is a series of racing games developed and published by Nintendo. Players compete in go-kart races while using various power-up items. It features characters and courses from the ''Mario'' series as well as other gaming franchises such as ''T ...
'', and numerous provocative interactions with parking enforcement officers and the police.
Gaillard's satirical motto is ''C'est en faisant n'importe quoi qu'on devient n'importe qui'' whose literal meaning is "It is by doing whatever that we become whoever". The understood meaning is satirical because "n'importe quoi" implies doing something ridiculous and "n'importe qui" implies no one important. It plays on a classic French proverb ''C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron.'' Literally translated the proverb reads, "It is by smithing that one becomes a blacksmith".
Sketches
The majority of Gaillard's sketches are of the
hidden camera
A hidden camera or spy camera is a camera used to photograph or record subjects, often people, without their knowledge. The camera may be considered "hidden" because it is not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another obje ...
type, often disguising himself in outlandish costumes for his pranks. In some videos, Gaillard is accompanied by a crowd of friends, giving the action a
flashmob-like nature.
Gaillard shot his first sketch in 1999 with a friend in
Montpellier
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
, and in 2001, he launched his website nimportequi.com.
He gained fame in 2002 at the finals of the
Coupe de France
The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...
.
He achieved further YouTube popularity through his
Rocky Balboa
Robert "Rocky" Balboa (also known by his ring name The Italian Stallion), is a fictional title character and the protagonist of the ''Rocky'' film series. The character was created by Sylvester Stallone, who has also portrayed him in all eigh ...
parodies,
Pac-Man
originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...
, ''
Mario Kart
is a series of racing games developed and published by Nintendo. Players compete in go-kart races while using various power-up items. It features characters and courses from the ''Mario'' series as well as other gaming franchises such as ''T ...
'' and
Santa Claus
Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...
pranks, as well as his football videos. His recent pranks often entail dressing up in large animal costumes; including a kangaroo and a bat. He has also dressed up as a bomb and a
Traffic enforcement camera
A traffic enforcement camera (also red light camera, speed camera, road safety camera, road rule camera, photo radar, photo enforcement, Gatso, safety camera, bus lane camera, flash for cash, Safe-T-Cam, No contact apprehension camera depending ...
, and has stayed locked in an animal cage for 87 hours to raise funds for animal shelters.
On his official site, Gaillard claims over 2.5 billion views on his videos on the web. His YouTube channel has 1.8 billion total views and his most popular YouTube video, "Kangaroo", has 90 million views.
In 2010, English comedian
Dom Joly
Dominic John Romulus Joly (; born 15 November 1967) is an English comedian and writer. He is best known as the star of ''Trigger Happy TV'' (2000–2003), a hidden camera prank show that was broadcast in over 70 countries worldwide.
Early life
...
claimed that some of Gaillard's sketches
plagiarize
Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...
from Joly's show, ''
Trigger Happy TV
''Trigger Happy TV'' is a hidden camera/ practical joke comedy television series. The original British edition of the show, produced by Absolutely Productions, starred Dom Joly and ran for three series on the British television channel Channel 4 ...
'', as shown by
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel CopyComic in December 2017. Gaillard responded by demonstrating that many of Dom Joly's own pranks may have equally been plagiarized from his own work as well as the work of other comedians including
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...
.
Movie
Gaillard starred in his first full-length feature film titled ''N'importe qui''. It was directed by Raphaël Frydman and released on 5 March 2014, in France.
See also
*
Practical joke
A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...
*
Trigger Happy TV
''Trigger Happy TV'' is a hidden camera/ practical joke comedy television series. The original British edition of the show, produced by Absolutely Productions, starred Dom Joly and ran for three series on the British television channel Channel 4 ...
*
World Freestyle Football Association
The World Freestyle Football Association (WFFA) is the international Sport governing body, governing body of Freestyle Football, freestyle football.
Freestyle football is defined as an art and sport, which involves participants creatively jugg ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaillard, Remi
1975 births
Mass media people from Montpellier
Living people
French humorists
Freestyle footballers
French YouTubers
French male writers
Prank YouTubers
Practical jokes
French animal rights activists