Rémi Gaillard
| Rémi Gaillard | |
|---|---|
 Gaillard in 2011 | |
| Born | February 7, 1975 |
| Occupation | Pranker, Humorist |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Home town | Montpellier, France |
| Internet information | |
| Web alias(es) | Rémi Gaillard |
| Web hosting service(s) | YouTube, Dailymotion |
| Website | |
| nimportequi.com. | |
Rémi Gaillard (born 7 February 1975 in Montpellier, France) is a French humorist who uploads videos on YouTube. After losing his job at a shoe store, Rémi began to use his free time to have fun and run pranks on the public. As of March 2012, he is the seventeenth most subscribed comedian on YouTube.[1]
Gaillard gained attention in the French media after performing a series of well-documented pranks, including an appearance disguised as a Lorient football player in the 2002 Coupe de France final match, during which he took part in the winners' celebrations and was greeted by the then president of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac. He plays football and has posted videos showing his skills, including one with Brazilian legend Ronaldo.
Gaillard has appeared in several sport events, TV game shows and political rallies as well as the 2011 Banksy-produced documentary The Antics Roadshow.
Concept
Rémi Gaillard became famous for his videos where he displays an "outrageous" style of humour, challenging public norms.[2] Recurring themes include dressing up as and interpreting the behaviour of various animals in public, racing unsuspecting car-drivers whilst dressed up as Mario à la Mario Kart, 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**. The exact meaning is difficult to translate into English, as it plays on a classic French proverb C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron. Literally translated the proverb reads "It's by forging that one becomes a blacksmith," or more figuratively, "Practice makes perfect".[3] In Gaillard's jeu de mots "n'importe quoi/qui" can read "no-matter what/who", or more simply "anything/anyone", such that the phrase would read It's by doing anything that one becomes anyone. However "n'importe quoi/qui" can also be used to mean "a stupid thing/person".[4] The dual meaning lends itself towards challenging the proverb, as is Gaillard's style.
** 'C'est en faisant n'importe quoi qu'on devient n'importe qui' is translated as 'It's by doing whatever we want that we become anything we want'
** Or as Remi translated, "It's by doing whatever, that we become whomever."
Sketches
The majority of Gaillard's sketches are of the hidden camera 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[2] with a friend in Montpellier, and in 2001, he launched his website nimportequi.com.[2]
He gained fame in 2002 at the finals of the Coupe de France. Disguised as an FC Lorient player, he celebrated the team's victory with the players, shook the hand of the then French President Jacques Chirac and signed autographs, without anyone realizing that he was not a player on the team.
He achieved further YouTube popularity through his Rocky Balboa parodies, Pac Man costume prank, Mario Kart prank, Santa Claus and his football videos. His recent pranks often entail dressing up in large animal costumes; including a pig, dog, cat, turtle, snail, bee, shark, kangaroo, spider, beaver, fly, gorilla, chicken, penguin, giraffe, rabbit, butterfly, bat, sheep, and a bomb.
On his official site, Gaillard claims over 1.43 billion views on his videos on the web.[5] His YouTube channel has total video views of over a billion and his most popular YouTube video, "Mario Kart", has over 54 million views.[6]
References
- ↑ List of most subscribed comedians on YouTube, 13 March 2012
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Rémi Gaillard : Farce de frappe, Sabrina Champenois, écrans.fr, February 11, 2009
- ↑ "Thread: c'est en faisant n'importe quoi qu'on devient n'importe qui". Retrieved 2013-04-27.
- ↑ "N'importe quoi".
- ↑ (French) Official site of Rémi Gaillard, 6 May 2011
- ↑ YouTube - Mario Kart (Rémi GAILLARD)