Remy Gillard is a French comedian and prankster who is famous for his many daring, satirical YouTube videos, wherein he pranks and surprises unsuspecting members of the general public. His videos are extremely funny, clever and in many cases simply outrageous. Gillard started to make videos in 1999 as a way to pass the time when he got fired from a shoe shop. Since then Gillard rose to fame and prominence with over 5 million YouTube subscribers, the sixth most subscribed comedian in YouTube’s history. He has been known to complete some very daring and unlikely achievements, for example: emerging form the stands and partaking in the lineup for the French national anthem of a televised volleyball game; dressing up as Mario and driving round France in an electric go-kart; and dressing up as a giant bee, capturing a police officer in a giant net.

The type of performance that Gillard specialises in is subversion. His objective is to test social barriers and boundaries to a great extreme. Gillard is also very daring in his work. He is not afraid to take extreme risks or challenge social taboos in an upfront and direct manner. An example of risk is when he dressed up as a giant bomb and walked around an airport, as a way of challenging the taboo of terrorism. It is an extremely controversial and unusual act, testament to Gillard’s fearless desire to use his performances as a reflection of issues within society. Gillard’s performances are very risky and he has been arrested on many occasions. This is however something that I find remarkable about his work, the fact that nothing is too extreme for him and that he would be prepared to try anything for the sake of his comedy. It is easy to dismiss Gillard’s work as reckless, stupid  and distasteful, however this is most certainly not the case. Behind the pranks and anarchy, there is a much deeper and more serious side to his work. His work is effectively a protest against conformity within society. He is asking his audiences to question what is socially acceptable, because as he argues in his term “C’est en faisant n’importe quoi qu’on devient n’importe qui”, which means “It is by doing anything that we become anyone”. Through this Gillard basically is saying that nothing is impssible and therefore nothing is ‘too far’ in terms of challenging society

The main intention behind Gaillard’s work is to act as recklessly and subversively as possible. Through the unconventional manner of his performances, Gaillard therefore stands out greatly and is able to draw larger responses from the audience or intended subject. For example, he has done a series of videos whereby he dresses up as a clown and often at a random moment with no apparent reason, Gaillard will prank an unsuspecting member of the public by throwing a foam pie in their face. The shocked individual then often runs frantically and angrily towards Gillard, and a sense of chaos arises, almost like as in a cartoon scene. In many cases, it is the public’s reaction like this for example that creates the element of comedy. Gaillard anticipates these reactions beforehand is attempting to provoke the biggest possible type of reaction. This is comical because Gaillard is establishing a juxtaposition of a serious reaction against a trivial matter.

I draw many comparison’s of Remy Gaillard work to that of Tom Pope. Both artists use similar philosophies and influences. An infleunce in particular that both of them use to a great degree is farce, which refers to ‘comedy based satirical elements, punctuated at times with overwrought, frantic action’. Which effectively refers to the fact that both artists use extreme forms of physical comedy and nature to enhance the effectiveness of whatever message they are attempting to convey.