| Jean-Yves Lafesse | |
| Birth Name: | Jean-Yves Lambert |
| Birth Date: | 13 March 1957 |
| Birth Place: | Pontivy, France |
| Death Place: | Vannes, France |
| Nationality: | French |
| Occupation: | Actor Humorist |
Jean-Yves Lafesse, stage name of Jean-Yves Lambert (13 March 1957 – 22 July 2021), was a French actor and humorist.[1] He was known for making prank calls, as well as hidden camera pranks.
Lafesse was born in Pontivy.[2] He left Brittany in 1974. He travelled for four years through Djibouti, Italy, and England, where he joined the punk counterculture in 1976.[3] During his youth, he was a footballer for Stade pontivyen, and he played as a defender.[4]
Lafesse studied film at the from 1978 to 1981. In 1981, he became a radio show host for,, and .[5] In 1984, he joined Radio Nova, for which he began making prank calls.
In 1985, Lafesse joined Europe 1 and Canal+, as well as France 2, TF1, France 3, M6, Paris Première, and Télévision Suisse Romande for the radio show Lafestival.[6] For, he hosted a show called Radio carotte, in which he pranked passersby through placing a carrot in their hands.[7] He became known for using his pinky finger as an imitation microphone.[8]
Lafesse published two books: Les Grandes Impostures téléphoniques in 1992 and Petit Précis de l'imposture in 1994. In 2000, he launched a website called Uniqueaumonde.com, which allowed users to see his pranks on the internet. He played the character Commissioner San-Antonio in two audiobooks, adapted from novels by Frédéric Dard (La Rate au court-bouillon and Votez Bérurier).[9]
On 28 March 2014, Lafesse appeared on a stage for the first time in a production of Lafesse en réhet, a show he had written. It was shown at the Palais des congrès de Pontivy in front of 700 people. That same year, he played Pierre Dac in , a telefilm broadcast by France 3. After a period of silence, he moved to Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 2019 and organized sketches there, as well as in Poissy.[10] Later that year, he left the Paris area and moved back to Brittany.[11] He was recruited by the radio station France Bleu Breizh Izel for the 2019–2020 season,[12] broadcasting humorous tales he wrote with his brother.[13]
Jean-Yves Lafesse died of ALS in Vannes on 22 July 2021 at the age of 64.[14]