Maxime Déchelle (French pronunciation: [maksim deʃɛl]; born 26 May 1990) is a French comedian, populariser of science and YouTuber known by his stage name Max Bird. An amateur ornithologist, he started doing comedy before creating his YouTube channel in 2016, and thereafter quickly grew in popularity. He is also an environmental activist.
| Max Bird | |
|---|---|
 Bird in 2016 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | Maxime Déchelle 26 May 1990 Tours, France |
| Occupation(s) | Comedian, populariser of science, activist, environmentalist |
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Subscribers | 725k[1] |
| Total views | 73.6 million[1] |
Last updated: Sept 2, 2024 | |
Life
editBorn in Tours on 26 May 1990, Maxime Déchelle is the son of a French Air Force serviceman. In 2005, his father was transferred to Kourou in French Guiana, where Déchelle met William Van de Walle (future YouTuber known as Doc Seven)[2] and obtained a baccalauréat in science. Passionate about biology and especially ornithology (hence his future stage name), the young man allowed himself a gap year to take pictures of the Amazonian rainforest wildlife.[3]
In 2009, Maxime Déchelle moved to Paris to study biology. In the end, he decided to devote himself to show business: after training at the Cours Florent theatre school, he took the stage in some Paris theatres in 2012.[3] He also took part in comedy competitions such as the TV show On n'demande qu'à en rire (in its third season).[citation needed]
With the support of French impressionist Gérald Dahan,[4] Max Bird soon stood out among the other young stand-up comedians with his skits full of scientific knowledge, which he performed with a Jim Carrey-like exuberant behaviour. This led him to win top prize at the Tournon-sur-Rhône National Comedy Festival in 2014.[3]
In 2015, he created a one-man show called L'Encyclo-spectacle (the Encyclopedic Show), produced by Pierre-Alexandre Vertadier.[3] The following year, he launched a YouTube channel about science popularisation in order to demystify various common misconceptions with humour.[5] Thanks to Doc Seven's publicity, he gathered 100,000 followers in one weekend;[6] in June 2018, he had 470,000 followers.[7] Jamy Gourmaud, former TV host of the French educational show C'est pas sorcier,[5] was a guest in one of his videos. Max Bird's first book, Max Bird dézingue les idées reçues (Max Bird Shoots Down Common Misconceptions) came out in October 2017, published by First. The book, which sold 200,000 copies,[2] was described by its author as being supplementary to his YouTube channel,[8][9] For Christmas 2018, the YouTuber released 13,000 copies of a new board game, Max Bird, le jeu (Max Bird, the Game).[2]
In addition to his career in comedy and video-making, Max Bird is an activist for ecology: in August 2018, he took part in a trip to Tanzania along with other YouTubers (among them Doc Seven) with the aim of promoting search engine Ecosia, which participates in reforestation.[10] In September of the same year, he took a stand against the mining project in Montagne d'or, French Guiana, in one of his Common Misconceptions videos. Among other things, he condemned the ecological catastrophe, the faulty arguments in defence of mining and suggests using the money to create sustainable jobs instead.[11] In December, he was one of many media personalities featured in a video, L'affaire du siècle (The scandal of the century), warning about the current climate catastrophe and associating with 4 non-governmental organisations to file a complaint against the State for inaction against global warming.[12] He criticised the French State's irresponsibility and the influence of lobbyists, and lamented that no concrete measures were being taken.[13]
References
edit- ^ a b "About Max Bird". YouTube.
- ^ a b c Léna Lutaud (17 December 2018). "Max Bird, le drôle d'oiseau". Le Figaro. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
- ^ a b c d Léna Lutaud (23 January 2018). "Le comique Max Bird donne des ailes à l'humour". Le Figaro.
- ^ Valentin Belleville (7 September 2017). "Paris : Gérald Dahan lance la saison de son bateau théâtre". Le Parisien.
- ^ a b Fabien Randanne (12 April 2017). ""J'ai adoré découvrir les codes de YouTube"... Quand Jamy tourne dans une vidéo de Max Bird". 20 minutes.
- ^ Quentin Piton (4 July 2016). "Max Bird : 100000 abonnés déjà fans de ses idées reçues". PureBreak. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ^ Ithier Bariety (13 June 2018). "Le youtubeur Max Bird raconte son bac : "Ma famille a été un peu déçue"". Le Figaro Étudiant. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
- ^ Quentin Piton (9 October 2017). "Max Bird : après YouTube, il dézingue les idées reçues dans un livre". PureBreak. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
- ^ Charlotte Murat (13 December 2017). "Max Bird a dézingué les idées reçues sur la page Facebook de 20 minutes". 20 minutes. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
- ^ Brut (23 August 2018). ""On se rend compte qu'on ne fait pas les choses pour rien"... Des youtubeurs replantent des arbres en Tanzanie". France Info. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
- ^ Lise Abou Mansour (21 September 2018). "La Montagne d'Or, vraiment une aubaine pour la Guyane ?". 20 minutes. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ "Des ONG attaquent l'État français en justice pour inaction climatique". La Provence. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
- ^ Brut (18 December 2018). "L'affaire du siècle : "On va attaquer tout simplement l'État français en justice pour inaction face au dérèglement climatique"". France Info. Retrieved 19 December 2018.