Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond Laughing In the Wind — Jeremy Clarkson laughing openly next to Richard Hammond who covers his face, beside a white pickup

Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond Laughing In the Wind

2023viral videoclassic

Published October 28, 2026

A clip from The Grand Tour season two episode 11 shows Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond cackling in the wind while James May gets drenched by an aquarium of water in a car. Five years after the February 2018 broadcast, TikTokers turned the moment into a reaction template, and by August 2023 green-screen edits of the two laughing had hit hundreds of thousands of views each.

reaction memes green screen memes tiktok memes delayed virality memes british memes

Overview

Two Men Laughing In the Wind pairs the clipped reaction with captions about losing it with a friend over something stupid. In the shot, Clarkson and Hammond are bent double against gusty weather while off-screen chaos plays out, which lines up well with text framing a mutual inside joke or a shared schadenfreude moment1.

On TikTok, creators either overlay the clip directly or drop a green-screen cutout of the two presenters into another scene so they appear to be reacting to whatever is happening in frame2. A typical post sets up a situation in the caption, friend tripping on a flat sidewalk, cousin wiping out at a wedding, then cuts to the laughing pair as the punchline3. Audio from the original scene is sometimes muted in favor of a trending sound.

The clip works because both men are already laughing uncontrollably at a real event, James May getting hit by the aquarium water, so the reaction reads as genuine rather than performed1. That authenticity is why edits keep attaching it to anything from sports fails to breakup drama.

Origin & Background

Platform
The Grand Tour (source clip) / TikTok (viral spread)
Date
2023

The source footage aired on February 16, 2018 in season two episode 11 of Amazon's The Grand Tour1. In the segment, the trio tries to move live fish by filling an aquarium bolted into the back of a car. When May tries to pull away, the water sloshes forward and dumps onto him, and Clarkson and Hammond collapse laughing in the wind outside the vehicle1.

A standalone upload of the moment went to YouTube on March 29, 2021, where it drew over 1.1 million views in the following two years4. The earliest known meme edit using the clip was posted by TikToker @kimi19888 on March 27, 2023 and reached more than 230,000 views within five months5.

How It Spread

After @kimi19888's March 2023 post, use of the clip picked up over the following summer on TikTok5. On July 25, 2023, @greenscreens4memes uploaded a side-by-side comparing the original scene with a green-screen cutout version, which pulled in more than 600,000 views within a month and helped standardize the green-screen edit as the dominant form6.

In August 2023, two more edits widened the format's reach. On August 10, @epa_racing posted a version that gathered over 597,000 views in 11 days8. Five days later, @thelexiishow uploaded another take that hit 367,000 views in six days7. Other creators including @thehoppers4backup, @sunniraii, @martaubertoni and @emma271180 ran their own captions on the same clip across the same stretch910.

The meme's appeal rests on the fact that The Grand Tour already had a built-in audience from Top Gear, so TikTok viewers recognized the two men without needing a setup. The reaction functions as shorthand for 'me and my friend watching this unfold' without any explanatory text required1.

Timeline

2018-02-16

The Grand Tour season two episode 11 airs on Amazon, including the scene of James May getting soaked by the aquarium water while Clarkson and Hammond laugh outside.

2021-03-29

A standalone clip of the laughing moment is uploaded to YouTube, where it accumulates over 1.1 million views over two years.

2023-03-27

TikToker @kimi19888 posts the earliest known meme edit using the clip, reaching 230,000+ views in five months.

2023-07-25

@greenscreens4memes publishes a side-by-side green-screen comparison that crosses 600,000 views in a month.

2023-08-10

@epa_racing's take on the format hits 597,000+ views within 11 days.

2023-08-15

@thelexiishow's edit reaches 367,000 views in six days, cementing the clip as a go-to reaction template.

How to Use This Meme

To use the format, creators typically set up a scenario in on-screen text or a caption, something ridiculous happening to another person, then cut to the Clarkson and Hammond clip as the reaction. A common convention is to use the green-screen version so the two presenters appear inside the original scene, as though witnessing it directly6. Posts often include text identifying who the laughers are supposed to be, like 'me and my sister when dad slips on the ice'7.

Frequently Asked Questions