Jamie Lightfoot is a 28-year-old photoshop wizard known for his deceptive edits. Last year he crafted a video in which he'd added pad thai to the Tim Hortons menu, effectively duping over half a million viewers.

Now he's back to his old tricks with a recently viral TikTok in which he appears to position fake City of Toronto notice boards around his neighbourhood. 

In the video, which has amassed over a million views so far, Lightfoot is seen erecting signs along a Toronto street, and slipping fliers under car windshields, all stating that on-street parking is now exclusively designated for electric-vehicles. "As a part of the 2023 carbon offset initiative," the signs read. 

@.jamisonlightfoot i turned my neighborhood into “electric vehicle parking” only … made with @Emma !! #prank #electricvehicle #fyp #tesla ♬ original sound - Jamison

If it weren't for recent coverage of the increase of electric vehicles in Toronto neighborhoods, perhaps this would seem less believable. After all, Lightfoot admits in the video that the real reason he's posting the signs is to clear up street parking for his minivan.

Comments on the TikTok include concerns from locals stating that impersonating City of Toronto signage is illegal, that it is wrong for Lightfoot to mislead the public, and ultimately that the new parking restrictions are extremely inconvenient for the neighborhood. 

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Multiple commenters also compared Lightfoot to well known Canadian Comedian, Nathan Fielder, who staged elaborate comedic productions through his television series, Nathan for You.

@.jamisonlightfoot uno reverse card. made with @Emma #electricvehicle #prank #fyp #tesla ♬ original sound - Jamison

Laughably, one user stated that he saw the fake signs and was really confused. He was lying, of course, as Lightfoot revealed in part two of his prank that the signs never existed. 

The tech-savvy comedian used Photoshop to superimpose the images onto blank signs in his video. He even photoshopped fake cars into the view of the street, since there were actually plenty of parking spots available in the neighborhood. 

Lightfoot told me that he began utilizing more advanced video editing techniques including visual effects and CGI after he heard about a professor at an animation school who promised his students an A+ grade if they could make a video go viral using animation. One of the students successfully made a CGI video of a hawk picking up a child – which got 46 million views. 

@.jamisonlightfoot how i pulled it off #budlight #dylanmulvaney #budwesier ♬ original sound - Jamison

"I was inspired to start making hoaxes and fake videos to try and see how far I would take the believability," says Lightfoot, who realized pretty quickly that it wasn't very hard to trick people. 

"The internet doesn't really question what they are seeing," he says. Though he notes, he doesn't intend to cause any harm through his videos, he just enjoys "poking fun and taking the piss."

When I asked him what he'll do when he becomes too viral to trick people, he said he can  move on to debunking other people's fake videos – "game recognize game." 

If anything, he says, he's more worried about a 'boy who cried wolf' situation since his viewers think everything he posts is fake now. Even the things that are very real in his personal life, like weddings, accomplishments, invitations, and even funerals.

@captaindisillusion A micro-debunk. #explanation #viral #vfx ♬ original sound - Captain Disillusion

As for the Nathan Fielder comparison, he's definitely an inspiration but Lightfoot doesn't think he's anywhere near that level of chaos – yet. In continuing to pursue trickery, he also takes inspiration from the content creators Captain Disillusion, and Jonny Wanzer.