For my film How to Not Rob a Bank I animated the entire film without a remote by touching the camera every frame. Bank is mostly without bumps, however, there still are some points where I did bump it, but was too lazy to restart the shot, so instead I animated a smooth short slide to hide the bumps. However, this only happens two or three times throughout the video.
For most of the film I just had the camera set directly onto the set, or simply at level with the set. Since my camera was relatively heavy, its position was generally sturdy enough. I then quite carefully used pressed the button atop the camera to capture frames.
Another important detail is to give your camera a short timer. This way, you can withdraw your arm from the camera and it will not cause inconsistencies in the light. This is something that happens very often if one captures by touching the camera.
The timer is also essential for situations where the camera is mounted atop a tripod. When it's on a tripod, touching the camera, even slightly, will bump it and cause it to shake. However, so long as it has a timer, the shake will finish and the camera will return to its default position before it takes the picture so long as it's only a light touch and nothing too serious.
It does require some skill, and it is not optimal, but animating without a remote is still possible.