Paul Rudd revives long running joke on Conan O'Brien: ‘You can’t do that on a podcast’

One of the long-running and lovably lame jokes in the history of showbiz has been given a revival on the latest episode of Conan O'Brien’s podcast starring Paul Rudd.

If you're unaware, Rudd started off a recurring gag on O’Brien’s show 18 years ago by playing a bizarre clip from the 80s ET knock-off movie Mac and Me, which sees a boy in a wheelchair veer off the edge of a cliff watched on by an alien.

Ever since, Rudd has had a long tradition of setting up a clip from his latest TV or film project, only to blindside audiences with the footage.

The last time came in 2021 when he crashed Bill Hader’s interview with Conan, and now he’s taken the joke to a new medium.

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He was chatting on the most recent episode of Conan’s podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend when he appeared to blindside the host with an audio version of the clip.

Paul Rudd's First "Mac And Me" Prank | Late Night with Conan O’Brienwww.youtube.com

Rudd explained that he was working on a new series for Audible with Party Down co-creator Dan Etheridge (which turned out to be a lie told purely for the purposes of the joke.

“I’ve been working on it and recording it with my friends, which has been great,” before asking if he could play a clip from the show.

“Oh for Christ’s sake,” Conan says, after the audio of the strange moment kicks in. “You can’t do that on a podcast.”

It never gets old. Who knows when we’ll be seeing – or hearing – that Mac and Me clip again.

Meanwhile, the never-ageing Rudd was named as the People’s Sexiest Man Alive at the end of last year, and he reacted with typical modesty – but showbiz pal (and former winner) Ryan Reynolds has some hilarious advice for him on living with the title.

The joke will run and runConan Obrien/Orion

Talking to the Today Show, the Deadpool star, who is known for his comedic takes, jested that “this opportunity will be wasted on him, like so many before him.”

“Don’t blow this, Rudd,” he jokingly warned the star. “He’s going to play it shy,” Reynolds went on to explain. “He’s going to play it bashful, humble. If I know what I knew now, I wouldn’t. You got to seize the opportunity.”

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