Paul Rudd’s Mac And Me Prank On Conan: The Funniest Yet?!

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It’s never been more thrilling to be a Conan O’Brien fan than it is right now. From his successful hosting of the Oscars, to the comeback of his Emmy-winning travel docuseries “Conan O’Brien Must Go” (now available on Max), to receiving this year’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, Conan is shining brighter than ever. The event honoring him (streamable with a Netflix subscription) featured some classic moments from his time hosting “Late Night” and beyond, including a hilarious sketch courtesy of Paul Rudd.

Long-standing fans of O’Brien’s career are well aware that when Rudd is in the comedian’s company, they can expect a scene from the movie “Mac and Me” to surface. Remarkably, for over two decades, the star of A24 film “Friendship” has played this prank on the comedian. In my opinion, its appearance at the Mark Twain Prize ceremony was the funniest instance of it so far. To elaborate, let me share some background on this famous recurring joke.

The History Of Paul Rudd’s Mac And Me Prank On Conan O’Brien

Everything kicked off in 2004 when Rudd made an appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien to publicize the final episode of Friends. He boasted about having a sneak peek from the much-anticipated finale, but instead, he showed a clip from the 1988 movie Mac and Me. In this scene, Eric (played by Jade Calegory), a character who used a wheelchair, accidentally rolls down a hill and falls into a river quarry. It is here that he is discovered by the title alien character he later becomes friends with.

Relive the history-making moment (or witness it for the first time) below:

Rudd often surprised O’Brien with clips from a poorly received E.T. copycat movie, which prompted him to think of increasingly clever ways to deceive the host. For instance, during an episode on Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, the actor spent several minutes discussing a fictitious scripted podcast as a ruse before playing a sound-only version of the clip. On some occasions, he even manipulated the clip to connect it with his upcoming project, such as when Ant-Man made an appearance at the end.

During the last week of Conan O’Brien’s talk show on TBS, Rudd unexpectedly appeared, hinting at showing a clip from his and Bill Hader’s abandoned Saturday Night Live sketch, but instead showed the Mac and Me bit. He further added that he had also pondered presenting an equally strange scene from 1999’s Baby Geniuses, and then introduced that clip as well… only to play the same clip again. I used to consider that the funniest version of the prank, but now I find this one even funnier.

How Rudd Managed To Surprise Conan With The Clip At The Mark Twain Prize Ceremony

At the 2025 Mark Twain Prize ceremony held at the Kennedy Center, Andy Richter, O’Brien’s previous partner, unveiled a revamped version of a classic Late Night skit on stage. In this skit, O’Brien would question still pictures of celebrities, with the live voice coming from Robert Smigel. On this occasion, the voices behind images of Bill Clinton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and James Mason belonged to Rudd. After speaking as James Mason, he revealed his identity, disclosing that an AI-generated clip featuring a deceased actor being interviewed by O’Brien was about to be shown.

Indeed, instead of something unexpected, we’re shown the well-known scene from the movie Mac and Me, followed by a pre-recorded message from Rudd. In this message, he admits that it’s becoming harder to surprise him with “that familiar clip.” He then offers a sincere congratulatory speech before replaying the scene again, seemingly from his personal home cinema.

It’s uncertain how Rudd will outdo that performance. Maybe, since some of us anticipated the Mac and Me clip could show up at the 2025 Oscars, he could try to astonish O’Brien when he comes back as host in 2026.

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2025-05-10 23:44