Paul Rudd Flawlessly Revives 'Mac & Me' Joke On Conan Podcast

For decades, the best running gag on television has been Paul Rudd pranking Conan O'Brien with the same bizarre clip from the 1988 film Mac and Me.

The joke goes like this: Rudd would book an appearance on Conan's erstwhile talk show to discuss a project he was working on, such as a film he was about to appear in. After telling an anecdote about the project, Conan would throw to a clip, only the clip would always be a chaotic scene from Mac and Me involving a wheelchair, a perilous drop and a hideous alien creature.

After Conan went off the air last year, it seemed the great Mac and Me prank would go along with it. Rudd even appeared on one of the final episodes to seemingly retire the gag. Evidently, this was not the case, as somehow Rudd pulled it off on Conan's podcast, Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend.

This was seen as masterful execution on Rudd's part by many. Rudd sets up the gag with a believable anecdote that he's working on an Audible project with frequent collaborators Ken Marino and Adam Scott. There are some subtle clues in his setup to where it's all going, such as one of the key scenarios taking place in a "Kraft" store. When Conan throws to a clip, he is genuinely flabbergasted that Rudd pulled it off again. Conan insists that the gag shouldn't work because podcasting is an audio medium, and Rudd sheepishly admits he wanted to try it out.

Clearly and unfortunately for Conan, the gag worked despite the medium, as the clip generated tons of praise for Rudd on social media.

Paul Rudd went on Conan’s podcast and spent a good amount of time plugging an Audible series he created. It was five minutes into it that he set up an audio clip and I realized what he was doing…

— Andrew Woods (@JimJarmuschHair) March 29, 2022

Conan O’Brien after every Paul Rudd interview: https://t.co/L4GllSpTvR pic.twitter.com/Ux2KyBIHgp

— For The Win (@ForTheWin) March 30, 2022

Huh, that Paul Rudd Mac and Me bit is actually as funny as advertised. Getting into the weeds about a scripted limited series for Audible was an incredible setup.

— Kaleb Horton (@kalebhorton) March 30, 2022

The fact that Conan’s talk show is over but Paul Rudd’s Mac and Me bit continues brings me an indescribable amount of joy. https://t.co/EzjhFe8118

— Matt Singer (@mattsinger) March 29, 2022

Here's to many more successful executions of the Mac and Me gag, arguably the greatest bit going right now.