During a recent episode of Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, O’Brien joked that when he’s taking his last breath, he hopes Rudd will be there to pull their legendary Mac and Me prank one final time.
For fans, this joke goes way back.
The prank first began in 2004 when Rudd appeared on Late Night With Conan O’Brien to promote the finale of Friends. Instead of showing a clip from the show, Rudd surprised everyone by playing a random scene from the 1988 movie Mac and Me — the now-infamous moment where a kid in a wheelchair rolls off a cliff.
Since then, Rudd has repeated the exact same joke over and over again for nearly two decades, never changing the clip. No matter what project he’s promoting, audiences always get Mac and Me.
This week, Rudd brought the prank back once again. He was supposed to share a clip from his upcoming movie Anaconda, but instead, he stayed true to tradition and played the same old Mac and Me scene.
While teasing Rudd for his lack of creativity, Conan O’Brien then painted a surprisingly heartfelt picture. He imagined being in a hospital near the end of his life, with Rudd visiting him and pretending to show him a medical scan with good news.
According to O’Brien, the scan would flicker — and then suddenly turn into the Mac and Me clip.
“That’s going to make me really happy,” O’Brien said, joking that he would then peacefully pass away.
Rudd said he was genuinely touched by the idea and happy to be part of O’Brien’s imaginary final moment. O’Brien even suggested involving a fake doctor in the prank, just to take it to the next level.
The exchange was classic Conan and Paul: absurd, emotional, and deeply funny. It also showed why their long-running joke has become one of the most beloved bits in late-night comedy history — proof that sometimes, never changing the joke is exactly what makes it great.
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