Conan O'Brien goes viral for unhinged 'Hot Ones' appearance

Conan O'Brien just proved his skills as a comedian and an endurance wings eater.

The Emmy award-winning talk show host appeared on the April 11 episode of "Hot Ones," and the 27-minute episode garnered appreciation from fans, new and longtime alike.

"Did it seriously take a Hot Ones episode for people to realize the absolute (and literally) insane comic genius of Conan O’Brien?" one person posted on X.

"Love that Hot Ones is teaching a new online generation that Conan O’Brien is in fact the most inherently funny person to ever live," another wrote.

On the YouTube show, celebrities are challenged to answer questions while eating extremely spicy wings. O'Brien was game, bravely chowing down despite saying he was "terrible" with hot foot at the beginning of the episode.

He went all out with the hot sauce, which wounded up on his hands, face and shirt. "Mistake," he said, slathering sauce on his hands and face. "I like to announce my mistakes up front."

As the episode went on and intensity built, O'Brien also had an on-set (and fake) doctor check his vitals.

After eating one wing passionately, he shouted, "Come on, man, are we doing this or not? What's the point or being alive if we can't do this?"

"I don't have a lot of regrets in my career. Pouring this onto the wing and then licking it off, in retrospect, I bet you it's good footage, but I'm starting to feel some sensations," he said at another point.

The end went viral, too. With the milk dripping down his face, he spoke about his new travel show and made jokes.

"I have a show. It's on Max. They used to call it HBO but people found that too popular," he screamed. "So now it's Max, because that really rolls off the tongue."

"And it's a funny show. Four episodes are going to drop of me going all over the world. You can check it out April 18," he says. "That's right. My intestines have turned into acid and I can still remember the plot."

As for why O'Brien got so into this extreme endurance test? He said it himself. "You can't stop me from being who I am," he said. "I got to go for it. Whatever I do I have to go 110%."

O'Brien's "Hot Ones" appearance tops the list of episodes for many.

"Unfortunately Hot Ones has to end now following Conan O’Brien perfecting the format on today’s episode," one X user said.

During a talk at the Paley Center for Media posted to YouTube April 12, O'Brien reflected on his "Hot Ones" appearance.

"I had a complete breakdown. Physically, emotionally, spiritually," he said, deadpan.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com