John Mulaney‘s historic diagonal formation of men of different heights may have been a long time coming, but the guest who swooped in to save the feat from failure was a surprise to even him.
Mulaney revealed as much in behind-the-scenes footage captured prior to the episode’s big moment that he later shared to Instagram.
Jimmy Kimmel’s unannounced appearance on Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney this Wednesday night was a cleverly scripted moment to save the show’s goal of assembling and lining up 24 men at every inch increment between five and seven feet—a feat a faux audience member first challenged Mulaney to do weeks ago. When the show’s previously booked six-foot man was revealed to be shorter than promised, Everybody’s Live was left without someone to represent that height–that much was planned ahead of time and known to Mulaney.
“I don’t know who the six-foot man is going to be, by the way,” Mulaney expains in the behind-the-scenes clip. “Fran Gillespie and other writers on the show have chosen someone to be our six-foot man. Apparently I know them, but I don’t know who it is.”
That man turned out to be fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who heroically filled the height formation’s gap where a 6’0” man was to have been. Mulaney, who stands at a close six-feet-and-one-half-inch, later took his place beside Kimmel in the final formation.
“I made sure it wasn’t my dad,” Mulaney said of the surprise walk-on guest. “I thought that would be too emotional of a surprise.” (The fact that Mulaney’s dad now has a cordial relationship with Mulaney’s other guest of the night, David Letterman, would have likely only added to that emotion.)
“Also, my dad’s like 5’8,” Mulaney added. Watch the clip below:
— LateNighter (@latenightercom) April 18, 2025
I had a feeling we would see Jimmy somewhere on that show. He loves Dave.