The crazy rhubarb lady has become a viral hit after footage surfaced of the foul-mouthed woman stealing (or gathering) some rhubarb that had grown into an alley, and now late night comedy is looking to cash in off her popularity.
The woman rose to fame thanks to a video that went viral last week. In it, the older woman is knelt over in some grass in an alley picking rhubarb. Behind the camera, a woman inquires why she is stealing the plants, but the rhubarb lady answers in a foul-mouthed tirade claiming that the plants belonging to no one.
This week Conan O’Brien took his own spin on the rhubarb lady. On Monday’s show he mentioned the video, saying that the woman has been a menace on the Warner Bros. lot for years.
Conan then cut to a video showing the rhubarb lady (played by Andy Richter , who nailed the woman’s Anne Ramsey-esque voice) stealing Conan’s own rhubarb. He argues with the woman for a bit while she continues to yell at him and berate him.
The rhubarby lady video seems to be getting a lot of mileage, partially because of her colorful use of swear words in the video. While arguing with the woman accusing her of stealing, the lady pulls out the lines “you Pinnochio f***ing nose”, and asks angrily, “what are you, a f***ing lezzie?”
As with many viral videos that become popular without the consent of the star, the rhubarb lady video has attracted a bit of controversy. There are some who say the rhubarb lady appears to be suffering some form of mental illness or dementia.
And as Andy Richter points out at the end of the Conan O’Brien clip, the rhubarb lady did seem to make a valid argument. The rhubarb she was taking was clearly on public property and the owner of the nearby yard didn’t really have a claim to it.