Host a late-night show long enough and you're going to have at least one memorable, cringe-worthy guest that lives on in infamy – and in highlight reels.

For Conan O'Brien, that guest was director Abel Ferrara, who appeared during his era of NBC's "Late Night" in 1996. He shared the pick during his appearance on the latest episode of actor Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast.

He said that Abel, whose directing credits include 1992's "Bad Lieutenant" and 1990's "King of New York" earned that distinction by trying to run out of 30 Rockefeller Plaza before he was scheduled to go onstage.

"He was this wild eccentric," O'Brien recalled. "And he fled during the show before his segment. He ran away, got on the elevator and was out on the street running away and (producer Frank Smiley) gave chase."

The producer managed to catch Ferrera and drag him back upstairs.

"He came on camera against his will, came out and (I think) started yelling at me" O'Brien continued.

"Was Ferrera intoxicated?" Shepard wondered.

"I'm sure. If not, he should have been," O'Brien cracked, who added that the ordeal, was entertaining, though not altogether pleasant.

"It was like if you ate 15 cloves of garlic, you wouldn't say that was a great experience but you'd remember it."

It was, to use his term for a televised trainwreck, "compellevision."

O'Brien also blamed brooding actors James Dean and Marlon Brando for the Abel Ferreras, Crispin Glovers and Joaquin Phoenixes of the entertainment world.

"It's the tail wagging the dog," he explained, "If I'm difficult, I must be a genius."

He then offered advice to future eccentrics and would-be artists: "No! Be a genius first, and then if the side effect is you're difficult, we'll accept it. Don't be difficult in the hopes that maybe you're a genius."