For years one thing has been guaranteed whenever Sam Rockwell visits Jimmy Fallon. The band kicks in and the actor bursts through the curtain dancing like nobody is watching. So viewers were a little worried on Monday night, Nov. 2, when he walked out slowly with a hand on his back.

Rockwell eased into the guest chair looking tired and a bit glum. Fallon asked if his old friend was doing OK. Rockwell waved it off and explained that a nagging case of sciatica had been bothering him lately.

Fallon was not buying it. He reminded the crowd that his guest has danced onto the stage every single time he has been introduced since 2009. He even pulled up old photos of past entrances to prove it.

Take two

The audience started cheering for an encore. Rockwell acted unsure that anyone really wanted to see it. Fallon insisted they did and announced he would simply introduce him all over again.

So the actor slipped backstage while The Roots played him in for round two. This time he came out wearing sparkly jeweled sunglasses and swinging a pair of nunchucks made from rubber chickens. The bad back had vanished. He spun, kicked and leaped around the stage while the crowd went wild.

When he finally dropped into his seat Fallon was on his feet cheering. Rockwell fanned himself and joked that he was feeling a little wobbly. Nobody watching would have guessed it.

A tradition that keeps going

The running bit started long before Rockwell won his Oscar for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Winning Hollywood's biggest prize did not slow him down one bit. He keeps finding new ways to top himself and this time the twist was pretending he could not do it at all.

Rockwell was on the show to talk about his new project Wild Horse Nine. Fans online said the fake out was one of the best entrances he has ever pulled off. Many said they will never trust that limp again.