--- title: Follow This PIng Pong Ball on Its Journey With a Big Payoff description: The bar for Rube Goldberg machines and beer pong has been raised thanks to this viral bar-raising stunt video. canonical: https://time.com/5758038/rube-goldberg-video/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-01-02T21:28:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:01:10.329Z og:title: Follow This Ping Pong Ball on Its Journey With a Big Payoff og:description: The bar for Rube Goldberg machines and beer pong has been raised og:url: https://time.com/5758038/rube-goldberg-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Follow This Ping Pong Ball on Its Journey With a Big Payoff twitter:description: The bar for Rube Goldberg machines and beer pong has been raised twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Sit Back and Relax As You Follow This Ping Pong Ball on a Bar-Raising Journey With a Big Payoff by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jan 2, 2020 9:28 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jan 2, 2020 9:28 PM UTC The classic 1985 comedy [_Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure_](https://time.com/3972523/pee-wees-big-adventure-new-photos/) not only cemented the fact that The Alamo doesn’t have a basement into the minds of its audience, but it also taught people the joy and wonder of Rube Goldberg machines. The film starts with [Pee-Wee Herman](https://time.com/4263336/pee-wees-big-holiday-paul-reubens/) waking up, getting dressed, saying good morning to his dog, and beginning his breakfast routine by lighting a candle. That simple act kick starts a complicated breakfast-making machine that cracks eggs, flips pancakes, cooks bacon, and results in a smiley face breakfast that is undoubtedly the perfect way to start any day. While Pee-Wee’s Rube Goldberg machine set the bar extremely high, a new version shared online involving a [ping pong ball](https://time.com/3967684/watch-golf-pong-shot/)’s journey through a house comes pretty close to meeting that standard. In a video [shared](https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/ej1kzc/just%5Fhow/) on Reddit by user taylor2121, a ping-pong ball is putted uphill on an indoor green towards a hole. While the shot misses, the ball rolls back down the slope and sets out on a long, impressive journey. The ball bounces off two bumpers and rolls down a flight of stairs, following a path laid out for it across a ladder, three stools, a pair of Crocs, jumping across upturned pots, and finally heading down a second flight of stairs. The ball continues down, traveling a track to knock over dominoes, across a ping pong table, and rolling towards its destiny. No spoilers, but if you’re building a Rube Goldberg machine—or playing a [game of beer pong,](http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/04/partying-pays-off-in-the-world-series-of-beer-pong/) just know the bar has been raised. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5758038/rube-goldberg-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5758038/rube-goldberg-video/"},"headline":"Sit Back and Relax As You Follow This Ping Pong Ball on a Bar-Raising Journey With a Big Payoff","datePublished":"2020-01-02T21:28:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:01:10.329Z","description":"The bar for Rube Goldberg machines and beer pong has been raised","url":"https://time.com/5758038/rube-goldberg-video/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","clickmonsters"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5758038/rube-goldberg-video/","name":"Sit Back and Relax As You Follow This Ping Pong Ball on a Bar-Raising Journey With a Big Payoff"}}]}] ```