The results are hit and miss, and sometimes it’s a long while between hits. But when Mr. Jefferies and his crew get it right, there’s an explosive quality to the humor that you don’t always get with Mr. Oliver’s elaborate windups or Mr. Colbert and Mr. Meyers’s more surgical jabs.
In both the monologue and in the third-segment "long analysis" piece, Jefferies is still puzzling with that "What can I do that's me and also what viewers expect/want?" question. Jefferies isn't a natural when it comes to headline reading.