Oh yes, sounded like the audience was riding a roller coaster, as he said. I like the fact that he was pretty much roasting all the way, in the presence of the "whip cream" of the country. The roller coaster sounds of "ooh.." instead of laughters was quite liberating (thinking of who his audience were) but at the same time slightly awkward. As I read from one of the comments on youtube, I agree that it's quite surprising that McHale gets to do this compared to Steven Colbert as Colbert is a comedian who so obviously is focusing his comedy (satire) on politics, while McHale's ironic comedy is more focused on reality shows and celebrity gossips. I don't think McHale did a poor job but it was just a bit strange to see him in that environment and company, and maybe that's a factor that made some people not really find his jokes fitting? I think the last couple of minutes were the best, they were ironic, utterly straight forward in an uncomfortable way - which made it provokingly great.