" In some respect, he may have cultivated from Johnny Carson the use of silent looks in response to his guests' innocent statements to maximize the potential for comedic interpretation or double entendre. A more dramatic example of this comedic use of non-verbal cues would be Mr.

Letterman's use of gestures such as slapping his palms down on his desk while pushing himself back from his desk, or mimicking wiping his brow with his hand, or even with a cue card. Mr. Letterman also uses props to maximize the comedic effect of spoken words, such as when he tosses a card behind him to the coordinated sound effect of breaking glass.

Mr. Letterman also employs exaggerated facial expressions denoting either surprise or shock by widening his eyes in combination with a wide-mouth gape. Other times, he whistles to underscore his response to surprising or shocking revelations, or he mimics an extreme grimace to emphasize his discomfort with a topic, whether genuine or feigned for its comedic effect. In the most dramatic examples, Mr. Letterman has even proceeded to walk off the stage entirely,...

In particular, Mr. Marr relies on facial expressions suggesting sarcasm, including pursed-mouth frowns in conjunction with looking around as though soliciting support from like-minded audience members.
Mr. Marr also uses his eyes to convey his disagreement, by rolling them in the classic manner meant to suggest the idiocy of his opponent's position. Other times, he simply looks away from them and makes direct eye contact with the camera or with panelists known to mirror his own position more closely than the speaker with whom he disagrees.

Finally, Mr. Marr also uses the pregnant pause, specifically delaying his own verbal response and exaggerating the effect by purposely blinking his eyes as though to convey his own confusion with a nonsensical point-of-view with which he disagrees.