How many times have you tried to make a couple of friends laugh only to find out that no one seems to be laughing. It is a pretty common incident but the feeling is even worse when it happens at a wedding reception and you are left to soak in the embarrassment of telling a terrible joke. Some of such incidents are listed below.
1. The Best Man adopts an analogy using sports cars as the groom's hobby, comparing the bride and the groom's ex long term girlfriend where the bride is a better make with lesser mileage and fewer drivers. After the Best Man finishes his speech, he bumps into the ex's brother who turns out to be a guest at the reception and also the bride's new boss.
2. The father of the bride complains of his son-in-law being a source of trouble to his farm because he is a 'hippy, inner-city, communist terrorist' and wraps up his toast by telling the guests that they could as well enjoy themselves as the "bloody wedding" has made him bankrupt.
3. The Best Man thrills the guests with a couple of mother-in-law jokes and in conclusion uses a line he got from the internet and says "Happy is he that marries the daughter of a dead mother". Apparently, the bride's mother was just diagnosed as having cancer.
4. The best man tries to make a joke off the bride's recent weight gain stating that the short engagement was as a result of an unplanned pregnancy. The bride heads for the door in anger only to stumble and floor because her dress snagged on the groom's chair. Fortunately, she was not pregnant, just overweight.
Terrible wedding jokes or other such scenarios for that matter, and the resultant catastrophies are a result of the speaker's misunderstanding of his job and the audience. It is therefore important as an Emcee or speaker at any event to consider the following tips when looking for materials.
Stay away from subjects that divide people. This could be religion, sex, or even politics. Universal topics that appeal to everybody across board should be embraced.
The tone of the joke should also be properly tailored to match the audience and the event. Remember, different strokes for different folks.
Makes sure your jibes and personal attacks are not too personal to get anyone angry regardless of how funny you might want to be.
