Funny best man speech ideas?

Don’t just recycle someone else’s jokes.

Well, this isn’t a speech….but my BIL put ‘HE” on the bottom of my husband’s left shoe, and ‘LP’ on the bottom of his right shoe….so that when we knelt down at the altar at church, it said ‘HELP’. Luckily, I have a wonderful sense of humor. I mean, he was able to have four children!

I agree with aidje. Don’t recycle ideas. If you want to be funny, you should find a funny story or quirk about the groom (or couple) and play off of that. My experience is that the best speeches are short, touching and funny. This isn’t the time for the bachelor party roast speech. This is the time to show the groom and couple how much they mean to you. Again, though, I would say, keep it SHORT. No one wants to hear you give a 10 minute monologue, trust me.

From my experience of watching speeches, (I have never given one myself), the best speeches reveal to the crowd something that only you know about him and/or her. Tell the party a story about what you did with this couple/person that will likely embarrass them (only a little). Everyone will have a good laugh.

Be sure to start with a tapping of the champagne flutes, followed by your story. End up (after the story) at a place where you can say something to the tune of “and at that point, I knew he/she/they would be all right.” Keep it short, funny, and always end up saying that they are right for each other unless they’re not. then just be polite about it!. You can’t go wrong for this formula.

Plan ahead; rehearse in front of a severe critic (and take his advice to heart). Save your serious drinking for after the toast. Use notes and look up alot.

“My experience is that the best speeches are short, touching and funny. This isn’t the time for the bachelor party roast speech,” says the good Doc, and the doctor knows best.

I don’t think you want to make funny points at the expense of either groom or bride. It is their day.

Craft your speech after reframing it. This is not an opportunity for you to shine, but a chance to show the attendees the man that you know so well, and how much his happiness (and now hers—since she is his choice) matters to you.

@Marina. I respectfully disagree. Since everyone is expecting at least an attempt at humor, it puts a lot of pressure on the speech giver to deliver something memorable, but in a good way. Case in point. When my twin brother was getting married, I struggled initially to think of something funny. Then I thought to make something up. It turns out that he was marrying a woman who graduated from our very small high school (same graduating class even). However, in high school, she and he weren’t exactly in the same social circles, i.e., they weren’t exactly high school sweethearts. So, I crafted a story that touched on this remarkable “coincidence”, but then alluded to the fact that he had set up a shrine in his bedroom dedicated to her during high school (it was a fake story, but who cares, people laughed). I ended with a few heartfelt lines, a quick toast, and that was that. Two minutes, tops.

@shi, I only wanted to make the point that one has to be careful about humorous stories not to go so far you could hurt someone’s feelings or the speech would be memorable, but not in a good way. You have provided a great example of how far is far enough.

Shi; I forgot to ask. Are you and your brother identical twins?

If you’re not normally funny, don’t pretend at it. It will make everyone uncomfortable. Just be yourself and be honest and loving and everyone will sense that you mean all the wonderful things you are saying. If you are funny ordinarily, then just sit with it a while. Something good will come up.

“Best man? The BETTER man!”

Steve Buscemi, The Wedding Singer.

I totally agree about NOT having too much to drink before giving the speech. I, and many other very uncomfortable wedding guests, had to watch someone give a long, drawn out, ridiculously stupid speech while trying to keep his balance. It was neither funny, nor touching. But it certainly was memorable! (no, it wasn’t my BIL….).