Best Man is a
weird title. It really should be Best Friend or Best Speaker. The
label “Best Man” is really an incredibly high expectation to put
on someone's shoulders. Is he the Best Man in this city? In this
state? On Earth? And by what criteria are we measuring “Best”?
Does that equal the kindest, smartest, best looking, highest
achieving and most physically fit? That sounds more like a movie star
or celebrity NFL quarterback than anybody who's you r friend and
actual wedding Best Man. But that's the title we use and while it's
overblown, it does reflect the importance and honor of being chosen
for that position.
Besides offering
support and aid to the groom on and around the wedding day, the Best
Man customarily delivers a speech. Best Man speeches vary, but
ideally it should be sharp and powerful. His speech should be
intimately personal- within the bounds of acceptability of the crowd-
and it should be very funny. Humor is one of the most effective
speaking tools in offsetting the potentially over-dramatic and
imbalanced tone of a deadly serious speech. Sure, some earnest and
poignant passages are always good in a Best Man wedding speech, but
the most effective and fun way to honor the groom on his wedding day
is to tastefully “roast” him with some punchlines based on the
actualities of his life, personality, likes and dislikes, strengths
and weaknesses.
Just ask anyone
who's been at a wedding with an hilarious speech, as opposed to a
dull speech full of platitudes and surface level generalizations
about the person. A Best Man may not be the Best Man on Earth, but
with the right funny personalized speech he can be the Funniest, Most
Entertaining Man at the wedding. And that's still saying a lot!
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