Here’s something that should take some pressure off: you don’t need to be funny to be a great MC. A warm, organised MC with no jokes at all will run a better night than a hilarious one who’s lost track of the run sheet. But a little humour, done well, relaxes a room faster than anything else you can do.
Skip the internet one-liners
Search for wedding MC jokes and you’ll find lists of lines like “please welcome the couple who’ve decided to spend the rest of their lives annoying each other”. They’re tired, half the room has heard them, and the marriage-is-a-prison flavour tends to fall flat at a wedding.
The funniest material at a wedding is specific. A generic joke could be told at any wedding, and the room can tell. A specific line could only have been written for this couple on this day, and that’s what gets the real laugh.
Where good material comes from
The couple. How they met, the proposal, the thing their friends always rib them about, the way they argue about how to stack the dishwasher. Ask each of them separately how they met, because the two versions are rarely the same and the differences are usually the funny part.
The day itself. The heat that had everyone fanning themselves with the order of service, the ring bearer’s dramatic exit, the groomsman whose hired suit is clearly a size too small. Everyone in the room saw it, so it lands. Keep a pen in your pocket.
The room. Light, kind observations about what’s in front of everyone: the size of the bridal party, the theme, the fact that half the guests flew in from Perth this morning.
Yourself. Gentle self-deprecation is the safest humour there is, because the only person it can offend is you.
How a joke works
Most jokes have a setup and a punchline, and the laugh lives in the gap between them. Keep the setup short, and put the funny bit at the very end of the sentence. Compare these:
Tom’s dating profile apparently said he loved cooking, long walks and the great outdoors. I’ve been to Tom’s place. He’s got a barbecue he’s never lit and an exercise bike he hangs his shirts on, so I think we can safely say the profile was aspirational.
Tom’s dating profile said he loved cooking and the outdoors. And to be fair to Tom, he does own a barbecue.
The second one is shorter, and the last thing the room hears is the joke. The first gives it away halfway through and then keeps explaining.
The rule of three helps too. Two normal things, then one that isn’t: “Sarah has been there for Jess through everything: school, uni, and the time Jess tried to cut her own fringe.”
The Wedding MC Handbook has the rest: word-for-word scripts for every part of the night, three full run sheets, every template, and seventeen chapters on doing it well, from someone who has done it hundreds of times.
Get the book for A$39One inside joke, at most
Inside jokes are the most common mistake friend MCs make. A few people at one table will laugh, and everyone else will sit there feeling left out. You’re not at the pub with your mates. You’re in a room with every generation and background the couple knows. If you really can’t resist, allow yourself one for the whole night, and set it up properly so the rest of the room is in on it.
What never to joke about
- Exes, anyone’s, ever
- Anything sexual you wouldn’t say in front of the couple’s nan, because she’s at table two
- What the wedding cost, or anyone’s money
- Anybody’s weight, looks or body
- Religion, politics, or anyone’s culture or background
- Divorce, or how long the marriage will last
- Pregnancy, unless it’s announced and the couple are happy to joke about it
- Anything on the couple’s no-go list
If you’re not sure whether a line is OK, it probably isn’t, so cut it. A missed laugh is forgotten within a minute, but an offended grandparent will remember the line for years.
When a joke dies
Every MC gets silence on a line at some point. Acknowledge it lightly and move straight on, and the room will forgive you instantly. A few recovery lines that work:
- “That one went better in the car on the way here.”
- “Mum laughed when I practised that one.”
- “Don’t worry, the speakers are much funnier than me.”
- “Right. Not a pun crowd. Good to know early.”
Then get on with the night. Don’t chase the room with a bigger joke, and don’t let one quiet moment shake you.
Get the free starter kit. The welcome script word for word, a sample run sheet and the speaker briefing, by email.