I cannot over-emphasize the big difference between “telling’ a Best Man joke and “delivering” a Best Man joke. Telling the joke involves little more than reciting the lines of the joke whereas delivering the joke involves a little more animation and showmanship. Now don’t let those two words scare you because for a little more effort, your joke and more importantly your Best Man speech, will be remembered with a whole lot more fondness if you successfully deliver a few jokes rather than just recite them.
It is very simple to do, for example, if you are telling a joke about the Groom’s school days, you can reach into your pocket and unveil a tattered brown envelope which you can announce to the audience that it is an actual school-report belonging to the Groom and then say something like “I can hardly make out the grainy writing but I think it says since your last report you have hit rock bottom and started to dig.”
Another simple way to liven-up your speech is to say something like, “on the way to the wedding today we passed by the restaurant where John(Groom) brought Sarah (Bride) on their first date and as a memento myself and The Groomsmen went in to sample the food ourselves, (now pick up a fast food bag from under your table) I just hope John now that you are a married man you will be a little more extravagant when bringing the lovely Sarah out to dinner.”
Those examples add variety and, in the case of the School Report joke, a prop for your Best Man speech. However every Best Man speech must have a joke that you can recite with ease and deliver looking directly into the faces of the wedding guests.
For effect, if you are standing, talking with a roving microphone, take a little stroll along the top table as you deliver it, just ensure that you maintain eye-contact with the guests as you deliver it. This joke should be your main joke, the one that you believe will induce the best reaction, by the time you have had your short stroll and delivered the funny punch-line, you can rest confidently assured of a very warm reception from all the guests. By continuously looking at the guests whilst telling this joke you not only instill confidence in yourself, this confidence is mirrored in the interest of those listening and watching intently.
You have to use every opportunity possible to bring laughter to your speech and, for just a little more effort, you can help ensure that the Bride and Groom aren’t the only ones celebrating on the wedding day.