​The worse way to generate humour on stage is to​ use one-liners from a book​ and have jokes ready to tell​.
​
Most of the ‘gags’ in these books are crass, low-brow and derogatory.

Especially the books about marriage.

Getting married is something to be honoured, not degraded by a smart-ass speaker or emcee going for cheap laughs. 

The sarcasm displayed in the books (or for free online) mocks the bride and groom’s courageous decision to publicly commit to each other. 

Our advice is:

• never make a joke at the bride or groom’s expense
• never go for a chuckle by reinforcing out-dated gender stereotypes that degrade women.

Silly stupid immature lines like “Getting married is the most expensive way a man can get his laundry done for free” are offensive and archaic.

It will anger every woman and the majority of men in the audience. 

You will come across as sexist and completely out of touch and out of date; which is exactly the opposite of what you want. 

The most dangerous way to approach this to have a ‘gag bag’ ready and then plan to tell them - no matter what is happening at the time. 

A wisecrack that reads funny but is inappropriate so no-one laughs or raises a smile, can kill your career stone dead.

To keep your performance alive with spark and spontaneity, look for the funny things happening before your eyes. 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing you haven't been hired as the stand-up comedian? 

​So don't feel any pressure to be hilarious. There’s no need to turn up with a “bag full of gags.”

When it comes to being funny, your goal is to simply create what we call "A Miles of Smiles" rather than a wedding reception full of hysterical belly laughs. 

You’re the Event Host MC. In charge of the magnificent Reception Rituals. 

A happy person who creates joy and spreads goodwill with their elegant manner and sophisticated demeanour. 

But people will expect you to have a sense of humour nonetheless; and it's not as hard as you may think.

For example, the overdramatised funky entrance from the bridal party who have never danced in public before. 

Or the excitement of the little children who’ve got no idea what a wedding is all about - but love the occasion, as its great chance to slide across the dance floor in the shiny new expensive suit that mum and dad just bought for them; especially for this grand occasion. 

The passion of the group dancing together where the out-of-tune sing-a-longs are reminiscent of innocent days gone by. 

Or the jumping competition between the alpha males to catch the tiny garter. And so on. It's everywhere you look. 

When I wanted to learn How To MC, there was zero information available. Literally, nothing at all. This was pre-internet. I checked the libraries; everywhere. Y'see I'd been suddenly asked to MC a charity function and the event was in 4 days time.

It seemed that making Introductions on stage was this 'black ninja art' known only to a few lucky performers. I did eventually get a hold of a guy called Rick Chisholm and he set me straight.

I managed to get through the charity event - and I wanted more MC work so I keep researching. But I discovered that there was a serious ID problem caused by the confusing assortment of names and titles used to describe what an MC does.

There's the specific titles Corporate MC and Wedding MC. Most people seem to understand these two titles - but there’s a lot of folks who still look at me strange when I say "I MC weddings".

In the USA, they have spelled out the letters MC to say emcee. That's clever. I like this single word and use it often. But unfortunately this same term is confused with rough tough street rappers. 

Europe, UK, and Australia use the term Compere. Particularly with live outdoor events and TV shows. And the word Anchor is used in India.

So we have Corporate MC, Wedding MC, Emcee, Compere and Anchor - all pretty much describing the same job!

But the biggest problem is the old-fashioned title "Master of Ceremonies" that's still used in some parts of the world. It’s lame because its sounds so medieval. Because it is medieval. The term Master of Ceremony dates way back to the Roman Catholic Church in the 1600s. 

This title's use-by date has expired. It is so far out of touch that it has no relationship to what we do at all, and is more suited to marriage celebrants - as they really are the official masters of the ceremony.