How to Write a Funny Speech . . . for a Wedding, Bar Mitzvah, Graduation & Every Other Event You Didn't Want to Go to in the First Place

by Leifer, Carol; Mitchell, Rick; Burnett, Carol

• ISBN13: 9781797232232
• ISBN10: 1797232231
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781797234953
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2025-03-11
• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• More Book Details

Summary

Learn how to write and give a flawlessly funny speech for any occasion with Emmy-winning comedy writers Carol Leifer and Rick Mitchell. With a foreword by Carol Burnett.
 

Giving a speech about someone is hard. Giving a funny speech that people are actually going to pay attention to is even harder. In How to Write a Funny Speech for a Wedding, Bar Mitzvah, Graduation & Every Other Event You Didn’t Want to Go to in the First Place, Leifer and Mitchell will teach you how to write the perfect speech so you can look awesome, make some people laugh, and get it over with.

Quick and easy to use, this book is broken into short chapters full of priceless tips and advice. Leifer and Mitchell will walk you through how to:

• Properly write, phrase, and deliver your speech so you not only flatter your subject but also keep the rest of the audience interested (and maybe you’ll even get a standing ovation, but we can’t guarantee that—that would be cool, though, right?).
• Nail down how to get started so people actually pay attention to you (in a good way).
• Figure out how to deliver and perfect comedic nuances with a crash course in what you should and shouldn't say so you don't scare the compression socks off grandma.

Hear from these seasoned comedy writers as they dish out public speaking advice that will make you look like you totally do this all the time. Take a closer look at a handful of successful real‑life speeches from real‑life people, annotated for a better understanding of why other people were better than you so you can be better than them. Enjoy bonus content like Carmela's retirement toast to Tony Soprano and Homer Simpson’s speech at Bart’s graduation. And if, in the end, you still have no idea what to say about your niece at her Bat Mitzvah, there’s a handy fill-in speech template at the back so you can spend more time figuring out what you’re going to wear.
 
Happy writing!

EXPERT AUTHORS: As a successful comedy writer, Carol Leifer has been Emmy‑nominated for her writing on such classics as Seinfeld, The Larry Sanders Show, Saturday Night Live, and the Oscars, and won a Writer’s Guild Award for her work on Modern Family, among many other accolades. She is a writer/co‑executive producer for the Emmy‑winning HBO show Hacks and a writer/consulting producer for HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. Rick Mitchell has written for TMZ and had a six‑season stint writing for The Ellen DeGeneres Show, winning him five Daytime Emmys. Delivering speeches at countless organization benefits, weddings, and more, the pair are seasoned speech-givers ready to help you successfully write and deliver your own.

EASY TO USE: This practical book on writing and delivering a funny speech is divided into short, easy-to-read sections with plenty of tips, advice, and templates, making the task much less daunting for anyone and everyone.    

HANDY PUBLIC SPEAKING REFERENCE BOOK: A timeless aid for writing and delivering a speech at any point in life, How to Write a Funny Speech ... is a useful book to give, receive, and keep.

Perfect for:

• Anybody who needs to write a speech celebrating a friend, family member, or couple     
• Best men and maids/matrons of honor for weddings or vow renewals 
• Family and friends of graduates, retirees, or honorees
• Bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah celebrants

Author Biography

Carol Leifer has been Emmy‑nominated four times for her writing on such classic television shows as Seinfeld, The Larry Sanders Show, Saturday Night Live, and the Oscars. She is currently a writer/co‑executive producer for the Emmy‑winning HBO series Hacks and a writer/consulting producer for HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. She appears in Showtime’s More Funny Women of a Certain Age stand-up comedy special and was a writer for the NBC special “Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter & Love,” which earned her an Emmy nomination. Among her many honors is the prestigious Writer’s Guild Award for her writing on Modern Family. Starring in five of her own comedy specials that aired on HBO, Showtime, and Comedy Central, Carol also holds the record (an unbelievable twenty-five times) for the most appearances on Late Show with David Letterman. She still finds time to perform at prominent comedy clubs, theaters, and universities, doing stand‑up comedy solo or appearing alongside such celebrities as Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Maher, and Jay Leno. Carol is also a popular speaker on the corporate circuit, delivering speeches for more than seventy-five organizations. 

Rick Mitchell is a writer and comedian living in Los Angeles, CA. In 2002, he received his Bachelor of Arts in Film and Media Studies from UC Davis. In 2005, Rick graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting. In 2008, Rick joined the show TMZ as a writer/producer. He sometimes gets recognized as the guy in the back who yelled out jokes, though not so much anymore because he left the show in 2015, and the public forgets about you as soon as you leave television. In 2016, Rick was hired as a writer for The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In his six seasons there, he won five Daytime Emmys. Over the years, Rick has given eight wedding speeches, so clearly, if people keep asking him to speak on one of the most important days of their lives, he must be pretty okay at it.