one single Mitchell & Webb punchline explained (possibly overanalysed)

[Spiny Norman]

Mitchell and Webb's "Best Man Speech" sketch.

This post is ONLY about the final line! (Trying, by the way, to avoid immediate spoilers.)

At first this seems a bit of a lazy ending, doesn't it. Character missing the point in a sarcastic way. Slightly below average.

Or is it? Around five years later, I thought: Wait a minute. The groom is uncritical towards the bride, so... he's under the same spell about the speech and that's why he thinks it was great.

So, there you have it ladies and gentlemen. The ending of that sketch was slightly more appropriate than it might seem at first.

[gilbertharding]

Hmmm... Possibly. I thought it was more like a play on the trope that best man speeches are supposed to be kind of near the knuckle, and this one was.

[Spiny Norman]

Hmmm... Possibly. I thought it was more like a play on the trope that best man speeches are supposed to be kind of near the knuckle, and this one was.

But my explanation makes it slightly more witty.

[pigamus]

I like the Mount Olympus line, but it's a weak ending.

[Spudgun]

Actually, I'm pretty certain that "Best Man" is a reference to Pete Best.

[JesusAndYourBush]

Pete Best wasn't even the best man in The Beatles.

[Johnny Yesno]

Hmmm... Possibly. I thought it was more like a play on the trope that best man speeches are supposed to be kind of near the knuckle, and this one was.

Yes, and that

Spoiler alert

for most of the sketch, you are supposed to think Mitchell is someone who doesn't understand that unfiltered honesty isn't always appropriate and that on occasions like this, hyperbole is acceptable and expected. The reveal being that the groom's 'most beautiful woman in the world' line turns out to be a feeder for Mitchell's speech.

[close]

[pigamus]

Yes, and that

Spoiler alert

for most of the sketch, you are supposed to think Mitchell is someone who doesn't understand that unfiltered honesty isn't always appropriate and that on occasions like this, hyperbole is acceptable and expected. The reveal being that the groom's 'most beautiful woman in the world' line turns out to be a feeder for Mitchell's speech.

[close]

Nah, he's just too polite to criticise it

[Spiny Norman]

Or, that is where my explanation comes in how this makes a bit more sense.

Yes, and that

Spoiler alert

for most of the sketch, you are supposed to think Mitchell is someone who doesn't understand that unfiltered honesty isn't always appropriate and that on occasions like this, hyperbole is acceptable and expected. The reveal being that the groom's 'most beautiful woman in the world' line turns out to be a feeder for Mitchell's speech.

[close]

That is the other explanation, isn't it. Personally I see too little other indications that the groom was pushing the best man's buttons to get this kind of speech. So I'm sticking with my own clarification of why this superficially weak last line makes more sense than it seems.

But in either case, it (either the feeder or the punchline) was probably too subtle.

[H-O-W-L]

Honestly always thought this was a clunker of a sketch all told.

[neveragain]

Looks like Webb's being sarcastic. I know that doesn't wow as a punchline but, with his wife crying and people booing the speech, he's not going to be under any spell.

[Darles Chickens]

Hmmm... Possibly. I thought it was more like a play on the trope that best man speeches are supposed to be kind of near the knuckle, and this one was.

I vote for this.

I enjoyed the David Mitchell rant, but it's not a good payoff, and the more you analyse it, the worse it seems.

[Captain Z]

They made five series of this, there must be dozens of sketches where they came up with a concept funny enough to fill up some time, but struggled to write a perfect pay-off. Even Cheesoid doesn't have a particularly great ending despite the laughs along the way.

[Noodle Lizard]

Yeah, I think it's really good overall, but even some of the best sketches failed to stick the landing. One of the more famous sketches (the Nazi "are we the baddies?" one) has a pretty weak ending too. They can do it well, though - the "now we know" sketch springs to mind as being well-rounded.

[Consignia]

[...] where they came up with a concept funny enough to fill up some time, but struggled to write a perfect pay-off.

I think you've described the majority of That Mitchell and Webb Sound/Look there. I like both, but they frequently struggle to end sketches as well the setup. I think the abrupt endings work a bit better on radio where they can deal with abrupt endings, but the camera has to linger on TV, which makes them harder to complete.

[Andy147]

John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme is also a bit prone to this (and of course he wrote some of the Mitchell & Webb sketches).

[Replies From View]

At the very end of the sketch, Webb's character is being sarcastic.  I hope that helps.

[idunnosomename]

Robert Webb isn't really getting married. He is only pretending to.

[pigamus]

At the very end of the sketch, Webb's character is being sarcastic.  I hope that helps.

Sorry but this is nonsense. Mitchell genuinely asking if it was alright is part of the joke, and so is Webb politely reassuring him. He's playing a lovely fella who thinks his wife is the most beautiful woman in the world, remember.

[Spiny Norman]

Sorry but this is nonsense. Mitchell genuinely asking if it was alright is part of the joke, and so is Webb politely reassuring him. He's playing a lovely fella who thinks his wife is the most beautiful woman in the world, remember.

That is the simplified version of what I've been trying to say ever since I started this thread. On his wedding day his wife is the most beautiful woman in the world; and in the same mindset, AKA by the same rosy standards, the speech was fantastic too.

I had hoped, perhaps optimistically, that someone might say, "oh hey yeah I never thought about it, but if you look at it like that, the last line makes perfect sense".

[Darles Chickens]

Sorry but this is nonsense. Mitchell genuinely asking if it was alright is part of the joke, and so is Webb politely reassuring him. He's playing a lovely fella who thinks his wife is the most beautiful woman in the world, remember.

They're two social misfits.  Mitchell has no regard for conventions and tact when he just starts speaking his mind.  The first part of the joke is that, when he finishes, he thinks that the rant was an acceptable best man's speech.  The second part of the joke is that Webb thinks that that's what a good best man's speech should sound like, regardless of the reactions all around him.

[Spiny Norman]

They're two social misfits.  Mitchell has no regard for conventions and tact when he just starts speaking his mind.  The first part of the joke is that, when he finishes, he thinks that the rant was an acceptable best man's speech.  The second part of the joke is that Webb thinks that that's what a good best man's speech should sound like, regardless of the reactions all around him.

Hang on, are you suggesting that the best man is taking things too literally?

[gotmilk]

The punchline is that after giving an absurdly inappropriate speech, Mitchell asks for confirmation it went alright as though what he said was totally normal. Webb's reaction continues this subversion. That's all there is to it.

[Spiny Norman]

The punchline is that after giving an absurdly inappropriate speech, Mitchell asks for confirmation it went alright as though what he said was totally normal. Webb's reaction continues this subversion. That's all there is to it.

I give up.

I still think that I'm right about that punchline; it's just that I give up on having a conversation about it, because no-one seems to be interested.

[kalowski]

I have to say "The Best of Mitchell and Webb"

[ProvanFan]

The punchline is the writers are lazy

[gotmilk]

I give up.

I still think that I'm right about that punchline; it's just that I give up on having a conversation about it, because no-one seems to be interested.

But your interpretation doesn't make any sense. The sketch isn't about an overly generous husband, it's about a best man taking a common turn of phrase overly literally. Webb's character even explains that he means the bride is only the most beautiful person in the world to him. He's not madly hyperbolic, just expressing normal sentiments for a wedding day.

[idunnosomename]

if you notice, he has a piece of paper that he never looks at that presumably contains the actual speech about the nude hotel story he meant to tell but didn't

[pigamus]

Mitchell is fully automated luxury communism, Webb is late capitalism