There are some cautions one should take when preparing to deliver a roast.

In a previous post, we came up with a list of things we know about Arnold. While many of them are true, we aren’t sure, in a public setting, they would go over well with Arnold or those in attendance.

These are the top 3 things to avoid (unless the event is a bachelor or bachelorette party)

1) Material that is blue (X rated) or potentially distasteful – either to the roastee or to the audience

2) Material that did or can hurt the roastee’s reputation

3) Material that the roastee is sensitive about

One time I was being roasted as an outgoing club president of a Toastmasters. It was long, long ago (we are talking over 20 years ago) – I was engaged – but still had the reputation of being a diehard flirt. It was common knowledge that I was pretty much boy-crazy.

One of the club members baked me a cake in the shape of men’s jewels (very realistic, I might add) and presented it to me during the roast.  Now, I loved it. It didn’t embarrass me one bit. But it made quite a few people in the club squirm a bit, and even the lady presenting it was slightly uncomfortable. The lesson here is that even if the material is such the roastee would be comfortable with, take into account the audience listening in as well.

Among the list of things we knew about Arnold, two items stand out as pretty obvious to avoid (and most groups I work with agree):

• Failed Governorship – California is financially in ruins
• Womanizer – and all the details therein

These two items fall under all three cautions listed above!

When it comes to what is game material and what is not, I go by a general rule of thumb: if the topic is something they poke fun at themselves about (like maybe Arnold pokes fun at how he no longer has the body he once had), it is usually going to be fair game for others.  That isn’t always the case, though.  While I poke fun about the fact I sound German, I don’t like others to poke fun about my speech impediment.

So, to be safe, when in doubt about ANY topic, check in with the Roastee.
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