Some of the most dismally wrongheaded performances I have ever seen have been wedding toasts — and I used to review Off Off Broadway theater.

There was the groomsman who made the toast all about himself and the bridesmaid whose anecdote about the married couple’s first date included the bride’s first impression about the groom’s appearance that was too harsh to be laughed off. So many hack advice dispensers (“Never go to bed angry”) and generic chin strokers (“Was it Shakespeare who said …”).

Bad toasts have become a popular comic trope in movies and TV and sketch shows like “Saturday Night Live.” Catastrophic ones provide reliable laughs in cringe comedy. Think of Steve Buscemi’s drunken, resentment-filled best man toast in “The Wedding Singer” or Steve Carell’s corny tribute to an employee in “The Office” (“Phyllis and Bob. Their celebrity couple name would be Phlob”).

But as a critic who appreciates a big swing, I’d like to come to the defense of one of the most demonized comic forms: the risky toast. We need more “Domingo” speeches, not fewer.

The common fear of public speaking is the core of the new book “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,” an inspired piece of service journalism by the comedians Carol Leifer and Rick Mitchell.

Mitchell, a stand-up and Emmy-winning producer, and Leifer, a comic who has written for “Saturday Night Live,” “Hacks” and “Seinfeld,” are seasoned professionals. Leifer is an especially accomplished and respected veteran and has worked on many award shows, especially the material written for celebrities to present awards. This is tricky work requiring diplomacy and comic chops, exactly what you need to figure out the right thing to say at your aunt’s third wedding.