|
[[File:Mark Twain by AF Bradley.jpg|thumb|upright|Samuel Clemens, American humorist who wrote under the pen name [[Mark Twain]].]]
A '''humorist''' is an [[intellectual]] who uses [[humor]], or [[wit]], in [[writing]] or [[public speaking]]. A '''raconteur''' is one who tells [[anecdote]]s in a skillful and amusing way.
[[Henri Bergson]] writes that a humorist's work grows from viewing the morals of society.<ref>{{cite book |last=[[Henri Bergson|Bergson]] |first=Henri |translator-last1=Brereton |translator-first1=Cloudesley |translator-last2=Rothwell |translator-first2=Fred |year=1900 |chapter=The Comic Element in Situations and the Comic Element in Words |title=Laughter: an Essay on the Meaning of the Comic |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4352/4352-h/4352-h.htm |publisher=The Macmillan Company |publication-date=1912 |quote=A humorist is a moralist disguised as a scientist, something like an anatomist who practises dissection with the sole object of filling us with disgust; so that humour, in the restricted sense in which we are here regarding the word, is really a transposition from the moral to the scientific. |access-date=2021-01-17 |archive-date=2022-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408170314/https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4352/4352-h/4352-h.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
The A '''raconteur''' is one who tellsterm [[anecdotecomedian]]s inis agenerally skillfulapplied andto amusing way. Humorists are distinct from [[comedian]]s,one who areis [[show business]] entertainers whose business isperforming to make an audience laugh. It is possible to play both roles in the course of afor careerlaughter.
==Distinction from a comedian==
==Notable humorists==
{{Mainsee|List of humorists}}{{Globalize section|date=November 2023}}
<!-- NOTE: Intent is to convert these lists to prose, with citations as appropriate -->
<!-- Sort these chronologically: dead by year of death; living by year of birth -->
===American===
<!-- Order these chronologically: DEAD humorists by year of death; LIVING humorists by year of birth -->
* Renowned [[polymath]] [[Benjamin Franklin]] (1706–1790), as a newspaper editor and printer, became one of America's first humorists, most famously for ''[[Poor Richard's Almanack]]'' published under the pen name "Richard Saunders".
*[[Mark Twain]] (pen name of Samuel Langhorn Clemens, 1835–1910) was widely considered the "greatest humorist" the U.S. ever produced, as noted in his ''New York Times'' obituary.<ref name="Obituary New York Times" /> It's a distinction that garnered wide agreement, as [[William Faulkner]] called him "the father of [[American literature]]".<ref name="faulkner"/>
* [[Ring Lardner]] (1885–1933) was a sports columnist and [[short story]] writer best known for his [[satirical]] writings about [[sport]]s, [[marriage]], and the [[theatre]].
* [[Robert Benchley]] (1889–1945), best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor, began writing humorously for ''[[The Harvard Lampoon]]'' while attending [[Harvard University]], and for many years wrote essays and articles for ''[[Vanity Fair (US magazine 1913-36)|Vanity Fair]]'' and ''[[The New Yorker]]''.
* [[H. L. Mencken]] (1880–1956) was a journalist, satirist, cultural critic and scholar of [[American English]].<ref name="WVobit">{{Citation |title=Obituary |newspaper=[[Variety Obituaries|Variety]] |date=February 1, 1956}}</ref> Known as the "Sage of Baltimore", he is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the first half of the 20th century. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians and contemporary movements. He is known for dubbing the [[Scopes trial]] "the Monkey Trial".
* [[James Thurber]] (1894–1961) was a [[cartoonist]], author, journalist, playwright, and celebrated [[wit]], best known for his [[gag cartoon|cartoons]] and short stories published mainly in ''[[The New Yorker]]''.
* [[George S. Kaufmann]] (1889–1961) was a [[playwright]], [[theatre director]] and [[theatre producer|producer]], and [[drama critic]]. He wrote two [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] [[musical comedy|musical]]s for the [[Marx Brothers]]: ''[[The Cocoanuts (musical)|The Cocoanuts]]'' and ''[[Animal Crackers (musical)|Animal Crackers]]''.
* [[Bennett Cerf]] (1898–1971) was one of the founders of the publishing firm [[Random House]], known for his own compilations of jokes and [[pun]]s, for regular personal appearances lecturing across the United States, and for his television appearances on the panel game show ''[[What's My Line?]]''<ref name=obit>{{cite news |last=Whitman |first=Alden |title=Bennett Cerf Dies; Publisher, Writer; Bennett Cerf, Publisher and Writer, Is Dead at 73 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/08/29/archives/bennett-cerf-dies-publisher-writer-bennett-cerf-publisher-and.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 29, 1971 |access-date=2013-12-12 |archive-date=2016-08-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818120801/http://www.nytimes.com/1971/08/29/archives/bennett-cerf-dies-publisher-writer-bennett-cerf-publisher-and.html? |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Jean Shepherd]] (1921–1999) was a radio and literature humorist best known for writing the book ''[[In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash]]'' which was later adapted to the 1983 movie ''[[A Christmas Story]]''.
* [[Art Buchwald]] (1925–2007) wrote a [[political satire]] [[op-ed]] column for ''[[The Washington Post]]'', which was nationally syndicated in many newspapers.
* [[Garrison Keillor]] (born 1942) is an author, storyteller, voice actor, and radio personality, best known as the creator and host of the [[Minnesota Public Radio]] (MPR) show ''[[A Prairie Home Companion]]'' from 1974 to 2016. He created the fictional Minnesota town [[Lake Wobegon]], the setting of many of his books. He created and voiced the [[hardboiled]] detective parody character [[Guy Noir]] on his radio show.
* [[Gary Owens]] (1934–2015) was a long-time afternoon radio show host in Los Angeles.
===Britain and Ireland===
{{Quote box|width=29%|bgcolor=#FFFFF0|align=right|quote=[[Nancy Astor]]: "If I were your wife I would put poison in your coffee!"<br />
[[Winston Churchill]]: "And if I were your husband I would drink it."|source=—Churchill is the most cited politician in the ''Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations'' with 32 quotes.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jane Austen tops humour league for Oxford dictionary compiler |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/16/jane-austen-oxford-dictionary-humorous-quotations-gyles-brandreth |access-date=2 September 2020 |newspaper=The Guardian |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111184857/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/16/jane-austen-oxford-dictionary-humorous-quotations-gyles-brandreth |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
[[File:Oscar Wilde by Napoleon Sarony. Three-quarter-length photograph, seated.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Oscar Wilde]] is the most cited humorist in the ''Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Oscar Wilde named most quotable figure in the English language |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/oscar-wilde-named-most-quotable-figure-in-the-english-language-1.1563213 |access-date=2 September 2020 |work=The Irish News |archive-date=5 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305165226/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/oscar-wilde-named-most-quotable-figure-in-the-english-language-1.1563213 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Which are Oscar Wilde's wittiest quotes? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/oct/16/oscar-wilde-wittiest-quotes |access-date=2 September 2020 |work=The Guardian |archive-date=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112030438/http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/oct/16/oscar-wilde-wittiest-quotes |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
* [[James Gillray]] (1756–1815) father of British [[political cartoon]] known for his wit.<ref>{{cite news|title=Satire, sewers and statesmen: why James Gillray was king of the cartoon|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/mar/21/satire-sewers-and-statesmen-james-gillray-king-of-cartoon|agency=The Guardian|date=2 September 2020|access-date=2 September 2020|archive-date=9 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309230616/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/mar/21/satire-sewers-and-statesmen-james-gillray-king-of-cartoon|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Oscar Wilde]] (1854–1900) was an Irish poet and playwright known for his biting wit.
* [[Jerome K. Jerome]] (1859–1927) was an English writer and humorist, best known for the comic travelogue ''[[Three Men in a Boat]]''.
* [[P. G. Wodehouse]] (1881–1975) was one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite book | last = Voorhees | first = Richard | contribution = P.G. Wodehouse | editor1-first = Thomas F. | editor1-last = Stayley | title = Dictionary of Literary Biography: British Novelists, 1890–1929: Traditionalists | year = 1985 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/britishnovelists0034unse/page/341 341–342] | publisher = Gale | location = Detroit | isbn = 978-0-8103-1712-3 | quote = [I]t is now abundantly clear that Wodehouse is one of the funniest and most productive men who ever wrote in English. He is far from being a mere jokesmith: he is an authentic craftsman, a wit and humorist of the first water, the inventor of a prose style which is a kind of comic poetry. | url = https://archive.org/details/britishnovelists0034unse/page/341 }}</ref>
* [[Noël Coward]] (1899–1973) was a playwright, composer, director, actor and singer.
* [[Alan Coren]] (1938–2007) could be considered the English equivalent of Bennett Cerf: a writer and satirist who was well known as a regular panelist on the BBC radio quiz ''[[The News Quiz]]'' and a team captain on BBC television's ''[[Call My Bluff]]''. Coren was also a journalist, and for almost a decade was the editor of ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' magazine.
* [[Tom Sharpe]] (1928–2013) was a satirical novelist, best known for his ''[[Wilt (novel)|Wilt]]'' series, as well as ''[[Porterhouse Blue]]'' and ''[[Blott on the Landscape]]''.
* [[Terry Pratchett]] (1948–2015) was an author known for [[comic fantasy]], most notably a series of 41 [[existentialism|existentialist]] and [[political satire]] novels set in the ''[[Discworld]]'' universe. He was strongly influenced by Wodehouse, Sharpe, Jerome, Coren,<ref>{{cite news|publisher=Guardian Unlimited|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/24/terry-pratchett-angry-not-jolly-neil-gaiman|title=Terry Pratchett|date=September 24, 2014|access-date=September 24, 2014|archive-date=September 24, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924182431/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/24/terry-pratchett-angry-not-jolly-neil-gaiman|url-status=live}}</ref> and Twain.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Nathalie Ruas, ActuSF|url=http://www.actusf.com/spip/?article3025|title=Interview de Terry Pratchett (en Anglais) (Interview with Terry Pratchett (in English))|date=June 2002|access-date=June 19, 2007|archive-date=September 27, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927014253/http://www.actusf.com/spip/?article3025|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Women===
* [[Margaret Cameron (author)|Margaret Cameron]] (1867–1947), novelist, short story writer, playwright, and author of non-fiction works related to mysticism.
* [[Dorothy Parker]] (1893–1967), a writer for ''Vanity Fair'', ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'' and other magazines, playwright, and a close friend of Benchley, was known for her biting, satirical wit.
* [[Erma Bombeck]] (1927–1996) was a newspaper columnist and writer of 15 books who specialized in humorously describing [[Midwestern United States|midwestern]] [[suburbia|suburban]] home life.
* [[Fran Lebowitz]] (born 1950) writes sardonic [[social commentary]] from a [[New York City]] point of view.
===Other countries===
* [[Kajetan Abgarowicz]] (1856–1909) was an Armenian-Polish journalist, novelist and short story writer.
* [[Sholom Aleichem]] (1859–1916) was the pen name of the leading [[Yiddish]] author and playwright Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich, on whose stories the musical ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]'' was based.
* [[Purushottam Laxman Deshpande]] (1919–2000) was an Indian writer and humorist known for his stand-up comedy and character sketches. His writings were translated into many other languages, including English.
* [[René Goscinny]] (1926–1977) was one of the most important French [[comic book]] authors of the [[Bande dessinée]] best known for [[Asterix]] and [[Lucky Luke]].
==Comedians who become humorists==
==External links==
*{{cite web|last1=Henry|first1=Patrick|title=Don't Call Me a Comedian|url=https://www.patrickhenryspeaker.com/2013/04/15/dont-call-me-a-comedian/|access-date=December 7, 2017|date=April 15, 2013}}
*William Montgomery Clemens (1882), ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74088 Famous funny fellows: Brief biographical sketches of American humorists]''
{{Comedy footer}}
| 