humorist
Professional funny person
A humorist is someone who creates humor professionally—a writer, performer, or speaker known for witty, amusing work.
The term suggests sophistication rather than slapstick: Mark Twain and Dorothy Parker were humorists, not comedians.
The magazine published essays by humorists and satirists.
Professional humor performer
- comicFunny performer or publication
- funnymanProfessional humorist
- jokesterHabitual humor-maker
- stand-upSolo comedic performance
sketch · improv · gag · punchline · shtick · slapstick · farce · buffoon
Author of short prose
- columnistRecurring newspaper feature writer
- authorCreator of written works
- playwrightAuthor of stage dramas
- satiristOne who mocks through wit
blogger · screenwriter · cartoonist · journalist · chronicler · wordsmith · David Sedaris · Nora Ephron
One who mocks through wit
- ironistUser of verbal inversion
- lampoonerOne who mocks through exaggeration
- parodistOne who mocks originals
- caricaturistArtist of exaggerated likenesses
social commentator · critic · mocker · wit · cynic · skewerer · ridiculer · sardonic
Verbal wit techniques
- punsJokes using sound similarities
- quipsBrief witty remarks
- banterPlayful, teasing exchange
- reparteeQuick, clever conversation
witticism · bon mot · epigram · aphorism · wisecrack · zinger · clever · quick-witted
One who amuses others
- raconteurSkilled storyteller
- storytellerOne who recounts tales
- emceeCeremony host
- hostOne receiving guests
showman · vaudevillian · impersonator · mime · jester · monologist · personality · stage
comedian
Professional humor performer
stand-up · sketch · improv · gag · punchline · shtick · slapstick · farce · buffoon · clown
essayist
Author of short prose
- columnistRecurring newspaper feature writer
- authorCreator of written works
- playwrightAuthor of stage dramas
satirist · blogger · screenwriter · cartoonist · journalist · chronicler · wordsmith · David Sedaris · Nora Ephron · James Thurber
satirist
One who mocks through wit
- ironistUser of verbal inversion
- lampoonerOne who mocks through exaggeration
- parodistOne who mocks originals
caricaturist · social commentator · critic · mocker · wit · cynic · skewerer · ridiculer · sardonic · acerbic
wordplay
Verbal wit techniques
repartee · witticism · bon mot · epigram · aphorism · wisecrack · zinger · clever · quick-witted · drollery
entertainer
One who amuses others
- raconteurSkilled storyteller
- storytellerOne who recounts tales
- emceeCeremony host
host · showman · vaudevillian · impersonator · mime · jester · monologist · personality · stage · audience
- writersauthor, novelist, writer, poet, journalist
- comedianscomedian, stand-up, comic, stand-up comic, standup comic
- comedy writingjoke, jokes, comedy, satire, parody
- Mark TwainSamuel Clemens, pen name, pseudonym, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn
- comedy writersjoke writer, gag writer, sitcom writer, satirist, parodist
- Witswit, satirist, quipster, punster, wag
humoristtragedian
Actor of serious drama
elegist · eulogist · moralist · mourner · philosopher
humoristkilljoy
One who dampens merriment
sourpuss · grouch · curmudgeon · wet blanket · stick-in-the-mud