A humorist is a person who writes or performs humorous material. The material written or performed by humorists tends to be more subtle and cerebral than the material created by stand-up comics and comedy writers. The intention is often to provoke wry smiles and amusement rather than outright belly laughs. This list contains only those humorists for whom there is a Wikipedia article.

Notable humorists include:

Jeanne Robertson or Jeanne Swanner Robertson is a nationally recognized humorist and professional speaker. In 1963, at age 18, she was named Miss North Carolina. Robertson credits her reign as the catalyst for her career. Her anecdotes can be heard daily on XM Radio's Channel 96, Laugh USA and Sirius Radio's Blue Collar Comedy channel 103 (XM 97) and Laugh Break channel 105. She bases her humor on real-life situations.

Mack Leon Dryden (born June 30, 1949) is an American comedian, motivational speaker, actor, illustrator, and writer.

Dryden was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi at Jackson County Hospital, which is also where famous singer Jimmy Buffett was born. His parents are Neva and Herbert Dryden. He has two younger brothers, Tim (a youth pastor in Jackson, Mississippi) and Daryl (an attorney in Ocean Springs, Mississippi). His dad worked as an accountant at International Paper in Moss Point, Mississippi. Dryden himself also worked summers in the mill at the same company, for five years.

Dryden graduated from Moss Point High School in 1967.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and English in 1971 at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) where he also earned a black belt in taekwondo. He was very active on the karate tournament circuit while at Ole Miss and won numerous trophies in sparring and kata (form) competitions. He was the Brown Belt champion of Mississippi when he was 20 years old.^[who?]

Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS.

O'Brien was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, and raised in an Irish Catholic family. He served as president of the Harvard Lampoon while attending Harvard University, and was a writer for the sketch comedy series Not Necessarily the News. After writing for several comedy shows in Los Angeles, he joined the writing staff of Saturday Night Live, and later of The Simpsons. He hosted Late Night with Conan O'Brien from 1993 to 2009, followed by seven months hosting The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, the only person to serve as the permanent host for both NBC programs.

O'Brien was born in Brookline, Massachusetts (a suburb of Boston) to Thomas O'Brien, a physician, epidemiologist, and professor of medicine at Harvard, and Ruth O'Brien (née Reardon), an attorney and partner at the Boston firm Ropes & Gray. He is the third of six children. O'Brien's family is Irish Catholic and descends from pre-Civil War era immigrants. In a Late Night episode, O'Brien paid a visit to County Kerry, Ireland, where his ancestors originated.

Mark Russell (born August 23, 1932 in Buffalo, New York) is an American political satirist/comedian. He also sings and plays the piano.

Mark Russell was born Mark Ruslander (he changed his name for stage purposes) and grew up in Buffalo, New York where he graduated from Canisius High School. After high school, his family moved briefly to Florida, then moved to Washington, D.C., where he enrolled at George Washington University, but stayed for only a month. He then joined the Marines.

Russell is most famous for his series of PBS specials, aired live at least four times a year between 1975 and 2004. His comedy specials were a mix of political stand-up comedy covering current events and musical parodies, in which Russell accompanied himself on his trademark American flag themed piano. Russell's song parodies use melodies from old standards with new humorous lyrics pertinent to the subject matter.

For example, in 1990, following the execution of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu, Russell did a parody song on his show to the tune of "Chattanooga Choo-Choo." ("Pardon me, boys / Are you the cats who shot Ceauşescu / You made my day / The way you blew him away.") Russell himself admits that most of his jokes and songs are very topical and have "a shelf life shorter than cottage cheese."