humor: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	humor • wit

Photos

Caricature of Henry Cole standing with hands in pockets, wearing a long dark coat and plaid trousers, with a small dog sitting upright beside him.

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Topics

joke frontier humour A Brief History of American Political Humor black humour practical joke comedy laughter marivaudage Ig Nobel Prize Mark Twain Prize for American Humor drug use Reproductive behaviour human sexual activity Locomotion collective behavior communication thought Aggressive behaviour Feeding behaviour Social movement

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Key People

Mark Twain

Mark Twain

American writer

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Ivor Cutler

British humorist, writer, and performer

Dave Barry

Dave Barry

American humorist and author

Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker

American author

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W.S. Gilbert

British playwright

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Robert Benchley

American actor and writer

Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce

American author

Will Rogers

Will Rogers

American entertainer, actor, and writer

portrait of Philip Stanhope, 4th earl of Chesterfield

Philip Stanhope, 4th earl of Chesterfield

British statesman, diplomat, and writer

Beerbohm, Sir Max

Max Beerbohm

British humorist

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Stuart McLean

Canadian radio humorist

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Jean Kerr

American author

Canadian author Stephen Leacock

Stephen Leacock

Canadian author

Arbuthnot, detail of an oil painting by W. Robinson; in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh

John Arbuthnot

British mathematician and author

Haliburton, Thomas Chandler

Thomas Chandler Haliburton

Canadian writer

Adams, Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce Adams

American journalist

Marquis, Don

Don Marquis

American writer

Alexander Woollcott.

Alexander Woollcott

American author, critic, and actor

Chamfort, painting by an unknown artist

Sébastien-Roch Nicolas Chamfort

French author

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S.J. Perelman

American author