What's a Humorist?

Good question. Thanks for asking.

First things first: there's nothing wrong with my spelling. A humorist is the American-English version of the same word humourist in English-English,

A humorist is more likely to threaten an audience with a gun if they don't laugh; whereas, a humourist simply apologises profusely and feels bad about himself for the rest of the week. But what IS the difference between a humourist (humorist) and ... let's say ... a Comedian?

There's no simple answer to this. One definition of a humo(u)rist is this:

Someone who acts, speaks or writes in an amusing way.

But hang on a minute ... don't Comedians do exactly that? Well, yes, but here's what I believe to be the big difference: most comedians tell jokes as part of a set routine to make you laugh. If you laugh, it's 'mission accomplished'. However, a humo(u)rist might do some jokes along the way, but usually it's part of getting a message across.

My best stab at a definition for a humo(u)rist is this:

Someone who acts, speaks or writes in an amusing way 

to get a message across to an audience.


So, if you want to get a laugh OUT of your audience, hire a Comedian (making sure they delete the rude bits and anything not politically correct). 

If you want to get a message IN to your audience whilst keeping them smiling, hire a Humo(u)rist.

A Humerus, on the other-hand is just a funny bone.