Below is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for their involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Also included is a list of modern satires.
Aesop (c. 620–560 BCE) – Aesop's Fables
Aristophanes (c. 448–380 BCE) – The Frogs, The Birds, and The Clouds
Gaius Lucilius (c. 180–103 BCE)
Horace (65–8 BCE) – Satires
Ovid (43 BCE – 17 CE) – The Art of Love
Persius (34–62 CE)
Petronius (c. 27–66 CE) – Satyricon
Juvenal (1st to early 2nd centuries CE) – Satires
Lucian (c. 120–180 CE)
Apuleius (c. 123–180 CE) – The Golden Ass
Various authors (9th century CE and later) – One Thousand and One Nights
Medieval, Early Modern and 18th Century satirists
Godfrey of Winchester (d. 1107)
Ubayd Zakani (?–1370) – Akhlaq al-Ashraf (Ethics of the Aristocracy)
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375) – The Decameron
Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343–1400) – The Canterbury Tales
Gil Vicente (c. 1465–1536)
Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536) – The Praise of Folly
François Rabelais (c. 1493–1553) – Gargantua and Pantagruel
Various authors (16th century CE and later) – Talking statues of Rome
Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) – Don Quixote
Luis de Góngora (1561–1627)
Francisco de Quevedo (1580–1645)
Juan de Tassis, 2nd Count of Villamediana (1582–1622)
Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623–1673)
Martin Marprelate (true identity unknown) – Marprelate tracts
Samuel Butler (1612–1680) – Hudibras
Molière (1622–1673)
John Stockton (1631–1700)
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1647–1680)
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) – Sonnet 130
Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) – Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Tale of a Tub
John Gay (1685–1732) – The Beggar's Opera
Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
Voltaire (1694–1778) – Candide
James Bramston (1694–1744)
William Hogarth (1697–1764) – Beer Street and Gin Lane
Henry Fielding (1707–1754)
Laurence Sterne (1713–1768) – The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
James Beresford (1764–1840) – The Miseries of Human Life
Ivan Krylov (1769–1844)
Thomas Love Peacock (1785–1866) – Nightmare Abbey, Crochet Castle
Giuseppe Gioachino Belli – (1791–1863, Italy)
Charles Etienne Boniface (1787–1853) – De Nieuwe Ridderorde of De Temperantisten (in Dutch) (The New Knighthood or the Temperance Societies)
Jane Austen (1775–1817) - Love and Freindship
Nikolai Gogol (1809–1852) – The Government Inspector, Dead Souls
Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) – The Man That Was Used Up, A Predicament
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–63) – Vanity Fair
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) – Hard Times, A Tale of Two Cities
James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) – A Fable for Critics
George Derby, a.k.a. John P. Squibob, John Phoenix (1823–1861)
Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin (1826–1889)
Lewis Carroll (1832–1898)
Samuel Butler (1835–1902) – Erewhon
Mark Twain (1835–1910) – Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911)
Thomas Nast (1840–1902)
Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914?) – The Devil's Dictionary
Anatole France (1844–1924)
José Maria de Eça de Queirós (1845–1900)
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
Jerome K. Jerome (1859–1927)
Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) – The Lady with the Dog
O. Henry (1862–1910)
Jalil Mammadguluzadeh (1866–1931)
Lakshminath Bezbaroa (1868–1938, India; wrote in Assamese language)
Saki, a.k.a. H. H. Munro (1870–1916)
Trilussa (1873–1950, Italy)
Alfred Jarry (1873–1907)
Radoje Domanović (1873–1908)
Iraj Mirza (1874–1926)
Karl Kraus (1874–1936)
Will Rogers (1879–1935)
James Branch Cabell (1879–1958)
Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda (1879–1959)
H. L. Mencken (1880–1956)
Arkady Averchenko (1881–1925)
P. G. Wodehouse (1881–1975)
Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957)
Jaroslav Hašek (1883–1923) – The Good Soldier Švejk
Oscar Cesare (1885–1948)
Kurt Tucholsky (1890–1935)
Mikhail Bulgakov (1891–1940) – Heart of a Dog, The Master and Margarita
Dorothy Parker (1893–1967)
Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893–1930)
Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) – Point Counter Point, Brave New World
Mikhail Zoshchenko (1895–1958)
Josep Pla (1897–1981)
Ilf and Petrov: Ilya Ilf (1897–1937) and Yevgeni Petrov (1903–1942) – The Twelve Chairs, The Little Golden Calf
Yury Olesha (1899–1960) – Three Fat Men
Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)
George Orwell (1903–1950) – Animal Farm, Nineteen Eighty-Four
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903–1990, UK)
Dr. Seuss (1904–1991) – The Lorax (1971), The Butter Battle Book (1984)
Kurt Kusenberg (1904–1983, Germany)
Daniil Kharms (1905–1942, Russia/USSR)
Jean Effel (1908–1982, France) – cartoonist, author of the cartoon cycle The Creation of the World
Al Capp (1909–1979, US)
Arkady Raikin (1911–1987, Russia/USSR) – stand-up comedian
Walt Kelly (1913–1973, US)
Anthony Burgess (1917–1993, UK) – A Clockwork Orange
Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) – Slaughterhouse-Five, Breakfast of Champions, Cat's Cradle
Lenny Bruce (1925–1966) – stand-up comedian
Joseph Heller (1923–1999) – Catch-22
Terry Southern (1924–1995) – The Magic Christian, Dr. Strangelove
Günter Grass (born 1927) – The Tin Drum, Cat and Mouse
Stanley Kubrick (1928–1999) – Dr. Strangelove
Harvey Kurtzman (1924–1993)
Tom Lehrer (born 1928, US) – That Was the Year That Was
Jules Feiffer (1929, US)
Ray Bradbury (US)
William S. Burroughs (US)
Dario Fo (Italy)
Flannery O'Connor (US)
C. Northcote Parkinson (UK)
Anna Russell (UK)
Gore Vidal (US)
Mel Brooks (US)
Erma Bombeck (1927) (US)
Allan Sherman (1924–1973, US) – musician, parodist, television producer, voice actor
Stan Freberg (1926, US) – musician, parodist, voice actor
Brian O'Nolan (1911–1966) – At Swim-Two-Birds (as Flann O'Brien)
Roger Abbott (Canada)
Mordecai Richler (1931–2001, Canada)
Tom Wolfe (1931) – The Bonfire of the Vanities
Vladimir Voinovich (1932, Russia/USSR) – The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin, Moscow 2042
Robert Anton Wilson (1932–2007) The Illuminatus! Trilogy
Barry Humphries (1934) – My Gorgeous Life, The Life and Death of Sandy Stone, stage shows
Jonathan Miller (1934, UK)
Alan Bennett (1934, UK)
Mykhailo Zhvanetskyi (1934, Ukraine/Russia/USSR)
Dudley Moore (1935–2002, UK)
Woody Allen (1935, US)
Richard Ingrams (1937, UK)
George Carlin (1937–2008) – stand-up comedian
Peter Cook (1937–1995, UK) – of the Satire boom, Beyond the Fringe
Eleanor Bron (1938, UK)
David Frost (1939–2013, UK)
Grigori Gorin (1940–2000, Russia/USSR)
Frank Zappa (1940–1993) – We're Only in It for the Money
Sergei Dovlatov (1941–1990, Russia/USSR)
Kioumars Saberi Foumani (1941–2004)
Gennady Khazanov (1945, Russia/USSR) – stand-up comedian
Jonathan Meades (1947, UK) – writer, broadcaster, satirist
Lewis Black (1948) – stand-up comic, The Daily Show
Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) – The Discworld book series
Mikhail Zadornov (1948, Russia/USSR)
Garry Trudeau (1948, US)
Jaafar Abbas (Sudan/Middle East)
George Saunders
Christopher Guest (1948, US) – This Is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman
Georg Schramm (1949, Germany) – Scheibenwischer, Neues aus der Anstalt, kabarett artist
Gary Larson (1950, US) – cartoonist
Fran Lebowitz (1950, US) – The Fran Lebowitz Reader, Public Speaking (film) – NYC public intellectual
Steve Bell (1951)
Al Franken (1951, US)
Douglas Adams (1952–2001, UK) – The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Mary Walsh (1952, Canada)
Don Ferguson (Canada)
Christopher Buckley (1952) – Thank You for Smoking, The White House Mess
Carl Hiaasen (1953) – Tourist Season, Double Whammy, Basket Case, Skinny Dip
Louis de Bernières (1954, UK) – Latin America Trilogy: The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts, Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord, The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman
Matt Groening (1954, US) – The Simpsons, Futurama
George C. Wolfe (1954) – The Colored Museum
Howard Stern (1954, US)
Cathy Jones (1955, Canada)
Jaspal Singh Bhatti (1955 - 2012, India)
Bill Maher (1956, US)
Percival Everett (1956, US)
Ziad Rahbani (1956, Lebanon)
David Sedaris (1956, US)
Scott Adams (1957, US)
Stephen Fry (1957, UK)
Wayne Federman (1959, US)
Bill Watterson (1958, US) – cartoonist, Calvin and Hobbes
"Weird Al" Yankovic (1959, US)
Hugh Laurie (1959, UK)
Jello Biafra (1958, US)
Victor Shenderovich (1958, Russia)
Ebrahim Nabavi (1958), winner of Prince Claus Award (2005)
Robert Zubrin (US)
Craig Brown (UK)
Dave Barry (1947) – Pulitzer Prize winning humour columnist
Luba Goy (Canada)
David Lodge (author)
Jeffrey Morgan (Canada) – CREEM, Metro Times
Neil Innes (1944, UK) – former Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band founder and member of The Rutles. Writer of satirical songs and books
Phil Hendrie (1952) – radio host of The Phil Hendrie Show
Bassem Youssef (1974) – Al Bernameg
Jacob Appel (1973) – playwright (Causa Mortis, Arborophilia)
Michael "Atters" Attree (UK, 1965)
Paul Beatty (1962, US) - author (The White Boy Shuffle, The Sellout)
Nigel Blackwell (UK) of Half Man Half Biscuit
Jan Böhmermann (1981, Germany)
Charlie Brooker – (1971, UK) Nathan Barley
Stoney Burke (US)
Bo Burnham (1990, US)
Dave Chappelle (1973, US)
David Cross (1964, US) – Mr. Show, Arrested Development
Sacha Baron Cohen (1971) – Borat, Da Ali G Show
Stephen Colbert (1964, US) – The Colbert Report, The Daily Show
Douglas Coupland – Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture
Scott Dikkers (US)
Bret Easton Ellis (1964, US)
Kioumars Saberi Foumani (Iran)
Sabina Guzzanti (Italy)
Bill Hicks (1961–1994, US) – stand-up comedian
Ian Hislop (1960) – Private Eye
Jessica Holmes (Canada)
Mike Judge (US)
Lisa Kennedy Montgomery a.k.a. Kennedy (US)
Ephraim Kishon (Israel)
Erik Larsen (1962) "Savage Dragon" comic book from Image Comics
Craig Lauzon (Canada)
Victor Lewis-Smith – TV Offal
Ash Lieb (1982) Artist, author and comedian.
Chris Lilley (1975) – Summer Heights High, We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year, Big Bite
Daniele Luttazzi (Italy)
Seth MacFarlane – Family Guy, American Dad!, The Cleveland Show, Ted
Aaron McGruder (US) – The Boondocks (comic strip) and The Boondocks (TV series)
Rick Mercer (1969) – Rick Mercer Report
Tim Minchin (1975, UK)
Mark Morford (Present) – Notes and Errata, San Francisco Chronicle, SF Gate
Chris Morris (1965, UK) – Brass Eye, The Day Today
The Moustache Brothers (Mandalay, Myanmar)
Ebrahim Nabavi (Iran)
Bob Odenkirk (1962, US) – Mr. Show, Saturday Night Live, The Larry Sanders Show
John Oliver (1977, England) - "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver"
George Ouzounian a.k.a. Maddox (1978, US) – website The Best Page in the Universe
Chuck Palahniuk (US)
Alan Park (Canada)
Trey Parker – South Park, Team America: World Police, The Book of Mormon
Mark A. Rayner (Canada)
Eric Schwartz (songwriter) (US)
Amy Sedaris (US)
Sarah Silverman (US)
Martin Sonneborn (Germany; known for pranking/"bribing" FIFA executives to vote for Germany as host of the 2006 soccer world cup)
Jon Stewart (1962, US) – The Daily Show
Matt Stone – South Park, Team America: World Police, The Book of Mormon
Greg Thomey (1961, Canada)
David Thorne (Present, AU)
Jhonen Vasquez (1974) Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Squee, etc.
Bassem Youssef (1974,EG) – Al Bernameg
Hari Kondabolu (1982, US)
Scarlet Monahan (1983) – Britishsatire.com satirical poetry
In modern culture, much satire is often the work of several individuals collectively, as in magazines and television. Hence the following list.
Astérix (French comic strip, satirizing both the Roman Empire era as well as 20th century life)
Benchley (US comic strip created by Mort Drucker and Jerry Dumas, satirizing Ronald Reagan and American culture)
Bone (US comic strip)
The Boondocks (US comic strip)
Le Canard enchaîné (weekly French satirical newspaper)
Charlie Hebdo (weekly French satirical paper)
The Chaser (Australian newspaper and TV shows)
Cho Ramaswamy (Thuglak – Tamil magazine)
Dilbert (US comic strip)
The Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics by Carl Barks
Doonesbury (US comic strip)
The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers (US comic strip)
Faux Faulkner contest (annually published in Hemispheres magazine until 2005)
Fritz the Cat by Robert Crumb
Humor Times (monthly US magazine)
Idées noires (Belgian comic strip)
Li'l Abner (US comic strip)
Life in Hell (US comic strip)
Mad (satirical comic book and magazine)
The Medium (weekly newspaper printed by students of Rutgers University)
Mr. Natural by Robert Crumb
Nero (Belgian comic strip)
The Onion (US magazine)
Peanuts (US comic strip)
Pogo (US comic strip)
Private Eye (UK magazine)
The Inconsequential (UK magazine)
The Second Supper (US magazine)
The Tart (Fortnightly UK newspaper)
The Adventures of Tintin (Belgian comic strip)
Titanic (German magazine)
Tom Puss (Dutch comic strip)
Television and radio
The Simpsons and Futurama (Matt Groening)
Howard Stern (radio personality "The Howard Stern Show")
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (US Talk Show)
The Colbert Report (US Talk Show)
The Day Today (UK TV news parody by Chris Morris)
Brass Eye (UK current affairs TV-show parody by Chris Morris)
On the Hour (UK news radio parody by Chris Morris)
This Hour Has 22 Minutes (Canadian TV show)
South Park (Trey Parker & Matt Stone)
The Chaser (Australian newspaper and TV shows)
Facelift (New Zealand Political show)
Spitting Image (UK TV show famous for its puppets of celebrities)
Yes Minister (also "Yes, Prime Minister" – UK TV show satirising government)
Kukly (Dolls, 1994–2002) – Russian satirical puppet show
Fitil (Fuse) – Soviet television satirical/comedy short film series
Nip/Tuck (Ryan Murphy)
Have I Got News For You – Long running UK TV panel show
Nathan Barley – 2005 UK TV satire by Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker.
The Chaser's War on Everything – Australian satire with an emphasis on attacking 'everyone'.
Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld)
Royal Canadian Air Farce (1993–2007) (Don Ferguson, Roger Abbott, Luba Goy)
Air Farce Live (2007–present) (Don Ferguson, Roger Abbott, Luba Goy)
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Phil Hendrie (radio personality "The Phil Hendrie Show")
Family Guy, American Dad! & The Cleveland Show (Seth MacFarlane)
Mock the Week – UK TV comedy panel show
The Larry Sanders Show – (Garry Shandling)
Entourage – (Doug Ellin)
30 Rock – (Tina Fey)
Glenn Martin, DDS – A Nick@Nite show
Episodes – David Crane
Better Off Ted – (Victor Fresco)
Onion News Network
The Boondocks – (Aaron McGruder)
heute-show (German TV series)
"Mercedes Benz" is a McClure-Joplin song sung by Janis Joplin
Culturcide's album Tacky Souvenirs of Pre-Revolutionary America overdubbed new, satirical lyrics onto such pop hits as "We Are the World".
Vaporwave, a satirical music genre with anarcho-capitalist and cyberpunk overtones dedicated to (anti-)consumerism.
Mark Russell is an American political satirist known for his many appearances on PBS
Peter Gabriel's song The Barry Williams Show satirizes talk shows which showcase domestic topics of a taboo or shocking nature (and the viewing public's fascination with such content).
Chumbawamba have consistently used satire to make political points throughout their musical career.
Pink Floyd's albums Animals and The Dark Side of the Moon are conceptual and satirical albums.
The Lonely Island is a satirical music group known for their work on Saturday Night Live.
Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone's Tony-sweeping Broadway show The Book of Mormon (musical) satirizes the applicability of first-world religion to third-world problems.
The Dead Milkmen is a satirical punk rock/cowpunk band from the early 1980s.
Ben Folds, a rock pianist, and his group, Ben Folds Five, have multiple songs including satirical elements. Some of them being, "Underground", "Sports and Wine", and "Rock Star".
Dead Kennedys, an American punk band, often used satire in their songs, most notably Kill the Poor.
We're only in it For the Money—Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention
Blazing Saddles, a 1974 comedy movie directed by Mel Brooks, satirizing racism.
Casino Royale, a 1967 surrealistic satire on the James Bond series and the entire spy genre.
This Is Spinal Tap, a satire on heavy metal culture and "rockumentaries."
The Very Same Munchhausen, a 1979 satire of the late Soviet society.
Clueless
American Beauty, a 1999 satire of life in the suburbs.
Thank You for Smoking
Team America: World Police is a 2004 film satirizing Hollywood action flicks as well as post-9/11 American foreign policy.
Wag the Dog
The Rules of Attraction
Best in Show
I Heart Huckabees
Starship Troopers
Scary Movie
Dr. Strangelove
Planet of the Apes A 1968 film portraying a future version of Earth controlled by gorillas, orangutans, and chimpanzees in which humans are mute beasts; the ruling gorillas and orangutans reject evolutionary theory and the ability of the humans to think because they don't speak.
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, a film satirizing censorship.
Network
Otaku no Video, a 1993 anime satirizing the otaku subculture.
Adaptation.
Brazil
S.O.B., a satire on Hollywood.
Election
Not Another Teen Movie, a satire of the teen film genre.
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
Citizen Ruth
The Hospital
Weapons of Mass Distraction
Little Children
Bulworth
Man Bites Dog
The Simpsons Movie
Smile, a satire of beauty pageants and small town life.
Bob Roberts
War, Inc.
Britannia Hospital
Fight Club, a dark satire on consumerism, cults, and extremism.
American Psycho
Tropic Thunder
Simon, satirical commentary on the effects of mass media in pop culture.
American History X satirizes race/racism in a contemporary setting.
They Live
Land of the Dead, a satire of post-9/11 America state and of the Bush administration.
The Wicker Man, a satire on cults and religion.
The Great Dictator, a satire on Adolf Hitler
Monty Python's Life of Brian, a satire on miscommunication, religion and Christianity.
The Player, a satire of Hollywood, directed by Robert Altman.
In the Loop, a satire of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Elvis Gratton, a French Canadian/Québécois series depicting a satirical federalist.
Fubar
The Man Who Knew Too Little
Fallout
Fallout 2
Fallout 3
Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout 4
Dead Rising (デッドライジング, Deddo Raijingu), a satire on U.S. consumer culture.
Dead Rising 2: Off the Record (デッドライジング2 オフ・ザ・レコード, Deddo Raijingu 2: Ofu za rekōdo), a satire on U.S. consumer culture.
Grand Theft Auto
Crash: Mind over Mutant
