I think humor is a very serious thing. I use it as a way of weakening the reader's defenses so that I can more easily take him to something more.

Billy Collins (born 1941) American poet
Bootsy Collins (William Earl Collins born 1951) American funk bassist singer and songwriter
Bill Collins (athlete) born 1950 American sprinter Masters world record holder
Billy Collins (boxer) (1961–1984) American professional boxer
William Collins (canoer) (born 1932) Canadian canoer who competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics
William Collins (tennis) British tennis player from the 1920s and 30s
William Collins (sportsman born 1853) (1853–1934) played rugby for England and cricket for Wellington New Zealand
William Collins (Warwick MP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Warwick 1837–52
William Collins (Worcester MP) English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1654 to 1659
William Collins (cricketer) (1837–1876) Australian cricketer
William Whitehouse Collins (1853–1923) New Zealand Member of Parliament for Christchurch in the South Island
William Wiehe Collins (painter) (1862–1951) English architectural and landscape genre painter
William Collins (colonist) (1760–1819) English naval officer and early settler in Tasmania Australia
William Collins (Pride and Prejudice) a fictional character in the Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice
William Collins (cricketer born 1868) (1868–1942) English cricketer. Collins (1896–1970) president of St. S.