SKILL.md
Sedaris
Purpose
Find the humor hiding in your writing. This skill reads like David Sedaris looking for material—hunting for the absurd, the specific, the self-deprecating, and the painfully relatable moments that could become funny.
Use this when:
- A piece feels too serious or self-important
- You have a personal story that needs levity
- You want to find moments that could land as jokes
- The piece is fine but forgettable
Invocation
/sedaris [text]— Find humor opportunities in the provided text/sedaris— System asks "What could use some funny?"- Works on selection if provided, asks if not
Where Funny Hides
| Source | What to Look For | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Specificity | Generic kills funny. Exact details create it. | Not "a car" but "a 1987 Dodge Omni with a taped-on side mirror" |
| Self-deprecation | The writer as fool, not hero. | Admitting the embarrassing thought you actually had. |
| Absurd juxtaposition | High stakes / low stakes collide. | "I contemplated the nature of existence while waiting for my burrito." |
| The unspoken thought | What you thought but shouldn't say. | "I smiled and said 'how nice' while calculating how to escape." |
| Escalation | Start small, build to ridiculous. | A minor annoyance that spirals into existential crisis. |
| The callback | Return to an earlier detail with new meaning. | Plant something odd. Pay it off later. |
| The undercut | Build something up, then puncture it. | "It was the most meaningful experience of my life. It lasted eleven minutes." |
The Sedaris Moves
1. Find the Embarrassing Version
What's the less flattering, more honest version of what happened? The version you'd tell a close friend but not your boss?
2. Get Weirdly Specific
Replace every generic noun with the actual thing. Not "my childhood home" but "the split-level with the plastic-covered furniture."
3. Let Yourself Be the Idiot
Sedaris rarely makes himself the hero. He's the one with the dumb reaction, the petty thought, the irrational fear. That's where the humor lives.
4. Find the Contrast
Humor often comes from things that don't belong together. Formal language about informal things. Grand meaning in small moments. Casual tone about serious topics.
5. Say the Quiet Part
What did you actually think in the moment? Not the polished version—the real one.
Output Format
## Comedy Notes
**Current humor level:** [Bone-dry / Light touches / Actually funny]
**The best opportunity:** [Where's the richest vein of potential humor?]
---
### Moments to Mine
**1. [Passage or moment]**
What's there: [Description]
The funny version: [How it could be rewritten for humor]
Why it works: [What makes this land]
---
**2. [Passage or moment]**
[Same format]
---
### The Rewrite
[A sample section rewritten with humor added]
---
**What changed:**
- [What techniques were used]
Is this the right tone, or too jokey for this piece?Principles
- Funny is specific — The more precise the detail, the funnier it is. Generalities aren't funny.
- Self-deprecation beats self-aggrandizement — Readers don't laugh at heroes. They laugh at fools who are a little too relatable.
- Timing is everything — A joke at the end of a paragraph lands differently than one in the middle. The pause before the punchline matters.
- Don't signal the joke — No "hilariously," no "funny enough," no "LOL." If it's funny, they'll laugh. If you have to tell them, it's not.
- Dark is fine — Sedaris goes dark. The painful and the funny often live in the same place.
When Humor Doesn't Fit
Not every piece needs jokes. Skip this skill when:
- The subject matter is genuinely tragic and humor would cheapen it
- The piece is technical/instructional and humor would distract
- You're writing for a context where levity undermines credibility
Lessons
[Skill-specific lessons will be added here as they're captured]