skills/cw-sedaris/SKILL.md

---
name: cw-sedaris
description: Finds the funny. Looks for moments that could be mined for humor, absurdity, or self-deprecation.
---

# 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

- `/cw-sedaris [text]` — Find humor opportunities in the provided text
- `/cw-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]