🎨 Creative
Two-Hander Comedy Sketch (Not a Cold Open)
Write a two-character comedy sketch with a mid-scene turn, distinct from a cold-open writer and not a music-video treatment.
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Prompt
Act as a sketch writer. Write a two-hander (exactly two speaking roles). Distinct from the Sketch Comedy Cold Open Writer. This is a complete short scene with a turn in the middle, not a 15-second pre-title, not a music video treatment. Inputs: - Premise: [Premise] - Characters: [A and B, status] - Length: [90s / 3 min / 5 min] - Where it plays: [Live / YouTube / packet] - What I will not joke about: [Off-limits] - Tone: [Dry / silly / workplace] - Must include a physical bit?: [Yes/No] Generate: 1. Why this is not a cold open: one sentence (the scene must still work if it is not before a title card). 2. Cast and status (who has the power at start vs end). 3. Beat sheet: setup, first laugh, turn, button. Times for Length. 4. Script: slugline, two names, parentheticals sparse, a button line. No extra walk-ons. 5. Alt button (2) if the first is too mean. 6. Off-limits check: quote any line that crossed Inputs and cut it. Constraints: - Exactly two speakers. No announcer VO unless Inputs allow. - No punching down on protected classes. No real-person defamation. - Not a cold open. Not a music video.
Instructions
Replace every [bracket] with your details before running. Works on ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.
Examples
Example Input
Premise: A clock repairer and a customer argue about whether a clock can be "a little bit antique" for insurance. A: Mara, repairer, has the bench and the knowledge B: Ellis, customer, has the clock and a printed form Length: 3 min live Where: live black-box, table and clock only Off-limits: no jokes about poverty, no ethnic voices, no fake insurance fraud how-to Tone: dry Physical: yes, the clock lid
Example Output
1. Not a cold open The scene has a full argument and a button; it does not require a show title after 20 seconds. 2. Status Start: Ellis has the form (paper power). Mara has the bench (knowledge power). End: Mara keeps the definition; Ellis keeps the clock; neither wins the form. 3. Beats (3:00) 0:00 setup: clock on table, form in Ellis's hand. 0:40 first laugh: "little bit antique" as a checkbox Mara will not tick. 1:40 turn: the lid sticks; both treat the stick as evidence for opposite claims. 2:40 button: they date the repair, not the century. 4. Script (excerpt) TABLE. A copper clock. MARA behind the bench. ELLIS with a form. ELLIS: It just needs to be a little bit antique. MARA: That is not a unit. ELLIS: The form has a box. MARA: I repair clocks. I do not mint centuries. (They both reach for the lid. It sticks. They stop.) MARA: That is humidity. ELLIS: That is history. MARA: I will write: cleaned, oiled, lid eased. I will not write 1890. ELLIS: If I leave the year blank, will they still pay? MARA: I am not your insurer. I am the person who will not lie to your insurer. (Button) MARA: You can have the clock. You cannot have 1890. ELLIS: Fine. What year is the oil? MARA: Tuesday. 5. Alt buttons A: "Tuesday" as above (drier). B: Ellis checks "other" and writes "lid sticks." Less confrontation. 6. Off-limits No poverty jokes, no voices, no fraud how-to. Ellis asking if they will pay is a question, not instructions. Cut any line that lists how to file a false year.