I love banter. I met my ex wife teasing her about her carry-on bag at the airport. It was suede, but I mentioned I had never seen a furry carry on bag. She spend the next five minutes trying to convince me it was not fur.
Great banter is a mindset. It's fun for everyone. It can be competely disarming and fun and totally set you apart from everyone else. And if they come back with something witty the game is definitely on. IF not they may not be worth getting to know. A few general guidelines I've found are most effective in good banter:
1. The more absurd something the better. A lot of girls want to take everything from a guys mouth seriously. This (absurdidty) prevents having to explain yourself. So make it easy on them to catch on and engage.
2. Don't pick on something about them in a negative manner, initially. Girls are about 100x more insecure than we are. Look at how much time they spend getting ready to go out. Steve Martin was a great comedian because he could find something silly in a situation or about himself that he would amplify. Go back and look over a lot of his skits. They're hysterical.
3. Avoid putdowns or anything negative. The way to DHV is not by putting someone else down. Showing you have a quick wit and confident
sense of humor is a great DHV. Only someone insecure would try to put someone else down.
3. Be situational. Find something in the situation that lends itself to absurdity. It comes off as fresh and unplanned. For example, I'll walk into a bar stand next to a great looking girl and ask her "what 's she doing here, I thought it was her night to watch the kids" Either she comes back with an engaging retort and the game is on or she tries to act like I'm not talking to her. So then I keep going with the storyline. Eventually she breaks down engages and we have a good laugh. Then I can get to know her, occasionally going back to the kids thing or something else couples would discuss. One girl gave me a hard time about something, so I asked " so what do they call you ...other than smartass" Her friend died laughing, as I guess she actually did have a bit of a smart ass personaliity. Soon she was cracking up at her new name. And named me as well.
4. Use it as a spring board for more. Once the banter has been going for a while successfully and she's participating get to know her and move into the deeper levels,
kino etc.. If she balks then tease her about it. Leave for a while. Everyone likes to be with someone fun. She'll miss the fun she was having with you. Go tease someone else for a while. Hang out with the guys. If you can make getting to know them fun, it's a pretty smooth drive.
5. Practice banter at every opportunity. Going through the airport security line in Baltimore, this great looking girl was behind me. She had to remove her shoes which came though the other end of the screener behind my things. Initially I told the screeners she looked like trouble and to give her a thorough going over. I got a nasty look. Then as she came through I teased her about her sexy airport shoes- which really were pretty sexy.. She started trying to defend them. I got my stuff on and went to get some food. She followed me to the food court, we ate together and exchanged numbers. Pretty cool.
Anyway I hope this helps. I think the most important thing is not to have too serious a mindset when going out. Have fun.
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Banter Techniques 
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