Easter Bunny opener

[Grr]

Hi All

Ok so I'm new to the community so hi. I thought of my own opener. Critisism welcome (Think this would work best on a 2+ set) (Kind of adapted from Belistix)

PUA: Hey you guys look like you're smart - so don't let me down...
HB: Blah blah blah
PUA: Why did they make it an easter bunny and not an easter chicken or something? I mean a chicken would have fitted a bit better considering the chocolate eggs and everything


And I have no idea how to transition from that (besides the obvious c vs u smiles, best friends test, esp etc...)
Thanks guys

[nydoc]

Field test things first!

[Grr]

Sorry about that - I'm going to field test on Friday but wanted to make improvements before I do, don't wanna sound like an AFC or make an AFC mistake

[lolzilla]

Dude, what are you going to say after this? Where is this opener going to put you? If you don't know then you've made an AFC mistake already. All AFC's have openers. The difference is that an AFC opener is not discreet.

E.g. "Hi, what're you drinking".

Common AFC opener. Truth be told, it's not bad PROVIDING you can transition and GO somewhere with it.

So to use your opener, I would do something like this:

Me: Dudes, let me ask you something. Have you ever noticed how the easter bunny gives eggs even though it's not a bird?

Group: Yes/No/fuck you lolzilla!

Me: Wow! Well my little cousin asked me that today and I didn't know what to tell her. I didn't want to ruin the magic for her because she's very cute and little and I love her, so I told her that bunnies lay eggs everytime they laugh. The trouble is, now she thinks her little bunny is sad because he has never laid a single egg. I thought I was helping but I feel so awful! Do you think I did the right thing?

Group: Yes/No

Me: Thanks/What would you have done then/She's a funny kid, one time...


An opener is not a DHV, it's an opportunity to ALLOW you to DHV in a socially acceptable way. If you roll up to somebody talking about easter bunnies and you have nothing to follow it up with, or something totally irrelevant to it, then people will think that your a weird individual who thinks about pointless shit. Don't be that guy. As it's been said thousands of times, you can open with ANYTHING. If you can not transition, then you will fail.

[Grr]

Thanks lolzilla - that's the exact kind of response that I wanted. Tried it out last night (my version, before I read your post) and it did kinda fall through. And it seemed really random, I think I expected her to actually say something besides "I dunno". But oh well, I'm learning. Thanks for the input!

[lolzilla]

Don't worry about it man. You never really fail. A good set will show you what you are doing right. A bad set will show you what you are doing wrong. You need both. In fact, you need more bad sets than good because they will help you improve rather than perfect. Don't let a bad set knock your confidence. It's a frame of mind that you need to develop in order to keep trucking.

A word on how you use your material. Keep a structure. If you start something, make sure you can finish it.

E.g.

Easter bunny --> Little cousin --> Family --> Friends --> Relationships

OR

Easter bunny --> Animals --> Countries --> Travel --> People you've met

OR

Easter bunny --> Christmas --> Childhood --> Toys --> Monster Trucks


You can talk about anything as long as you can transition it properly. A bad transition would be something like.

Easter bunny --> Relationships

Easter bunny --> People you've met

Easter bunny --> Monster Trucks

The segue's aren't there. The transition wasn't natural and if you do it this way it shows lack of conversational/social knowlege = DLV.

Hope that helps.

[Grr]

I see. Thanks a lot. I keep wanting to revert back to AFC questions, really bad habit. I just started a new topic hoping that I could wing it and just everything would fall in place lol, that didn't happen. I can open alright with canned openers but then when it comes to A2, I just can't seem to talk much. My conversations seem to die quite quickly Sometimes it feels like I'm talking to a mannequin. Well anyway, a month ago I was too shy to talk to randoms and now I can So I'm making progress. Will definitely use your tips. Going out tomorrow night again

[lolzilla]

I had the same problem. I'm pretty sure, most people did.

This is how I dealt with it.

1) Be prepared.

You have to know you material so well, you don't even have to think about it. When you go out, have maybe three or four stories you would like to tell people. Have a game to play. Always have a path. Failure to plan, is planning for failure.

2) Don't go from routine to routine to routine like a robot. Talk to people. Ask questions. Find out about the person you are talking to. You want them to be as involved in the interaction as much as possible. Granted, you will be talking most of the time. This is why reaching the hook point is so important. Once you cross this threshhold, people will naturally engage in the interaction. Get to it asap.

3) Maintain your frame, always. Imagine you are a diver in a shark infested pool. Your frame is your cage. You want it, you need it. Don't EVER give it to ANYONE. Without your cage, the sharks won't hesitate bite you. If you don't know what a frame is, read up on it. It is, in my opinion, THE most important thing. Not just for pick up, but for your day to day too.

4) Understand that A2 and A3 bleed into one another. There's no definitive line. So you will have to start qualifying at some point before you leave A3. Once I got my head around that, I found it a lot less constricting to follow the rules.

[Grr]

Ok thanks again lolzilla. Will be sure to implement your advice. Was a bit annoyed last night cuz I was AMOG'd, I befriended him and everything but he kept cutting into my conversations. Must definitely start making my conversations flow a bit better too instead of jumping around between threads. Researching frame now

[narcotic]

thought i'd throw in my two cents as this was quite an interesting post.
The key thing that I'm sure you've heard with openers a bunch of times is that you simply didn't root it. In lolzilla's example he brought it back to his cousin so he has a reason to ask what is a bizarre question. Though granted a question like this could (with the right and slightly drunk group) spark a funny conversation about odd holiday characters.

An example of my current favourite opener is:

pua: hey guys i need a female opinion, i'll only be a moment, my friend called me today he wants to take his girlfriend away on holiday but doesnt know where to go and im his only friend to have been travelliing anywhere so he says should he go to Venice or Paris, what do you think?

HB: blah blah blah

PUA: okay, thats cool, i think he should go to somewhere completely non-cliche like Spain or Prague where they can have an amazing time but make the experience all their own thing and not just like every other couple, what do you think?

HB: blah blah blah

The cool thing about this opener is that it is rooted (my friend asked) and it allows me to DHV in a subtle way (i've travllled and i have frineds who can afford to take their girlfriend away) it offers chances for negs (they get a neg for disagreeing or disagreeing with either part, lol) but it also allows you any transition to any story about any travels.
I like to travel I have been to these places, but find your thing, sports? music (about going to a gig question)? books? films?
You also mentioned trouble with transitions, often people will respond to an opener with a story, if they don't then you should have one. such as the last time i was in prague/a gig/ film festival i met xy and we did/saw this cool thing
But if not always have two or three fall back routines such as rolling off (where you begin to turn away then stop) and say something like (this is my most common transition when else fails):

PUA: hey, a dancer friend of mine used to take me salsa dancing at a bar just near here i swear you look just like the barmaid did you work at xy?

This is an okay transition because this sentence conveys a lot but more importantly it gives me the opportunity to talk about a few things (my friend, the dancing, the bar and reffering to her as my personal barmaid all night) craft one sentence and have some ideas as to where they can lead. You dont need a script beyone that one sentence as it will seem more genuine (Lolzilla's comment on remembering stories is so true, just the fundamentals). Also you get to ask questions from here. You can start a lead to any other story by finding a character and saying to the girl(s) "You look just like ... from ... "
But if you have done anything slightly unmasculine such as dancing then say it and if she jokes about it put her down for being judgemental and tell a cool story about it (mine involves my girl and guy friends wanting to come down and meet loads of hot dancers). Also lolzilla explained this will establish your frame early one.
As for the AMOGs that's a hassle, if he keeps cutting into your stories either befriend him further by midway through saying things such as "you know what i mean right" or getting him to back you on a neg such as " you can dress her up but ou can't take her anywhere, know what i mean" when he agreees or backs you he recognises a little more authority in you but if he's being a dick when he cuts in just speak a little louder and say what you're actually thinking
PUA: "woah woah, don't cut into my story, you'll get your turn" even throw a neg at him and make the others in the group laugh at him with you cos he's badly calibrated socially. Make them on your side then bring him back in by saying your just messing and continue running your set. Thus in everyones eyes he become your bitch, haha.