So let's say I start with an opinion opener, one I used tonight was "Hey do you think its ok for a white guy to say the n-word if he's singing the words to a song?"

Now, I can handle opening really well if there's some disagreement in the group, or if there's a good way to cold read, but let's say it's two girls, and they both agree that it's not ok to use the n-word in any situation, how do you work that? I'll sometimes play devil's advocate and take the other side, but with openers like this one (and some other good openers about interesting and controversial topics) it's hard to disagree with them and still come off well. Any advice on how to approach this situation?

if they say no its not ok you could follow it up with another bullsh*t (no offense to you) opener similar to that, or just agree with them and make up a bullsh*t story.

where are you using these openers?

by the way it took me like 10 minutes to read your post your avatar is incredibly distracting hahaha

A big part of the game is keeping yourself a step or two in advanced. For your particular question:

- "Hey ladies, let me ask you something. Do you think it's okay for a white guy to use the N word in a song?"

-- "Yeah, it's fine!"
-- "But doesn't it seem racist?"
-- continue from there

-- "No! Never!"
-- "But isn't that racist against whites then? Why should one race be allowed to say something and the other not?"
-- "Blah blah blah"

Always try to have a cover for any response. And as mentioned, always keep a reserve opener or convo topic to kick start once this one goes dry. Fluid conversation switching is a key part.

I do, generally, I went into how they've owned the word, so it's not bad anymore, but the follow ups always feel clumsy and the transitions worse. Any time I use a follow up opener it feels like I'm taking a poll, asking questions to try to force a conversation. I guess it'll come with time, but I was wondering if there's a way to cold read "you two seem really in sync, i could tell by how you answered that. How did you meet?" or some other tactic that other people used to transition well.

@highflyin, last night it was at a house party, I thought of it halfway through the night and used it to reopen a couple of sets. And I know you actually love the avatar.