Ok, I have a solution to using this kind of magic trick as an opener. I love magic myself but I have never used it to open a set because I didn't want to be a dancing monkey.

I've never learned a card trick because the simple act of pulling out a deck of cards triggers in people's minds that your going to do a magic trick. There is no way of getting around this. Its hard wired into people's minds.

I do like your opener "Hey guys - Do you believe in the possibility of mind-reading?"

Then I would follow it up with Kenton Kneppers mind reading trick. I have it on a CD series called Wonder Words. I'll look it up when I get home in a few days. Maybe you know it Bravesaint? Its the one where you write on their hand or a piece of paper which coin they will choose (and whether it will be face or tail side up). The interesting thing is that the coins are imaginary and exist only in the mind of the person you are doing this with so you don't have to pull out a deck of cards. Then you tell them "imagine you have 3 coins in front of you - a penny, a dime and a quarter." Then in a matter of seconds the woman you are doing this with will one by one eliminate all the other coins until she is left with the one you wanted her to chose and then finally she will choose in her own mind whether it will be face or tail side up. Then she will look at her hand where you wrote it before even beginning and she will see that you knew exactly which coin she was going to choose. I've never seen this get a bad reaction.

With this trick, you don't even need to carry around a trick deck with you. Imaginary coins don't take up much pocket space and they don't make that clinking noise when you walk. lol!

If I was to use magic in opening I'd probably just use it to open a set standing/sitting next to my target set. Grant

By Sinn