[RhysU]

Occasionally throw in a surprising ending.

A friend infrequently would end lackluster stories, those where he'd lost the conversational baton, with "...and then I found $20."

Anyone who had never heard the trick immediately perked up and refocused their attention on him. He'd say, "No, not really" then briefly contribute something more to the conversation before yielding.

Everyone who knew the trick knew to wait for the ending, because one could never assume his story endings anymore.