ECT #2: “Have your test results come back yet?”
This one works best in a large group of people. Wait for a lull in the conversation, preferably with minimal background noise, and then deploy the ECT at an indiscreet volume to someone sitting near you. With a bit of luck the atmosphere will instantly shift to the setting marked “ball-shrivellingly awkward”. Your subject should then reply with a nervous smile and something along the lines of “What test results?” At this point, glance around the rest of the group and then suddenly, as if you’ve just caught someone else’s eye, look down and mutter, “Oh God, sorry, it was… someone else…”
Honestly, it’ll keep them going for ages. When you’ve had your fun, do the standard mime for Suddenly Remembering Something and reveal that it was your dad’s MOT you were thinking of.
Smallprint: be aware that this ECT can backfire badly if your initial subject has in fact just got some test results back. If they respond with something like “Yes, I’ve got 3 months” you may want to bail out at the earliest opportunity.
On an allied topic…
A friend (not a friend of a friend) was heard to call to another friend (oh forget it) who was paddling in a lake, in the Lake District, “Hey, you know what the judge said about going near children”. The water level went down significantly as parents hauled small bodies away from danger.