What are some good questions to initiate conversation with strangers?

after introductions, and possibly upon any sort of uncomfortable silence (this seems to be the part of the hand that the hero is asking about), it's worked with a great success rate to randomly blurt out,

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW IMPORTANT I AM TO THE ECONOMY?" Hopefully they will be drunk enough to just laugh and respond with something like, "No, but come back to my room and show me."

Ship it.