Yet another
bar trick with a Zippo. This has served me well from beaches to boardrooms on three continents, because, well,
humans like fire.
Your Zippo must be at least three-quarters full of fuel, preferably the naphtha type and not gasoline or vodka or whatever else you use in a pinch. You'll see why shortly.
Hold the lighter snugly in the crook of your fingers with your thumb on top ready to flip the lid.Discreetly shake the lighter up and down out of sight of your audience until you feel fuel spill onto your forefinger.Still out of sight, flip the lid and strike the flint wheel, while sliding your forefinger above and alongside the open lid. The idea is for the flint to ignite the fuel on your finger as well as in the wick. Now as you bring that hand up into view, pass your other hand beside it and thumb the lighter itself out of your main hand, closing it as quietly as possible. You can now present the young lady/cop/pope with an amiably flickering fingertip to light their cigarette.As with all sleight-of-hand, you must practice until you can do it all in one smooth move, with the lighter itself silent and unseen and a flame that lasts long enough to light them up, and you not the least bit ruffled. Not enough fuel on your finger and the flame won't last long enough; too much and you will look like an idiot shaking your hand and yelping in pain. Which is why you should use naphtha fuel: gasoline gets much hotter, and faster, and hurts like a bitch.
Style points for blowing the flame out with a smile.