Going straight into a discussion about hobbies or fun things never worked for me. Those are topics that come in long after good conversation is already established. Most of the women I ended up going out with had first steered the conversation toward the most simple and humorous of comments in my ad. Two recently popular comments were:
1) "My greatest weakness is cheesecake. That sh*t is evil".
Right out of the gates I've had women offer to bake me a cheesecake, take me out for cheesecake, bring me a cheesecake, talk about the best places to get cheesecake.....
The other was:
2) "If you're over 30 and dress like a 20 year old gangsta....just....no"
This was a random, stand-alone sentence at the end of my ad. It wasn't part of what I was looking for or anything else. I got a lot of comments on that one which began with a laugh, usually followed by them asking me a question.
On a few occasions when I initiate, I'll make a humorous comment on their ad. Last night I read one that said, "I'm into MMA (mixed martial arts), which bothers a lot of guys".
My first message to her was: "I don't get it. Why would guys be bothered that you're into MMA? Do you grapple on a first date? Does the muay thai plum pain come raining down if they don't offer to pay? I have a lot of questions about this..." That turned into a conversation about strange people and the perils of online dating.
Starting off on a little humor works well and works often, but it can't be random or canned. It has to be relevant to something between the two of you. Your ad, her ad, something one of you mentioned....
So much better than "What do you do for fun?".