WordPress snippet: get single post custom value

gistfile1.php

/**
 * Get a single text value for a post custom field in WordPress, bypassing the normal array return.
 *
 * From a discussion on Twitter, which prompted me to post this. Many people seem to be
 * unaware of PHP's `list()` operator (it's not, technically, a function).
 * 
 * If you are not in the loop, you can pass a post ID as a second parameter.
 */

list( $val ) = get_post_custom_values( 'key' );