Attempting a task that has been dumped on you by somebody who expects a miracle. Like your dumbass boss who left two hours ago and wants you to get something done in an hour that would have taken him all day to finish. A takeoff on "Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!" from the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons.
'The boss expects me to get all these reports done for the corporate office by tomorrow morning, I don't think I'm gonna make it.' 'Well, you know how Steve is about that. He bails and now you have to say "Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my ass!" just like the other days of the week where he is working 27/4'
--OR--
Rick left early again, now I gotta pull a rabbit out of my ass to get this computer fixed.
1.) Phrase one uses when someone pulls off an amazing stunt or feat that all said persons friends swore was impossible.
"So apparently John actually got her to have sex with him."
"Now way, she's head of the cheer leading squad and he's just a tech nerd!"
"Ya man, she admitted it too."
"Wow, I guess John really pulled a rabbit out of the hat this time huh?..."
{in response to Paul Ryan R:Wisconsin's 1st District making literary allusions}
". . . hmm, then maybe you'll know this one, because it seems directly relevant to your career as a politician: does Thomas Aquinas say that human law should be framed for the community rather than for the individual?"
"I guarantee you he will turn white as a sheet and rabbit out of there."