pickpocket

[Guest]

I want to be the next bob arno (keep wishing) but i cant find any books/videos that arent just watch steal watch steal watch steal, are there any that teach all kinds of pickpocketing?

[Guest]

I used to have a great book on pickpocketing but someone stole it. :)

[Guest]

One of my favorite books on pickpocketing (although it was a limited edition) was "The Pickpocket Secrets of Mark Raffles". It was full of photos that very clearly taught you the techniques and also included several methods of practicing it and even some of his old adverts and such that are also useful tools.

It seems to me that he released relatively recently a video and also a "jubilee" book which you might check UK sources for. Hope that helps,

PSIncerely Yours,
Paul Alberstat
http://www.mindguy.com

[John Pezzullo]

MentalJoe,

Stevens Magic Emporium sell a video titled "The Pickpocket Secrets of Mark Raffles".
www.stevensmagic.com

The book "Jim Ravel's Theatrical Pickpocketing" is available from Mike Caveney's Magic Words:
www.mcmagicwords.com

[John Pezzullo]

MentalJoe,

You might always want to locate copies of two back issues of "Genii" that inlcuded feature articles on Borra and Ricki Dunn.

If you're interested, I'll look up the specific issues and forward the details. You should then be able to purchase them as back issues directly from "Genii".

Regards,


John

[Pete Biro]

When I wanted a seat on a crowded bus, I used to pull out an Abbott publication, "How to Pick Pockets" by Eddie Joseph. :D :eek: :p

[Pepka]

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that MentalJoe seems to be searching for an awful lot of advanced material. Within the last few weeks he's posted questions about Topits, Pick-Pocketing, and my favorite, where he can get a switchey thingy. In all of these posts, he has sounded very unknowldgeable toward our art. Is he a magician, a collector of secrets, or an annoyed layman, determined to find out?
Pepka

[Guest]

I have found that all of my question postings make me sound much more stupid then I (hopefully) am. I think sometimes it is hard to ask for help without sounding like a twit.

And since all of the magic advice given is so vague and using terminology suitable only for magicians, it doesn't really matter what is said. :D

[Jeff Haas]

Well, if he's just a layman, he's not satisfied with the answers here...what people usually tell him is, "That's in a book by so-and-so." Not exactly instant gratification.

[Guest]

Pepka,
Im sorry if I dont satisy your requirments. I am 16 years old and started performing when I was 11. I am international brotherhood of magicians member number 62610J. A layman would not refer to a topit, or ask for referance to something as I have. Instead they would have sead "How do you pull a bird out of the air?" . And as for the transformation. I always knew it was called a transformation but a few weeks ago I broke up the word trans-(to change) -formation- (body or mass). I started to beleive that I had the term wrong and it was something like a snap change. I am a card manipulator, close up card magic performer, and i am working on expanding to stage magic other than the card manipulation. So next time, dont acuse me of being a layman when I ask for referance to books and videos rather than methods.

[Guest]

P.S. I have also asked about cards as weapons and reviews on a peter marvey marketed gimmick when are in places other than close up magicandplatform and stage magic which are the only places you looked and saw my posts.

[Bill Mullins]

Okay, so you're an expert magician. Maybe you should spend a little more time studying grammar and spelling and a little less on magic.

[Pepka]

Like i said earlier joe, didn't mean to insult you. Best of luck.
Pepka

[Pepka]

I forgot to add this. Not sure where to find notes on Pick-pocketing, but you should check this out. Harry Blackstone Jr. featured an routine called the fastest card trick in the world. Not a card trick, but a fantastic pick-pocket routine. And IMHO, fars superior to the Bob Arno routine from TWGM a few years ago. I believe he performed it on the Arsenio Hall show, I suggest trying to find a copy.
Pepka

[Guest]

Not only is the Blackstone routine not a card trick, he ends with the shirt-pull stunt! --Asrah

[reed mcclintock]

Hello I have a book that I really like I am not sure it is available anymore but it is called complete cours in pick pocketing written by Pierre jacques original copyright is 1983 I hope this helps. of all of the books on pickpocketing I have found this to be the most useful. hope this helps you. :rolleyes:

[Pete Biro]

I hate to be negative here, but unless one is an incredible strong entertainer/personality, most pick pocket acts I have seen suck.... :p :p :p

[Pepka]

I agree Pete. I've seen very few, and even fewer that I like. I did not care for the Bob Arno act at all. I think it's best done as a side effect. Like the watch steal done by Hobson as he brings someone onstage, or Blackstone's routine, because it's done as a card trick. They aren't expecting to be pickpocketed. Is there anything in writing about Bora's act Pete. The other magic mag. ran a nice article a few years ago, but other than that, I've seen nothing.
Pepka

[Pete Biro]

Unfortunately, when I saw Bora he was WAY PAST HIS PRIME... he was a great "character" but everthing was "expected" -- perhaps knowing the hows makes a PP act a tough one for magicians to enjoy? :(

[Guest]

Derren Brown has some great uses for pickpocketing in his latest book "Absolute magic".
They generally create effects which do not look like picking pockets has taken place, although in saying this, it is only a small chapter, but very thought provoking nonetheless.

As for material on pick pocketing, watchstealing material is endless, but there is not a whole lot of availible stuff on things like belt stealing, tie stealing ,ring stealing and so on, mainly due to the fact that in many hands it is dangerous.
In any case- try figuring out your own steals, and work out your own methods, as these will probably suite you more than what another person has wrote.
If in doubt, watch shows like bob arno on worlds greatest magic and similar things and look out for the steals, and watch how they're done.
A lot of it is the misdirection though, so dont get caught up in the methodology of it.