A fun story
I am a big fan of close-up magic tricks and there is nothing more close-up than a pickpocket.
There is a great story on Apollo Robbins at the
New Yorker:
A Pickpocket�s Tale
A few years ago, at a Las Vegas convention for magicians, Penn Jillette, of the act Penn and Teller, was introduced to a soft-spoken young man named Apollo Robbins, who has a reputation as a pickpocket of almost supernatural ability. Jillette, who ranks pickpockets, he says, �a few notches below hypnotists on the show-biz totem pole,� was holding court at a table of colleagues, and he asked Robbins for a demonstration, ready to be unimpressed. Robbins demurred, claiming that he felt uncomfortable working in front of other magicians. He pointed out that, since Jillette was wearing only shorts and a sports shirt, he wouldn�t have much to work with.
�Come on,� Jillette said. �Steal something from me.�
Again, Robbins begged off, but he offered to do a trick instead. He instructed Jillette to place a ring that he was wearing on a piece of paper and trace its outline with a pen. By now, a small crowd had gathered. Jillette removed his ring, put it down on the paper, unclipped a pen from his shirt, and leaned forward, preparing to draw. After a moment, he froze and looked up. His face was pale.
�Fuck. You,� he said, and slumped into a chair.
Robbins held up a thin, cylindrical object: the cartridge from Jillette�s pen.
A great story -- lots of pickpocket history as well as the scene today.
Posted by DaveH at December 31, 2012 8:39 PM