14 Apr Progression of a PickPocket!
The Progression of a Pickpocket
How I became a theatrical pickpocket - lifting watches, wallets and phones under the cover of a magic trick - and the silent partner who taught me everything: a mannequin called Bruce.
I'm best known as a close-up magician - jaw-dropping magic at arm's length. But hidden inside that skill set is a second, sneakier craft: theatrical pickpocketing. Under the cover of a trick, I'll quietly lift your watch, your wallet, even your phone - and then hand it all straight back.
Becoming a pickpocket magician takes thousands of hours of practice, and you can't exactly advertise for volunteers. So for years my partner in crime has been a silent, endlessly patient accomplice: a shop mannequin I call Bruce.
This is the story of how it started - one late-night advert, one long-suffering mother, and one very well-dressed dummy.
Meet Bruce
Tall, dark (suit) and handsome, with a chiselled jawline made for a selfie - meet Bruce. He has the patience of a saint, which makes him the ideal accomplice for perfecting the art of theatrical pickpocketing.
Lifting a watch, wallet or phone under the cover of a magic trick takes the right partner, and Bruce is exactly that. Hour upon hour of silent, uncomplaining practice - and my performance is sharper for every one of them.
The strong, silent type - and the best training partner a pickpocket could ask for.
Why pickpocketing?
It started with one impossible-sounding advert.
Years ago I stumbled on an advert for a video that taught you how to steal a watch clean off someone's wrist without them feeling a thing. It captured my imagination completely - how on earth is that possible without ending the night in A&E?
That became the mission: remove a watch, fastened to a wrist, under the cover of a magic trick. I watched and re-watched that video until I knew the technique in theory - but theory only gets you so far.
There are only so many times you can ask your mum to hold her arm out while you fumble at her watch (and only so many times you'll believe she "didn't feel a thing"). I even tried lifting my own watch off my own wrist. Ridiculous - but I needed the reps. If you want the technique itself, I've broken down how to steal a watch separately.
"The watch was the gateway. Once you can lift one off a wrist unnoticed, everything else starts to feel possible."
Levelling up
With the watch mastered, Bruce and I got ambitious. Watches were a great start, but there was a whole world of trickier targets to conquer - the belongings that look, frankly, impossible to lift unnoticed.
Wallets buried inside jackets. Phones tucked barely an inch from the height of privacy. Even ties, wrapped snugly around a mark's neck. One by one, Bruce and I worked through the lot.
So this is where you'll find me
At the start of every event I'm right back at that same fruitful adventure — reading the room, watching the little tells, working out who's carrying what and where. Bruce taught me all of it, and he's still the toughest crowd I ever perform for.
My advice if you spot me working a wedding or party near you? Relax. Whatever I take, you get back. All of it — watch, phone, wallet, the tie off your neck.
You've Bruce to thank for that.
Bring the light-fingered stuff to your party
Weddings, corporate dos, milestone birthdays — nothing breaks the ice quite like handing someone back the watch they didn't know had left their wrist. If you'd like that moment at your event, here's where to look.
See pickpocket entertainment →Or drop me a quick enquiry and I'll usually reply within a few hours.
