talkmagic.co.uk

James Freedman (The Man of Steal) Lecture 8/03/2004.
http://www.pickpocket.co.uk/

Introduction.
I was fortunate enough to meet James Freedman on a train last week (he spotted me doing some embarrassingly bad double lifts!), and consequentially I decided to go to his lecture on pick pocketing.

For those that don’t know James is one of the DynamicFX team and is one of the few magicians currently doing a stage pick pocket act in the UK at the moment that doesn’t use stooges. He has also recently been seen on breakfast television promoting the TV series “Hustle” which he was a consultant on.

I have to confess that pick pocketing is not something that I would have even considered putting into my act, and yet I found the whole lecture utterly fascinating.

The Lecture.
It began with Mr. Freedman returning a whole series of items that he had surreptitiously “acquired” in the bar before the lecture. This of course had the effect of putting a smile on every ones face even before he had started the lecture for real.

He then went on to briefly talk about why he got into this very specialised field, and who his inspirations were. I think most of us will have seen a stage pickpocket at some point, either in real life or on the television, so we all know how much fun it can be to watch such an act. I can assure that watching Mr. Freedman in action is no exception to this.

James then went on to outline some of the basic techniques, all of which were highlighted with demonstrations using willing (if not dubious) volunteers, and a series of video clips from various shows around the world that he had done.

A lot of questions were asked, and a lot of detail given on the art of removing different styles of watches. It actually astonished me at how easy James Freedman made this look, especially with the type of watch with the elasticated metal straps. I think everyone in the auditorium were left with their collective mouths wide open when this particular technique was demonstrated. Most styles of watch were included with most detail being given to the more standard leather strap type of watch.

Once the lecture was over, everyone adjourned to the bar, where it was quite amusing to see that half the people there had their ties draped over their backs in the throws of them being removed by the other half. To be honest had any of the friends I went with been wearing a tie I am sure that I would have been tempted to try and remove them.

Bottom Line.
In short it was a fascinating lecture, both amusing and informative. As I mentioned at the beginning it wasn’t a genre of magic that I had even considered before, and yet now I find myself wanting to buy the accompanying DVD Stealing the Show, and the Book Steal Yourself.

Even if a pick-pocketing act isn’t something you wish to do, sometimes stealing a watch could provide an amusing interlude in an act, and for me at least I find I want to read this booklet and watch the DVD just to watch and hopefully learn the sleights involved.

A great lecture, and a great night out.

Related Links
James Freedman’s Website
Magic Week Profile
Dynamic FX
Book: Steal Yourself
DVD: Stealing the Show