Knowledge of how confidence men and cheats operate is undeniably the best personal defense against them, and Eugene Villiod, the Parisian private detective, exposes about all we need to know for self-protection - and does so entertainingly. All the important cheats including short-changing, pickpocketing, three card monte, and others are covered.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this book, which was published in its original French edition in 1922, is that the same swindles are not only still with us today but that they are also perpetrated in the same ways.
Translated from the French...
As the title suggests Pickpocket is a magic routine themed around the concepts of pickpocketing. A highly interesting and engaging plot.
20 business cards have the names of items that people carry in their pockets. 10 of the cards are counted out by a spectator and placed into a wallet (regular unprepared wallet) the spectator decides on one of the performer's pockets to place the wallet in.
The remaining 10 cards are counted out by the spectator and placed into an envelope. Three of these cards are chosen (not selected just chosen). The performer decides which pocket the assistant should...
Do you want to get yourself talked about, fool your audiences, and get a nice round of applause at the finish? If so, try this at your next show.
A man comes up to help you with a trick, as he starts to go back to his seat you hand him his wallet much to the delight of the audience.
Some magicians needlessly worry, that if they do the wallet steal bit, that audiences will not trust them or think they may be a thief. This is nonsense. Most people believe that a magician can easily lift a wallet or remove a watch. This has happened to me many times, and I'm sure it has happened to you too....
The Master himself U.F. Grant teach us new, unusual and highly effective methods of performing apparent pickpocket stunts. Startling effects requiring no skill. In this manuscript you will find a number of excellent suggestions for pickpocket stunts. No great pickpocket skill is required to execute them, rather, they are of the stunt type. They will convince the watching spectator that you are an accomplished pickpocket.
Content:
A treatise on the fundamental principle, theory, and practice of picking pockets – for entertainment purposes only.
Eddie Joseph attended in 1923 the Indian National Exposition in Calcutta. There he wittnessed the reactions of visitors to a pickpocket incidence. This gave him the idea to build an act around pickpocketing. Subsequently he studied the methods of pickpockets, developed an act, and finally wrote this guide.
1st edition 1940; 30 pages.