
A Pickpocket's Tale (2013) - wallflower
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/01/07/a-pickpockets-tale
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mknippen
I've had the pleasure of seeing Apollo work in person a few times, and the
words in this article don't even properly describe it.

If you haven't seen it already, check out his TED talk, where he does the
exact routine mentioned in this article:
[https://www.ted.com/talks/apollo_robbins_the_art_of_misdirec...](https://www.ted.com/talks/apollo_robbins_the_art_of_misdirection)

Also, check out the movie Focus (with Will Smith and Margot Robbie). Apollo
was a big part of that movie, and makes a cameo, as well as designed all of
the steals in the film.

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bambax
Came to say this. The TED talk is fantastic. You should watch it in one
sitting (it's short) -- no pause or rewind!!! ;-)

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dang
Discussed at the time:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4991016](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4991016)

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pdxandi
Awesome read, thank you for sharing!

    
    
      He estimates that he met twenty-four people during every show, and that he stole something from three of them. 
      At six shows an hour, five hours a day, five days a week, forty weeks a year, that works out to at least 
      eighty-one thousand pockets picked.
    

Am I missing something here or should this be 18k not 81k? My brain won't let
this go.

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ufmace
From the article, I get the feeling that he's extraordinarily good at his art,
but struggling to find a good legitimate way to practice it.

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emodendroket
Being a corporate entertainer isn't glamorous, but it seems like he probably
makes a decent living.

