If you didn’t read this week’s post “Confessions of a Life Pickpocket” I will read it to you, dramatically and enthusiastically, below. 👇
Reading commences as soon as you hit play. Enjoy!
Notes from the Captain
I can’t do magic.
I can’t pick actual pockets.
I can’t trick anyone with sleight of hand.
I can’t pull a coin from your ear.
I can’t touch your wrist gently and be suddenly be wearing your watch.
I can’t flip a wallet over your shoulder and catch it behind your back.
I cannot skin the poke.
I can’t use shade. Nor can I really throw shade. I like shade from trees.
I’m from a farm. A steer is something different.
I am a perfect mark. For pickpockets on the street. I am also the perfect mark for pickpocketing my life.
I CAN pick pockets. Memory pockets. Time pockets. Emotion pockets. I steal from myself ALL THE TIME. I’m good at that. As long as it’s not actual wallets and watches and just the treasures from life, I’m an expert dipper.
And that’s why I wrote this week’s post. Because you are too. You may think you have nothing—no inspiration, no ideas—but check your pockets.
Get in there and put your sticky fingers on that loot!
Then go make something from it.
I hope your thefts—from your life and for your art—are going well this week. What are you working on? What are you struggling with? What did you finish? What’s your next dip?
Get after it, crew. Or should I say, my salty “whiz mob”?
See you back on the boat.
Your Captain, Janeen 🫡
Thangs from this episode…
👩✈️ The Gentleman Pickpocket
Aka, Apollo Robbins. I didn’t know his name, but he’s really dug into his specialty to share his gifts with the world. Not just in pickpocketing, but human behavior and self-deception. I gathered a general collection of things that’ll bring you up to speed if you, like me, where completely clueless about his work.
A pioneer in the application of deception to real-world environments, Robbins uses pick-pocketing and sleight-of-hand to demonstrate perception management, diversion techniques and self-deception.
A Pickpocket’s Tale - The New Yorker
I’m not sure how I’d never heard of him. This is excerpt of episode description of interview with Tim Ferriss on his podcast (which you can listen to below).
Robbins’ entertainment credentials include the Warner Bros. film Focus, with Will Smith and Margot Robbie, along with appearances in Brooklyn 99, and the TNT series Leverage. He was a producer and co-host for National Geographic’s Brain Games, which was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Informational Series. Robbins applies his expertise in magic and misdirection beyond entertainment, pulling back the curtain to show how the principles behind these illusions can enhance strategic thinking and decision-making.
His contributions to attention and perception research have been published in Scientific American Mind and Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
He talks about pickpocketing the Secret Service at around the 56:45 mark, and says that the story has grown in terms of what he took. In my video, I was reading from a New Yorker story and now I’m not sure if it’s one of those embellished ones. The NY-er is know for fact checking, right? Regardless, it’s still an impressive story. Task blindness is super interesting.
His TED talk👇
Here, he explains misdirection👇
👩✈️ Some Movie Pickpocketing
Good example of “shade” 👇 Oh, and here is a list of pickpocketing terms.
A breakdown of film pickpocket scenes.
👩✈️ Pickpocketing Crime Stats
Keep your eyes on yer wallets. And phones. And keys. And watches (although watches are more often theatrical steals like Apollo Robbins does.)
FBI Crime Data Explorer - NIBRS
Filter larceny-theft data for 2022 (which includes pickpocketing). General link to the explorer for all data collections and years.
More recent stats (2023)
What the Data says about crime in the U.S. - Pew Research Center
This is about the 2023 data, since it’s not in the explorer. This is ALL crime.
FBI data shows that violent crimes in the U.S. decreased in 2023 - PBS
Thanks for listening/watching and sharing this week. If you want to chat about any of the concepts in this week’s post—or just in general—feel free to leave a comment for the Captain (it me.)
Do. Make. Be.
Pick!
I’ll see you out there.
🫡
Shameless Podcast Plug
Listen to audio versions of early issues of The Stream on my podcast, Field of Streams, available on 👉 all major podcasting platforms 👈
Here’s Apple
Behind the Streams, Ep. 52: "Pickpocket"