>> This episode of the Modern Rogue
brought to you by Privacy. >> Go to privacy.com/rogue and get five dollars to
spend wherever you want. >> You know, you might want
to go to scamstuff.com, I'm just saying. >> You should probably do that. >> Dang it, Jason! I'm tired of having my watches
stolen right off my wrist! >> What are you talking about? That's not a thing.
>> I mean I can't go 30 feet without all of a sudden I look down and the watch has vanished. I have to buy another watch. I bought 17 watches in
the last three weeks. >> That is movie fantasy.
>> Nope. >> And you have some sort of weird issue. Are you hiding them in places? What's going on?
>> No, no, I'm wearing them on my wrist and suddenly, they. Pick pockets are everywhere, and we have to defend ourselves to stop them from stealing
up all of our watches. We have to learn their techniques so that the average consumer
can not fall for them. >> Is that okay with you, YouTube? [static crackles] >> Ladies and gentlemen, all the way from Canada, after 10 years of us going back and forth, we finally got James Harrison, pickpocket extraordinaire, and somebody who just performed at the Rogues Village in Defcon. >> Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Not to toot my own horn, but apparently there was more people there
at my show than yours. >> Let's cut, that's
the end of the episode. [laughs] >> I used to think that this was something you only saw in movies until
I saw you do it last night. >> It was a total blast. We went to the Moon Tower Saloon, where we shoot a ton of Scam
School Scam Nation episodes, and it was so fun to just put
point and say "do the thing!" [men laugh] >> Guys, why don't we
try something out here? Just something silly with my ring. Lane, do you mind
double-checking that for me? It doesn't bend or open
or do anything silly? Just a normal ring? >> Lane: Just a normal ring to me. >> Fair enough, because in a moment I'm going to frustrate you and I don't want you to blame the ring. I want you to blame me. So if I take my ring, throw it back on, yeah, it gets really weird. Do you have one that comes off? >> I do. >> Pop it off if you don't
mind, for just a second. >> Lane: Sure. >> Awesome. You seemed a little hesitant. [audience laughs] So I'll tell you what. We'll put mine in the pocket. >> Lane: Okay. And we won't put yours in the pocket. >> Okay.
>> Okay. >> We'll take your ring, and if I give it a
squeeze, now it's my ring. >> What? >> You know where yours went? Not in the pocket, because I told you I would never put it there. [women laugh] Lane, why don't you come over and give me a hand real quick. Come on up. You get to be my Vanna.
>> Okay. >> Now I can make it jump
back and forth in my hands. Can you hold your hands
open for me for one second? Excellent. I'm going to put my ring
here, your ring there. >> Okay. >> I'm going to ask you to squeeze my ring as tight as you can. Excellent. Turn your hand over. Hold tight because it might
disappear from your hand. >> Okay. >> Squeeze this hand as well. And do you know this lady well enough she can hold your hand
without it being awkward? >> Sure.
[woman laughs] >> Could you do that? Excellent. We're going to try and get my. Now you made it awkward. >> Yeah.
[audience laughs] >> That's fine. We're going to get this
ring to join that one there. Ready? One, two, three. [fingers snap] Did you feel it go? >> Lane: No. >> Drop my ring. Open that one up. I said I'd get it there. I did not say how.
[audience laughs] Not all these are good tricks. Some of these are bad tricks. >> Yeah, that was a good. >> You can put your
ring on for one second, but I'm going to borrow my ring, because if I take my ring, I made it jump around. Did you feel it go? Oh, sorry, that's,
that's your phone there. I don't want to play
with your phone there. >> Yeah. >> That's stuck in there good. >> Yeah, just not. >> But here's the funny thing. Did you feel me take that? [audience laughs]
[audience cheers] >> I did not.
>> No? Because if you didn't feel that you probably didn't feel this either. >> No, I didn't. >> Thank you for not hitting me. [audience laughs] >> So what really struck me is how important having a process, having a magic trick, the
fact that you were pretending to be doing one thing
but actually grabbing the wrist watch was, because it bought you an
inordinate amount of time holding their wrist. I mean I knew you were doing it, after a minute there, I'm like, he's had his hand on that
wrist for a long time. >> You don't have to be fast. You just got to be smooth. And if I can instruct you on something, that means that you're going to be nice and let me do what I need to do, under the pretense of helping me out. >> Is that the most important fundamental? The fact that you need permission to be touching somebody for a long time? >> Oh of course. If I just come up and grab you there is no way that you're
going to let me stay there longer than the fact that I touched you. >> Which is more important? Manual dexterity or verbal dexterity? >> Ooh, that's good. For myself I find verbal
dexterity works way better, because if I can distract
you with my mouth, then I can take way more time
with my hands to take things. >> Yeah, I guess the whole
verbal dexterity thing is just don't arouse suspicion. It's only when they become suspicious that you run into trouble. Like if I assume that if
I'm holding your wrist doing a thing and I'm like
yeah, and, um, uh, also, uh, you know if I don't have that, then people are like
what is happening here, and then they kind of do a self-scan, and be like he's really
fidgeting on my wrist. >> You have to be dextrous
enough and clever enough to create a good enough smoke screen for what you're actually wanting to do. >> A smoke screen is a perfect analogy, because that's what I'm trying to do, whether it's with my words
or actions with my body, or my other hand. That allows me the time I need to slip a wrist watch off. >> Well, teach us the fundamentals. How do we start? >> You start [light music] with proving. >> Oh, what?
>> Right! >> With proving that I can do
something really, really well. >> Yeah, okay, so what just.
>> I hate it when I know a magic
trick's about to happen, then it happens and it tricks me anyway! >> I love it, I love it,
I love how mad he gets. >> This is a magic trick
that is very very old. [light music] And comes from Vaudeville. >> It still works! >> Multiple, multiple fingers. Hold on.
[James laughs] I want to, let me try this. I've never done this. So you've got it on the one. >> JAMES: Yep. >> You appear to grab. >> JAMES: You appear to grab. >> You are pulling it off,
it's a different finger. That's my middle finger. >> Yep. >> And then I
>> Throw it back on. >> And then I well blip uh, look I did it! I did magic! >> Oh yeah.
>> I can do magic. >> Okay now I feel dumb. [James laughs] >> Hate you both. >> So it just occurs to me that once you do, all you need to do is that one decent trick, and after that everything
else could be a fake trick. Like you could do two minutes of grab these, swap
these, who's got a coin, and then you could just end with, like, ah, I guess it didn't work, bye. [men laugh] Then you have a watch! >> We're going to use your watch, Brian, because this is a leather strap watch, or a belt buckle watch. Leather's the best. >> BRIAN: Okay. >> Especially if you're starting out. >> So I just realized
that a very important part is finding a good target. You probably spend 20 minutes looking for the right wrist watch before you do the five-minute performance. >> That's kind of suspicious behavior. He's casing you. Just like casing a house. Like we did on "Hacking the System." >> Yeah. >> Exactly. What you see is just
the tip of the iceberg. Everything else I'm
doing is under the water. I'm casing, I'm looking
for the right target, I'm looking for people
that don't have a problem with people in their personal space. Don't have a problem, they seem like they will listen to instructions. >> These are the people that oftentimes make good volunteers for magic tricks. You look for people
who look you in the eye when you say hello to them,
or they're clearly engaged and distracted and on a date and looking for an excuse to have
something amazing happen. All of these are the same traits that will make them, I
assume, a good target. >> Absolutely. So first thing I have to
do is I have to get you to hold your hand open. >> BRIAN: Yep. >> And I'm going to make something
amazing happen with my ring. >> Right. >> All I need you to do
is just squeeze your hand. >> Okay. >> Perfect. This hand goes over top. My thumb goes right on the tongue. >> Mmm hmm. >> Of the watch.
>> Okay. >> Right there, and when I grab this here, my thumb is going to use
friction to push that through. Like so. >> JASON: This seems like
such a dangerous moment. >> JAMES: It kind of is. >> BRIAN: But luckily this is also. >> Oh I'm also, when I'm doing this here, with my motor functions, I'm asking, again, distracting you with instruction, to open this hand, and we're going to get into a moment of just a little bit of disconnect, because you don't understand what to do. >> Okay. >> I'm going to ask you to
hold your hand up like this. >> Right.
>> And I'm going to tell you to close your hand. >> Okay. >> My thumb's in the way. >> Right, so I'm waiting
for you to move your thumb, and so essentially you're
handing me the awkward situation. Like hey man, no no no, do it, and they're like "Oh I'm sorry." >> Exactly.
>> All of my attention goes right here. >> Because you're on his side now. You want this to work. >> Yeah, exactly.
>> You don't want to fail. >> Yeah.
>> Exactly. And when I ask you to squeeze that tight. >> Okay. >> This is the moment
that I squeeze over here. >> BRIAN: Oh, that's great! Because I am 100% focused right-- >> Because if you squeeze there, and then there I pop the pin. The pin is now popped, ready to go, and then I turn this over like so. >> And again, this is all process that I assume is leading
up to a magic trick. >> Exactly.
>> Right. >> JAMES: The thumb, again, does its job to push this all the way through. >> And you could take your time with that. >> All the time in the world.
>> Okay. >> And then when I'm ready, I'm just going to, this is the one thing, the
one thing you'll notice when I do this, is when we're ready to pull the watch off your wrist, I give it a little extra squeeze. >> Okay. So I assume that's so that I won't notice the difference in pressure.
>> Yes. >> Because there's always on my wrist. >> And it anchors in your mind, I feel my watch. >> Right! Okay. >> Okay. So I'm going to have you let go here. I reach under here just for the moment to drop the ring from my gag. >> Whoop, there you go. >> I give it a squeeze. I say open your hand here. >> BRIAN: Yep. >> JAMES: Perfect, and
then I've got your watch. >> That was very fast. You bother to do a whole
routine at this point, you keep everyone's attention. >> Exactly.
>> And then you get that time delay that is
so important to magicians, because you get the moments of amazement. In fact, it's probably even
better if you lock that away and then do three or four other routines, and then finally it's a
guy who's been sitting down for 10 minutes. >> For sure.
>> And the use of the ring, and this is something
that really appeals to me, it's not an illusion. It's a trick. It really is a trick in this. And it doesn't require any skill. You're just saying hold
it here, now hold it here. >> Yeah.
>> You don't have to learn something else on top of how to do all of this. >> So the only bummer, I guess you have to practice with a friend because you can't practice
on yourself, really, right? >> You actually can. >> What? >> You'll go blind. [James laughs]
[Brian laughs] >> With the technique that I'm showing you this thumb here, all
you're doing is you're kind of giving yourself a hand-shake. >> BRIAN: Oh yeah, you're right. >> So you can just sit
there and practice it. And once you've got that part, there, you just give it a little squeeze. >> BRIAN: Got it. >> And you're going to use the tongue to push the. >> BRIAN: To push the pop. >> JAMES: Push the pin. Now this is important. You don't want the pin to
fall back into the hole. >> BRIAN: Right. >> So you're just going
to go on a small angle as this goes-- >> Oh that's great, so it's slightly off. >> Ahhh. >> And then now it's pretty much done. You give a squeeze, because even though it's
still threaded through, that moment when it comes off. >> It'll pop right off. >> Wow. That is shockingly easy. And so I assume that
with this type of watch, there's different variations based on where they're
positioned that you do. >> Yeah, when I'm standing in front of you I have to use my thumb because that's just where everything lands. But if I found you on
the other side of me, I would need to use my middle finger, because that's my next
strongest finger in my hand. >> Okay, what about this crazy one? He's got like a manacle on him. >> Well, when you're starting out, you don't use him. >> Okay. [Jason laughs]
>> There's absolutely no way I can steal this watch. I even point out what I
got to deal with here, and turn it over like this, and I'm going to ask Jason. Jason now that I've distracted you did you notice that I might
have taken your wallet? >> No! >> And then when you go to look for it, he pulls his hand right out. >> Oh. 'Kay, so you get the proof
that you can steal watches [Jason laughs] to explain. Oh! You thought he had actually taken the. >> This is not my wallet. >> I know, this is. [Brian claps]
[Jason laughs loudly] >> And I was watching you. >> I really should have put this back. There's no much to take. >> Nope, nope. >> Patreon.com/modernrogue Oh that's so great! >> Legit got me! I was watching for it! I was trying to help! You turned me into your confederate! >> Yeah man, that's my job. >> Oh that's so great! [James chuckles] >> Very well done sir. >> Thank you! >> Are we going to learn how to do that? [men laugh] >> We'll save this for part two. [Brian laughs] >> I want to learn that, too! >> So let's-- >> I guess come back and see part two! [Jason laughs] Brian, I was subscribed
to World of Warcraft for like two years before I remembered hey, I'm still subscribed to this! [Brian laughs] It's a true story. >> Dude, that's the horror of putting your credit card
and attaching it to anything. That's why I'm done with all that. Privacy.com has changed my life. It's a debit card. You tie it to your account
like any other debit card. But the best part is unlike credit cards they don't sell your information. They respect your privacy. Even better, you can generate one time burner cards and set limits. So long after that card runs out of money you don't have to worry about it. >> Modern Rogue hero Frank
Abignale recently said "Do not use the bank-issued debit card." Privacy.com is a way around that. >> Oh my gosh, yeah! Because if that information leaks out, everybody just bleeds your account dry. But because each individual burner card is associated on one particular account, you can find out that the
entire World of Warcraft got hacked and you'd be like "Pfft, so?" Ain't none 'a mine. >> Kermit gif. >> Exactly. So go to privacy.com/rouge and get $5 now to spend wherever you want. >> Yeah dude! At the very least you could spend that at scamstuff.com, get some sweet tutorials that you could download
instantly for freesies! Privacy.com-- >> Slash rogue. >> Oh, that's right. >> Yeah, that's important. >> Like we planned that. >> I'm horn, but apparently
there was more people there at my show than yours. >> Let's cut, that's
the end of the episode. >> Yeah, that's. [men laugh] >> Ixnay on the outcray, all right. >> Oh sorry, sorry. It's the only thing I got. I don't have a gold button
push play on YouTube, okay? >> You could take that one. We got the platinum one
coming in the mail soon.
He's die hard #pebble4life
This is GREAT! And funny!
But yeah, I'm no expert, but I do know that it is about distraction. You can even see that "in the movies" when they show someone trying to steal something off someone's person there is some form of distraction. I seem to recall a scene somewhere (I think it was in an episode of "White Collar") where a character needs to steal a pocket book out of someone's jacket pocket so they run in to the person (shoulder/chest over shoulder/chest) and use that opportunity to slide the pocket book out.