Apollo Robbins and John Turturro Discuss Pickpocketing Craft

Apollo Robbins met actor John Turturro in Madison Square Park on Tuesday to discuss the methods behind the new film The Only Living Pickpocket in New York. Robbins served as the movie’s pickpocketing consultant for director Noah Segan. The film stars Turturro as Harry, an old-school thief who struggles in a modern world dominated by cryptocurrency.

Robbins spent years entertaining audiences in Las Vegas by removing wallets, watches, and rings from willing spectators and returning them. In 2012, he removed the itinerary, badges, and motorcade keys from the Secret Service detail of former President Jimmy Carter. Turturro compared Robbins’s hands to those of a concert pianist.

The two worked at the movie’s production office to develop Harry’s stealing techniques. They practiced on a stunt person. Turturro declined to use Robbins as a hand double, preferring to perform the grabs himself. They agreed that a pickpocket’s gait changes after a successful steal. Turturro demonstrated how to blend into a crowd to disappear.

During the park meeting, a woman approached Turturro to say her son had played basketball with his. Robbins observed her bags and identified where her valuables were likely kept. He explained that thieves often cut bags to drop the contents out. He referred to wallets as pokes and inside pockets as the pit or uptown. Turturro enjoyed learning the specific terminology of the trade.

Turturro has never been pickpocketed, though he was robbed at knifepoint while working as a bartender in the 1970s. He sees parallels between acting and pickpocketing, noting that both involve stealing from life to create a character. He described the act as having a balletic aspect.

Robbins demonstrated a move called reefing the kick, which uses fingers to lift an item from a pocket from the outside. He noted that the return of baggy jeans has benefited pickpockets. He warned that there is a fine line between fondling and pickpocketing. Turturro joked that this line is not included in the movie.

A young man named Zane Roth, a sometime magician, joined the group. Robbins asked if he could rob him. Roth held out his wrist, and Robbins removed the strap from his watch. During the conversation, Robbins removed Roth’s wallet from his front pocket. He then asked for Turturro’s wallet and produced Roth’s student identification card from it.

Robbins grew up in Springfield, Missouri, with two older half brothers who stole for a living. He stole his first notable item, some cigarettes, at age eleven. He slipped them into the apron of the manager who confronted him. His father, a preacher, later tried to exorcise him. At fourteen, he discovered magic and sought mentors in both crime and magic to create a hybrid skill set.

Robbins has studied theft culture globally. In China, pickpockets use chopsticks, and bystanders rarely interfere. In Japan, subway riders spread out after leaving the train. Technology presents a mixed challenge, as phones distract victims but cameras require thieves to be more cautious. He now runs a security company called Ludus Labs, advising government contractors on misdirection and deception.

He still pickpockets at presentations for U.S. marshals and police chiefs to show blind spots in critical thinking. He described his current work as using stealing as a metaphor. He said he has become a walking analogy.