[Luxe]

From an article about Apollo Robbins, a theatrical pickpocket.

Quote:

Among his peers, he is widely considered the best in the world at what he does, which is taking things from people’s jackets, pants, purses, wrists, fingers, and necks, then returning them in amusing and mind-boggling ways.

Video (I couldn't embed): http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/cu...l?mobify=0

When I read this, it occurred to me there were some game takeaways, specifically relating to approaching and body language. No, I don't suggest you learn how to pick her pocket, though that would be pretty funny. Instead:

- his level of awareness

- his sensitivity to the body language and cues of his "mark"

- how he uses his own body language to manipulate his mark and not "scare the cat" by being too invasive

Quote:

Robbins needs to get close to his victims without setting off alarm bells. “If I come at you head-on, like this,” he said, stepping forward, “I’m going to run into that bubble of your personal space very quickly, and that’s going to make you uncomfortable.” He took a step back. “So, what I do is I give you a point of focus, say a coin. Then I break eye contact by looking down, and I pivot around the point of focus, stepping forward in an arc, or a semicircle, till I’m in your space.” He demonstrated, winding up shoulder to shoulder with me, looking up at me sideways, his head cocked, all innocence. “See how I was able to close the gap?” he said. “I flew in under your radar and I have access to all your pockets.”

- his use of misdirection (is that a good book?)

Quote:

“If I’m working single o, and I see a guy walking down the street with his wife and I want to beat her purse, I’ll walk up to him and say, ‘Hey, Coach, how you doing?,’ and I’ll reach across his wife to shake his hand. She gonna look straight into his face and be, like, ‘When were you a coach?’ And he gonna be looking back and forth between her and me, saying, ‘What coach?’ That’s when my hand goes into her purse, and I beat her.”

- how he controls attention

Quote:

But physical technique, Robbins pointed out, is merely a tool. “It’s all about the choreography of people’s attention,” he said. “Attention is like water. It flows. It’s liquid. You create channels to divert it, and you hope that it flows the right way.”

It's advanced, and most skilled approachers probably learn and internalize this without ever consciously realizing being aware of it.

And the article: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/...l&mobify=0

[Kabal]

Indeed, a lot of picking up girls is misdirection and illusion-building, leveraging female psychology to get in her pants.

One could have a similar pow-wow with a girl the morning after.

"I took you from the club to a dive bar, then we stopped by a swank lounge before going to my place to 'watch' some 'YouTube videos'--you thought we were going from place to place just because I was being a spontaneous, fun guy--but really, I was venue-shifting to create the illusion that you've known me longer than you have and to build a feeling of trust and comfort.

My friend was talking to your friends, not because he was being friendly, but rather to create a smokescreen for me to extract you out of the club--lest they outright intervene, or at the very least their judgment triggers your anti-slut defense, causing you to eject.

I asked you to hold my drink while I went to the bathroom, not because I needed two hands free for the execution, but rather to compliance test you and exploit the Ben Franklin Effect."

Etc. etc.

[MikeinMKE]

I've successfully used (purposely) horrendous pickpocketing attempts to initiate conversation with a girl or a group of 2 girls. They laugh and I say something like "damn I thought I was getting good at this", etc. I am mediocre at opening so I like using dorky things like this to help my opening. Once engaged in conversation I feel like I'm very strong.

ETA: This is in a bar - the successful one was then the girl was waiting to bye a drink and I snagged her phone and "sheepishly" handed it over with a smile and my line.

[kenny_powers]

(01-06-2013 09:05 AM)Kabal Wrote:  

Indeed, a lot of picking up girls is misdirection and illusion-building, leveraging female psychology to get in her pants.

One could have a similar pow-wow with a girl the morning after.

"I took you from the club to a dive bar, then we stopped by a swank lounge before going to my place to 'watch' some 'YouTube videos'--you thought we were going from place to place just because I was being a spontaneous, fun guy--but really, I was venue-shifting to create the illusion that you've known me longer than you have and to build a feeling of trust and comfort.

My friend was talking to your friends, not because he was being friendly, but rather to create a smokescreen for me to extract you out of the club--lest they outright intervene, or at the very least their judgment triggers your anti-slut defense, causing you to eject.

I asked you to hold my drink while I went to the bathroom, not because I needed two hands free for the execution, but rather to compliance test you and exploit the Ben Franklin Effect."

Etc. etc.

I would not do that. Why would a magician share how he does his tricks? If you "pow wow" with the girl and clue her in that puts salt in the game. That is as bad as white knighting.

[Kabal]

(01-06-2013 12:53 PM)kenny_powers Wrote:  

(01-06-2013 09:05 AM)Kabal Wrote:  

Indeed, a lot of picking up girls is misdirection and illusion-building, leveraging female psychology to get in her pants.

One could have a similar pow-wow with a girl the morning after.

"I took you from the club to a dive bar, then we stopped by a swank lounge before going to my place to 'watch' some 'YouTube videos'--you thought we were going from place to place just because I was being a spontaneous, fun guy--but really, I was venue-shifting to create the illusion that you've known me longer than you have and to build a feeling of trust and comfort.

My friend was talking to your friends, not because he was being friendly, but rather to create a smokescreen for me to extract you out of the club--lest they outright intervene, or at the very least their judgment triggers your anti-slut defense, causing you to eject.

I asked you to hold my drink while I went to the bathroom, not because I needed two hands free for the execution, but rather to compliance test you and exploit the Ben Franklin Effect."

Etc. etc.

I would not do that. Why would a magician share how he does his tricks? If you "pow wow" with the girl and clue her in that puts salt in the game. That is as bad as white knighting.

It was a facetious thought experiment, not a serious suggestion for actually doing this.

Although it would be amusing to see the look on a pompous American girl's face when she realizes she was played like a puppet on a string.