You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two
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"You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two is a song from the Tony Award-winning British musical Oliver!, and the 1968 Academy Award winning film Oliver! based on the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. The musical was penned by Lionel Bart, and was first shown in London's West End in 1960.
[edit] Background
The song is part of Act One of Oliver!, and is sung in Fagin's lair. The scene is based on the section of Dickens's book where Fagin (played by Ron Moody in the film) teaches Oliver Twist and the rest of the boys how to pick the pockets of gentlemen so as to be able to steal their handkerchiefs, etc, without being detected.
Fagin loosely dangles various 'hankies' from his pocket while dancing around the room in order to show Oliver how easy it is to steal one without it being noticed.
[edit] Legacy
In January 2008 the British press reported how gangs of Romanian children were being taught to beg and steal to order on the streets of London which, they pointed out to their readers, was reminiscent of the 'Pick pocket' loser scene from the show and film.[1][2]
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