James Freedman (magician)
James Freedman (born 1965) is a British pickpocket entertainer and magician. He is most well known for his skill as a pickpocket and his ability to secretly pick the pockets of volunteers. For this reason, he is also known as 'The Man of Steal'.
James Freedman has picked the pockets of the Mayor of London, The Chancellor of the Exchequer and The Governor of The Bank of England. In 2013 Time Out magazine wrote that he is "the world's number one pickpocket".
Freedman is an authority on pickpocket techniques and is consulted by police forces and security professionals to share his expertise.
Notable film & television work
He also acts as a Magical Advisor inventing magic tricks and illusions for feature films, television shows, theatre and stadium productions. Source: IMDb
Freedman was the Magic Consultant for the 2006 film The Illusionist starring Edward Norton and Aaron Johnson both of whom he taught sleight of hand and stage illusions . Norton said that "James is one of the ultimate all-stars in his field today". Source: The Guardian
He was asked by Roman Polanski to teach Sir Ben Kingsley (for his role as Fagin) and other actors the art of picking pockets for the movie Oliver Twist (2005) and is listed in the credits as a Pickpocket Consultant. Source: The Times
He also trained Sir Ian McKellen to portray a stage magician for the short film "The Egg Trick" directed by Stephen Kroto. In an interview following the UK premiere, Kroto joked that Freedman "is the man who taught Fagin to pick pockets and Gandalf to perform magic!"
In 2012 he also taught pickpocket skills to Helena Bonham-Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen for their roles as Monsieur and Madame Thenardier in Les Misérables directed by Tom Hooper.
He worked in London and on location in Serbia for The Brothers Bloom a 2008 movie directed by Rian Johnson. The movie stars Mark Ruffalo, Adrien Brody and Rachel Weisz who learned sleight of hand magic from Freedman.Original Report
In 2010 Freedman advised on ‘Dip’ written by Simon Lewis and directed by Lisa Gornick; a crime drama about a street pickpocket played by Robert Sheehan. James Freedman choreographed all the pickpocket sequences and taught Robert Sheehan the skills needed for his role as a street thief. Original Report
In 2008 and 2009 James Freedman and Martyn Rowland created magic effects and taught presenter Thomas Brezina magic tricks for the Austrian children's TV show Trickfabrik broadcast on ORF. The show, which included magic tricks which viewers could learn and perform themselves, won an Intermedia-Globe-Silver-Award at the WorldMediaFestival (2010) and was also broadcast by the German children’s network KI.KA.
He was also consulted to advise on the critically acclaimed short film ‘ARK’, written by Charlie Williams (British writer) and directed by Mal Woolford. Freedman advised on “traditional magic methods” to allow Woolford’s vision of a four minute single camera shot with no image manipulation, no editing and no CGI. IMDb Listing
James Freedman was specialist consultant for the BBC One drama Hustle, for which he trained the principal actors, notably Robert Vaughn and Adrian Lester, how to cheat at poker.
He also worked as a specialist consultant for the popular BBC spin-off series The Real Hustle where he is credited as Pickpocket Consultant.
Live performances
James has performed for the Royal Family, British Prime Ministers, celebrities and audiences in over 25 countries. In 2008 he was invited to entertain at Downing Street where reportedly he “bumped into the Chancellor of the Exchequer and ‘borrowed’ his wallet.” Original report
He also gives pickpocket demonstrations to educate and help people avoid becoming victims of real pickpockets. His talk at TED@London is one example.
Awards
Formerly a Director of The Magic Circle Foundation, Freedman was awarded the title The Magic Circle Close Up Magician of the Year in 1992. He was promoted to Membership of the Inner Magic Circle in recognition of his outstanding abilities as a performer.
Trivia
- In 2003 Freedman's hands were insured with UK insurance company Royal and Sun Alliance for UK£1 million. (Source)
- From 2006 until 2011 Freedman's company Magic Management marketed The Magic Circle Headquarters and won several awards including 'UK Venue of the Year' and 'Venue Team of the Year'.
- He qualified as an Auctioneer and Chartered Surveyor and was the Honorary Auctioneer of The Magic Circle from 1992 to 2011. In 2010 he was elected to the governing Council of The Magic Circle
- In 2008 he was awarded the Order of Merlin by The International Brotherhood of Magicians. This is described by the IBM as "a special award to recognize members who have given twenty-five or more uninterrupted years of service to the organization." [Source]