What do you find the best tricks where you can touch people?
=> Sponge balls
=> Crazy man's handcuffs
=> "Vanishing" stuff

The volunteer's watch can be stolen even before the "trick" is performed.

Leading the volunteer up onto the stage is a great guise for stealing their watch. To steal from their pockets, ask the volunteer to take thier coat off, either before they go up on stage or once they are already on stage. Of course, you "graciously" offer to assist them in the removal of their coat, during which time the "dirty work" is done.

Jonathan

Here are my top 4 effects for moving in...
Paper balls over the head
Sponge Balls
Coin on Shoulder
and Hook Coin

You can touch people in any effect - it depends on your personality and your presentation. I do it all the time, and have never had any problems...

I did, however, make a mistake once (I have described this before): my very first watch steal in performance was at an internationally known street performer's festival, where I hauled a fellow out of the audience and stole his watch as I led him to the stage. No one caught it, and when the effect was over, I led a round of applause for him, as he sat back down.

But because I had never thought it would work (nervousness on my part) I had not scripted the return of the watch, and he approached me afterward demanding his timepiece back, and threatening to go to the police! Well, I apologized, returned it, and started to think about how and when to give them back...

So, touching? Sure. Stealing? Maybe...

Lee

The routines that work for me as far as touching are:

Finger Chopper
Sly Silks
Egg Bag
Sponge Balls

Hy,

I have a card effect for it too. He crosses his arms and he/she holds a red card in right hand and a black one in left hand, and your are shaking their hands and explaining the cards will switch place, but they won't but you will get the specs watch. Blaine is doing the same thing. An copper/silver is good for other type watches and you have a tiny effect at the end.

Hope it helped regards,

Paul

^Same thing as done in The Encyc of Pickpocketing...

For quite a while I did a thumbcuff routine where I would lock a spectator into the cuffs to demonstrate how they worked. This was a simply way to show that once you locked them they would not come off. I would then procede to show them a few do and don't's of locking up a criminal. During this I would steal the watch and while I placed the keys into thier pocket for later use I would clip whatever I could find in the pocket. I would say "do you have an empty pocket..." as I went for one of thier pockets, I would then say "that one is not..." and go for another. This would allow me to steal from more than one.

Peter Wardell's DVD give quite a number of good ideas on using Sly Silk for pickpocket.

I always found that slipping that special "something" into her drink always works.