00:00And so I was in the Albuquerque Airport,
00:01and I was walking to my plane.
00:03And I thought, how stealth can I be sneaking up on someone?
00:06And I'm really light on my feet, and I'm good at it.
00:08And so I noticed a lady walking, and her plane ticket
00:11was sticking out of her pocket.
00:12And so I got right up behind her, and I could not resist.
00:17And I just lifted her ticket right out of her pocket.
00:20And then I passed her.
00:21And then I dropped the ticket.
00:23And then she passed me.
00:24And I went, excuse me, tapped her on the shoulder.
00:26You dropped something.
00:27And that's when I knew I had it.
00:32I suppose I should start off by asking,
00:34has anyone ever been pickpocketed in their life?
00:37And then we'll go into the more serious questions.
00:39But I have been mugged many times.
00:45Many?
00:47I've been stolen from.
00:49Have I ever had my pocket picked?
00:52I don't think so.
00:54No.
00:55I don't think so.
00:56I have, but I wouldn't know.
00:59I know it because the pickpocket was so good resembling this movie.
01:03You know, it's such a great thing.
01:05I don't know what John's preparation was, but I know.
01:09But I keep looking at his fingers to see how facile he is with those.
01:14And I think he probably is.
01:17John was going around, John tried to pick my mom's pocket.
01:22He'd get off the train.
01:23He'd go, yeah, I got off the train today.
01:24And, you know, I saw a couple of, oh, it's a skill.
01:27I was sticking out.
01:28Yeah.
01:28I didn't do anything.
01:29He said I didn't do anything.
01:30But there is this stuff with the QR codes.
01:32The QR codes.
01:33He's going to rush out for the QR codes.
01:34What's the QR codes?
01:36Don't use it.
01:37Don't ever use a QR code in a restaurant.
01:39Why?
01:40Because someone can intercept it with one of these high-powered phones and get into
01:46all your personal banking numbers in a matter of hours.
01:54Like, instead of it sending you to the menu for your cafe.
01:58Your character could have, like, I mean, here we are.
02:01He could have gotten into that.
02:02Yeah, had he been, that could have been a path for him.
02:06But I suppose isn't that, yeah, yeah, that's true.
02:09Have you been picked?
02:11I've stopped someone from moving their pocket, being picked.
02:13Whoa, really?
02:14Yeah, it was in Paris.
02:15Why were you?
02:16Because, like, you're on the Met show?
02:18Is that you're on Paris?
02:19Metropolit.
02:19And I noticed there was a guy, and I sort of gave a person a tap, and then the pickpocket
02:25sort of moved back.
02:28But, no, I've never had it picked, but I lose stuff, so.
02:34That's your own thing.
02:34Could be.
02:35Maybe I just don't know it.
02:36I've never been, I don't know if I've been, I've been robbed.
02:39I've been mugged.
02:40My mother was robbed.
02:41I mean, my father was at a racetrack once, and a guy was cutting his pocket with a razor.
02:46Wow, that's real.
02:47Very Italian.
02:49And he caught the guy's, you know, hand.
02:51But being, you know, mugged is, it's not as elegant as being.
02:57Sure isn't.
02:58So I might have been pickpocketed.
02:59Well, they opened her purse while we were walking in there.
03:02Wow.
03:02Yeah.
03:03But they distracted her.
03:04They did on a street corner.
03:05The whole thing.
03:06And that's, you know, when people carry, you know, cash.
03:10Because.
03:11Just like in the movie.
03:12If you card goes, you can cancel it.
03:13Yep.
03:14So were you, what was like the first inkling of the idea for this?
03:19Like, were you just thinking about like digital versus analog world?
03:24Or were you thinking about pickpocketers?
03:27I think I was thinking about, about crime.
03:30I was thinking about, you know, I was thinking about magic.
03:32I was thinking about sort of all of the incredible sort of skill that goes into being a magician,
03:41which is a very specific job that, you know, if, if it sort of has one path.
03:48And then I thought, well, what's the other path?
03:51And, and, and this is the other path, right?
03:53And, you know, and, and sort of the environment in which that has to flourish, which, you know,
03:59immediately as a New Yorker, I think, well, it's gotta be, it's gotta be in New York.
04:03It's gotta be part of that.
04:05And, you know, I know people got their pocket picked.
04:06I know people who, you know, I, you know, I know people.
04:09I was, you know, I remember being a little kid, my mom getting mugged and running after the mugger
04:15and throwing her through with the guy and grabbing her.
04:16You know, this was all like part of this sort of small crime kind of ecosystem.
04:22Um, um, which is endangered now, you know, and I started thinking about that and kind
04:27of what that, what that meant.
04:29And then the, and the, the story popped in.
04:32And you filmed in all five boroughs, right?
04:36As part of this, what, how, like how much of a, how challenging an endeavor was the like
04:44logistical production?
04:45We were off and on train sometimes that we weren't supposed to do.
04:49Like I would get on and then I would go through and then jump off and people would go like,
04:53you know,
04:53that was kind of fun.
04:54The funny part is we got, we went to, we're out, we're out of trade.
04:57We're not supposed to be on.
04:58Cause there was a train that you can, you know, there's a train you can rent.
05:01Right.
05:01And you know, there's some scenes, you know, John, you call it some scenes of that where
05:04you can, you know, keep it quiet.
05:05So in case you want to have a lone conversation, stuff like that.
05:08And as you can imagine, you know, there's a price you pay for that.
05:12Then there's just, you go on a subway with a camera and a, you know, a couple of people
05:17and you do your thing.
05:18And I remember we were on the subway.
05:20John's like, kind of like, you know, he's kind of looking around or what's he going to do?
05:24You know, and two cops get on the train.
05:26And we think to ourselves, they're going to get up.
05:29This is it.
05:30They're going to say they're going to have to confiscate the camera.
05:32They're going to tell us, we've got to go.
05:33We're going to be blacklisted.
05:35It's going to be all things.
05:37And as they get off the next stop, I just hear one cop turn to the other.
05:40He goes, told you it was him.
05:48When you, and actually I feel like don't call her.
05:49You might have a good answer for this too.
05:50When you get recognized, whether it be by an NYPD officer, just anyone, is there like,
05:56is there, do people like want to talk to you about one certain character?
05:59Or is there like a quote people always want to quote back at you when they see you?
06:04Yeah, it's an interesting thing.
06:05It's always so different, but people recognize me quite a bit from Breaking Bad, Gustavo Fring.
06:11And some people don't want to say, I know who you are.
06:15And they say, is that you?
06:18And I say, well, are you who I think you are?
06:23And I say, who do you think I am?
06:26Which is kind of like how Gustavo Fring is, right?
06:29Yeah, that's very...
06:31It's really...
06:32Have you ever been complimented for something that you weren't in?
06:35Oh yeah, the wire, all the time.
06:37I love to be in the wire.
06:38Did you say thank you?
06:40My eagle's in the right place.
06:41I go, thank you.
06:42My eagle's in the wrong place.
06:43I went in the wire.
06:44Boy, you stupid.
06:46I did compliment you on Breaking Bad this morning.
06:48You did, right.
06:49Because I watched it for the first time.
06:50That was cool.
06:50Over the break.
06:51But what you didn't ask was if any of us have ever pickpocketed someone else.
06:55Oh, well, let's get into that.
06:57Sounds like you have a confession you want to make.
06:59I'm just wondering if anyone's like me.
07:02I mean, you know.
07:03Going a little method with their preparation.
07:06I mean, when I was a bartender, I used to take all my tips and split them up everywhere.
07:13So I'd have a lot of singles and like a 5 or a 10 and put them in my shoe
07:17walking home to a bartender morning.
07:19So I wasn't...
07:20I was ready to be robbed.
07:22And I was robbed a couple of times.
07:24And I just would take a big wad of ones, you know, wrapped in a 5 and just, you know,
07:29hand it over.
07:30I was like, dig it all.
07:32I remember I was, you know, I was all distributed.
07:36So I kind of turned the table.
07:38I love it.
07:39I love it.
07:40You did.
07:40You really though, you made us nervous.
07:42I was like, we're going to have...
07:43Because he was like...
07:44Because he's studying, you know, John's studying and he's working with Apollo Robbins.
07:48Who's this very, very...
07:49He said I should do it.
07:51He said I should...
07:51Well, it was...
07:52And John would go...
07:53You did do it.
07:54I was coming home last night on the subway, you know.
07:56I was just, you know, going...
07:57Coming home.
07:58And I saw...
07:58I saw somebody's prayers.
08:00I thought, you know...
08:01I had my hands a couple of times.
08:02I could get in it, but I didn't do it.
08:04But I didn't.
08:05But I didn't.
08:06But I wouldn't.
08:06But I wouldn't.
08:07I'm like...
08:07I didn't want to get...
08:08Yeah, hurt the...
08:10So we're going to have to...
08:11I was preparing for a role for a piece I did called Kaleidoscope, where I was a guy
08:16who was kind of a technical genius and kind of the number one guy in high speed.
08:21And so I was in the Albuquerque airport and I was walking to my plane.
08:25And I thought, how stealth can I be sneaking up on someone?
08:29And I'm really light on my feet and I'm good at it.
08:30And so I noticed a lady walking at her.
08:32Her plane ticket was sticking out of her pocket.
08:34And so I got right up behind her.
08:37And I could not resist.
08:39And I just lifted her ticket right out of her pocket.
08:42And then I passed her.
08:44And then I dropped the ticket.
08:45And then she passed me.
08:46And I went, excuse me.
08:47You tapped her on the shoulder.
08:48You dropped something.
08:49And that's when I knew I had it.
08:52That's when I knew, oh, I could do this.
08:54I have the guts.
08:55Like, it was so...
08:56Your heart's pounding if you get caught.
08:58Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:58You know?
08:59And she turned around and went, oh, thank you so much.
09:01I went, you're welcome.
09:04Well, one thing that I'm asking everyone who comes in is,
09:07if you remember what your first job was that gave you a paycheck
09:12where you could buy yourself a little something
09:14and what that thing you got yourself was.
09:18First paycheck?
09:19Yeah, like your first acting role where you could go...
09:22And an actor?
09:23Yep, and you could go get yourself a...
09:25I mean, some people have said shoes.
09:26Some people have said cars.
09:27It's really varied.
09:31I was doing a...
09:34I was doing a play, an out-of-town tour
09:37of a show called Lost in the Stars
09:39that went to the Kennedy Center years ago.
09:42And this is back at Nixon era, somewhere around there.
09:45And I passed this store and they had this pair of
09:48semi-high-waisted gold pants.
09:51Yeah.
09:52It was the color of these pants
09:54and I couldn't get it off my mind.
09:55And I'm walking around at Converse, all stars.
09:59And, you know, all my money's going to pay the mortgage
10:01for my mother and my brother.
10:03But I'm in the show.
10:04And one day I found my inner lion and I went,
10:08I'm going to walk into the store.
10:09Now this is a 13-year-old kid walking into a haberdashery.
10:11And everyone turns their heads and looks at me
10:13and the guy is like, what the hell could he want?
10:18And I said, those gold pants, I'd like to try those on.
10:24And he looked at me strangely again.
10:26And I had the money.
10:30I didn't tell my mother and I bought those gold pants.
10:33Yeah.
10:33And it was the feeling of that.
10:35And when I wore them, I felt so responsible for myself,
10:38for my own style, that I finally stood up for myself
10:41and didn't give her all of my money.
10:43But I held some back and I got these gold pants.
10:45So I'll never forget.
10:46It's still in my mind today, I can see them.
10:48Wow.
10:48I don't know where they ever went,
10:50but I don't know if I ever repeated having a pair of
10:52loud gold pants like that.
10:53But it really, it's the idea of it and the thought of it,
10:57is that's the first time I did something for myself in that way.
11:00Love it.
11:01It was amazing.
11:03Oh, thanks.
11:03That's true.
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