James Freedman’s pitch is pretty straightforward. He surely has his eye on becoming the Derren Brown of showbiz pickpockets. His performance in Man of Steal is a showcase for some pretty amazing light fingers and some pretty corny but pleasing patter.

The unflashy Freedman looks more like an accountant on a night off, but he has plenty of charm and is clearly a master of his art. A few quick demonstrations warm the crowd up. The history of "fingersmiths" and the precise terminology – different names for each pocket, etc – is fascinating.

But the opening could do with a bit of tweaking. He introduces us to his onstage dummy Fred that he uses to practice on and then does a gentle routine to classical music with it, pulling out wallets and wads at will. It is undeniably elegant, but surely the thrill of pickpocketing is doing it to real human beings without them knowing. Pickpocketing a mannequin is, well, for dummies.

Never fear though, he soon moves on to unwitting victims, after some public service advice as he fiddles with people’s wallets and points out the do’s and don’ts of where to keep your money, cards and keys. The advice is useful and there are plenty of Derren Brown-ish memory skills on display here too.

It is towards the end though, that Man of Steal really gathers momentum when Freedman gets a couple of audience members onstage and does a pickpocketing routine that probably dates back generations. I felt that I’d seen it almost trick-for-trick on the Royal Variety Performance a very long time ago but it was still great fun to see again. And the newer, more hi-tech – no spoilers please – finale that followed was even better.

At times Freedman's act feels more like something suited to a guest spot than a full show in its own right. But then I might have said the same about Derren Brown when I first saw him and he hasn’t done too badly. Maybe I’m the dummy.

Man of Steal is at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Tickets and dates here.