Mr. Monday and other tales of Jewish Amsterdam

GENERAL EISENHOWER CALLED HIM ׳THE GREATEST LIVING EXPERT ON SECURITY׳

v^reste Pinto was a typical Sephardic type with dark curly hair. He was a nervous, clever boy with pale eyes. He and a young friend of his called Appie enjoyed a notorious reputation in the Jewish quarter.

People called the pair 'the two comedians' because they were always full of practical jokes. They carried out an act and divided their role-playing. Appie usually was the one who invented the practical joke, and then it was Oreste who talked somebody into being the victim. Even as a youngster, he already demonstrated that capacity which would later prove to be his fame. By instinct Oreste knew precisely the weak spots in the psychological armour of the people he met, and with complete self-assurance he always directed his attack on that weak spot.

I will give you an example of the way they went about. For instance, Appie proposed that they sell the idea to some house-wife that they had devised a way to yank the tablecloth from under the plates and dishes on her dining table without disturbing them.