The first round involves a very literal whittling down of the entrants - each thumb pick is trimmed to fit the Platonic (Boy Wonderic maybe?) ideal of a thumb pick, and we start to get to know the contestants and learn a little bit about them. Occasionally the trimming involves an injury on the Boy Wonder's part which makes it easy to work out which one has the tragic but heart-warming tale of adversity well and truly overcome with which to engage the audience's sympathy.
Round two is an exercise in polishing the product - the picks are filed down to give a smooth playing edge and checked for uniformity of shape.
Round three is gruelling for all the contestants - each pick is scored several times across its inner surface before having ground up bow rosin pressed into the grooves.
Round four is the most competitive part of the process - each thumb pick is tried out, with a chance to be used to play for a short period to ascertain whether they are fit for purpose.
Round five is the makeover - it's very rare that any of the contestants don't make it through the final round, but there is always a pecking order, and this is where the makeover comes in. Each pick is decorated in a unique design picked out in permanent marker, so that the Boy Wonder can identify his favourites when examining the contents of his hand after scrabbling in his pocket for a pick. The favourite is used almost exclusively to start with, and the others follow suit until, through loss or overuse, they are all deemed impractical and the process begins again.
Not surprisingly, this exercise would usually be of little or no interest to a spectator, which goes some way to explaining why I can often be found providing interesting facts about the contestants while he works. It stops me getting bored and makes me feel as though I am supporting all aspects of the Boy Wonder's musical career.
