I understand that the way typical lockpicking works, is to keep rotational pressure on the cylinder, and gently push up each of the tumblers until they catch at the seam (since the cylinder pushing against them separates them just enough to prevent the tumbler from falling back down).
It's a more sophisticated system than people give it credit for, and it's much more difficult to pick a lock with just a hairpin than they make it look on television, although I don't think it's impossible, it's very tricky.