History
At age 15, Arno began performing magic at youth centers in his native Sweden and was successful enough to tour the country for several years. He briefly experimented with hypnotism before settling on pickpocketing, having been inspired by "Dominique" Risbourg, the reigning pickpocket performer of the time. When Dominique had an extended run in Stockholm in 1956, he solicited the local Magic Circle for an assistant, and Arno volunteered.
From age 20 to 23, Arno toured Asia with his pickpocket show, working nightclubs and U.S. military bases. From 23 to 25 he toured across Europe working nightclubs and theaters. At 25 he worked for two months at the Latin Quarter (nightclub) in New York, which began his career in America. He worked steadily from then on, mostly in casino revues, moving from Atlantic City to the Caribbean to Canada to Las Vegas. In 1992, after many years in Las Vegas and three years (1990–1992) in the Jubilee! show at Bally's Casino there, he quit his casino revue career in order to travel with his wife. Cruise ships served a triple purpose in the 1990s: a steady income as a performing venue; exotic world travel; and putting Arno in the middle of huge tourist crowds, which is generally where pickpockets operate. These crowds, primarily in the great cities of Europe, but also in Asia, Africa, and South America, were the inspiration for Arno's criminal pickpocket research. The study soon became the motivation for further cruise ship engagements.
The 1990s also saw Arno in theater productions. He starred in his own show with Swedish comedian John Houdi at Berns Salonger in Stockholm, performed at the Lido in Amsterdam, at Liseberg and Gröna Lund in Sweden, at theaters in Sydney, and at Sun City, North West. He also began performing at private corporate events, which is currently his main focus along with keynote speaking and law enforcement training.
In 2008 he toured as part of a stage show called Hoodwinked with Banachek, Todd Robbins and Richard Turner.
He was featured in the Just for Laughs Comedy Tour of 2010, along with Jeremy Hotz, Robert Kelly, Ryan Hamilton, and Gina Yashere.
Read more about this topic: Bob Arno
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