Bob Arno

 

Time Magazine called him "the world's foremost expert on the techniques of first-rank 'wires.' " Hey -- they said it, we didn't. But years of research and Bob's fascination with real street crime have made him an authority frequently consulted by police, security experts, and television producers. So it must be true.

As a lifelong observer of human social signals, it is Bob Arno's skill at "reading people" that steers him on stage and off. His uncanny ability to decipher body language has enabled him to identify and track actual thieves out in the real world, and capture their crimes on film.

The word "unconventional" defines Bob Arno both on stage and off. He did magic as a kid, as many kids do, but he stuck with it, as most kids don't. He started performing as a teenager and, as his gigs took him to evermore exotic locations, combined performing with freelance photography.

From magician to scoundrel. It was on a photojournalism project in Southeast Asia that Bob Arno ventured into the depths of an underground subculture. Working on assignment for a series on swindles in the Asian marketplace, he tailed shortchange artists, pickpockets, and fake-jewelry hustlers, whose main targets were GIs on R&R leave. His exposés caught the attention of the U.S. Military and he was asked to give lectures on the subject. His presentations, complete with demos and comedy, were so well-received he took his "act" into show business. Today, his peripatetic lecture-show has been seen by millions all over the world.

Born in Sweden, Bob Arno is a great-grandson of Dr. Axel Munthe, who is most famous for his novel The Story of San Michele. Dr. Munthe was physician to the royalty of Europe, and controversial in his time for his methods which would today be considered holistic healing. Villa San Michele, the palatial home Dr. Munthe built for himself on a mountain top on the Italian island of Capri, is now a creativity retreat for Swedish artists.

As class clown, it was perhaps predictable that at only age 25 Bob Arno would give his first royal command performance, for Princess Margaret. He has since performed for kings, queens, presidents, sultans, and enthusiastic connoisseurs of comedy everywhere. As a descendant of minor nobility himself, performing for these tough audiences does not make him nervous.

His eccentric nature began to show during his Swedish military obligation, during which he repeatedly went AWOL for paid performances. These local gigs enabled him to hire his own cook and avoid eating military slop. He still takes a ribbing for this by those who knew him then. But eating well has remained a passion and a pleasure, and a pursuit through a hundred countries. Not that you'd think so, looking at his 6´5¨, 165-pound build!

Other obsessions: tennis, he's a great player; and information, he's an absolute junkie. Every spare moment is spent reading, and copious notes on endless subjects are stored in his peripheral brain -- namely, his computer.

American now, but with a European education, Bob speaks English, Swedish, German, and French. He's married and has an adult daughter.