Bob Arno and Bambi in a den of thieves—20
byBob gets cold feet. Overnight, reality began to percolate and bubble over the exhilaration of yesterday’s thieves’ challenge. By morning it was clear to…
Bob gets cold feet. Overnight, reality began to percolate and bubble over the exhilaration of yesterday’s thieves’ challenge. By morning it was clear to…
Dinner with thieves, again. But wait— there’s more! The day isn’t done. And though we want nothing more than to sit and process our…
Dinner with thieves, continued. Carafes of white wine land on the table. I join Andy and Lou and have beer. Among much laughter, the…
Dinner with thieves. It’s 3:00. The film crew’s still perfecting camera angles, lighting, and table arrangements. I’ve taken my seat as requested, so cameras…
Anticipation. Frank has RSVPed by email, with enthusiasm. But what about the others? Will they come to our dinner? I wonder about the restaurant…
Thieves find us, more. It was a big day for us, and for the whole documentary team. The lowlifers stealing Bob’s wallet, finding Marc…
Thieves find us, continued. We’re not looking for pickpockets; just busy filming pickup shots on the bus for the documentary, when known thieves Marc…
Thieves find us. “Police, police! She took my wallet!” That’s Bob screaming at ear-splitting volume. Not his usual reaction to pickpocketing! Usually, he turns…
We may have caused a divorce. Or maybe a murder. Though it’s unclear who might have killed whom. As a research expedition, the whole…
On making a documentary. As I said, you’d think a documentary is just a camera following the action—but the action must be lit and…
Day Two, Meeting with Thieves. It rained. We stood waiting in the drizzle in a park behind some kiddie carnival rides, pretty certain they…
Thiefhunting, Day One, still more. This is an old-fashioned town, lightly touched by the 21st century. Vendors ply the streets like the horse-and-buggy days…
Thiefhunting, Day One, more. We’ve been standing in the tiny coffee bar more than an hour, speaking loudly. Eventually, the owner throws us out….
Thiefhunting, Day One, continued. Bob and I were on a high, having found a talented pickpocket team on the first bus ride of our…
Thiefhunting, Day One, continued. As we synchronize our thiefhunting plans with the film crew, I’m newly appreciative of Michele, our London-based sound recordist, who…
Thiefhunting, Day One. Fully half the day is spent rigging hidden cameras. I’m wearing a button camera attached to an awful button-down shirt that…
Six of us—locked into a small, sweltering room. We’d done interviews in the convent refectory all day, first Bob, then I. Some of the…
“They’ve bugged our room,” I postulated to Bob in the taxi from the airport. “I bet they hid video cameras inside.” That aspect of…
“Are you wearing a bra?” That was one of the first sentences directed to me upon landing. We did not collect our luggage because…
Time to make an announcement. Our long-dreamed of, long-worked for project has become reality. Bob and I are making a documentary about pickpockets. The…
Bob had just made contact with the shoulder-surfing thief… Pirouetting, I went to find Kun Chang, our film director, who’d been with us all…
After such a successful meeting with Pierre the part-time-Parisian-pickpocket, our filmmaker, Kun Chang, was full of confidence. He booked a soundman and assistant for…
RAILWAY RAJ With a firm grip on the patient’s big toe, the hospital orderly entered the police inspector’s office. He carried the full weight…
While pickpocketing and bag snatching are said to be fairly common in Mumbai, Bob and I feel a visitor is less likely to become…
Iran Bob Arno here, on our recent visit to Iran. The country has been in the news lately regarding the arrests of 30 persons…
ou look like a million dallahs,” the mugger leers at Bob Arno, his gold teeth glinting in the Panamanian sun. The dozen or so…
“We do what you do,” Bob told the poker-faced pickpocket. “Same job.” Looking at his blank expression, it wasn’t clear that he understood. Perhaps…
Wondering about street crime in Nassau, Bahamas? First we witness a tourist robbery, then meet another tourist just robbed at gunpoint. We’re standing on…
Psychology is an integral part of a good cannon’s skill-set. He must be able to read the mark. More than one good pickpocket has…
Called in to pickpocket goodies from the massive Munich Oktoberfest crowd, Bob and I, just back from Japan to do a show for Monsanto…