The Genii Forum

Hi,
I am hoping someone might direct me to anyplace I might find a little history on Alain Caboote and his acrobat Ioni. The last I heard of him was at the Garden in NY in 1981. It seems that I saw him perform on a Dick Clark Variety show in the late 1970's. At one time, someone had a video for sale on Ebay from a 1979 Ventriloquist show that featured Ioni, but I forgot to bid. Any place I might see a photo or video?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you,
veegates

Was it Caboote or Cabooter?

Hi Joe,
The press clippings and any other info has him as Caboote.
Thank you!

I saw an act,maybe this act, at the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas in the late 1968 to 1970. I remember the act as being introduced as the Great Iononi.

On stage was a horizontal metal pole suspended much like a child's swing set. He came out with the puppet and placed it on the bar. It would go through a few routines but always seemed to be holding on to the bar. The operator was to the left of the bar under a cloth much like an old photographer would use. You could not see how he operated the mechanisim. Then the puppet would let go. The applause thundered.

Hi Geno,
That is the act. I wish I could find out more about the man. I wonder what happened to him?
Thanks again!
veegates

Veegates;
I'd check with the folks at the Univ. Of Nevada library. Here's a sample of the types of materials available. You are just not looking in the right place.

Sample:
http://library.nevada.edu/speccol/ead/2001-05_Arden.xml

Please keep us posted on what you discover.
Jim

The puppet act was called "IONI" and when he worked at the It's Magic Show, he invited me backstage to look at the details of the incredible puppet. I took lots of photographs, and gave them, as I always did, to Bill Larsen for Genii, and I never got them back.

John Gaughan has the Robert-Houdin puppet and has performed it a few times.

I have a DVD of the Paul Daniels show with Ioni on it (so, luckily, I have the whole act). Ironically, someone was asking about it on a UK forum last year. Given the time it came from, it's incredible to watch...

I worked with him in 1985 in Aruba. Got to watch him step into his 'wizard behind the curtain' command post every night. I remember him so well. Woke up thinking about his this morning and googled him - and here we are.

Yeah - what a gentleman. I'm thinking that contract was one of the last he ever did. His Parkinson disease was getting very bad toward the end of the run. He could basically take his meds and then stop shaking long enough to do that very delicate act.

I visited him at his home in France in '88 or thereabouts. Lost touch with him and I assume he has passed away. Have a great photo of him in our dressing room spinning a ball on his finger. He was a juggler back in the day.

Barry Friedman
Raspyni Brothers