Blackstone, The Magic Detective
Cast your minds back to the late forties. A completely
different world of entertainment. Radio was king and TV was
only slowly beginning to percolate into the public awareness.
If you were like most people at the time if you wanted to see
a good show you went out to one of the numerous night clubs.
At this time the world of magic still held that indescribable
air of mystery. The Orient and the far east still seemed so
foreign and far away. The mere mention of a Magician who had
travelled and studied in the Orient was the guarantee of a
breath taking show. Stage Magic is visual it is the art of
misdirection that makes the experience seem real. How could
you possibly take a stage Magician and put him on the radio?
you can't see the tricks whats the hook?
First choose Blackstone The Magician as your character he was
a popular and famous Magician at the time, next get Walter
Gibson and Nancy Webb to write the show. They came up with the
interesting idea of having Blackstone act as a sort of magical
detective who would solve mysteries involving magic.
Each show finds the announcer Don Hancock (Later replaced by
Alan Kent) backstage or at Blackstones studio. The announcer
played the uninitiated, the every Joe who saw magic and wanted
to know more. This was a clever plot device as it allowed the
announcer to ask the type of questions we might ask if we had
access to a Magician and a studio full of magic props. You see
? a very clever way of getting us caught up in the show. A
show usually happened like this, Don or Alan would see a prop
or object of interest and ask the question "Whats this, it
looks interesting does it have a story" Rhoda, Blackstones
assistant would say "oh yes that object is very interesting,
why a few weeks ago Blackstone solved a robbery case using
that object". Then Blackstone would silently enter and
surprise both Rhoda and the announcer. Rhoda would encourage
Blackstone to tell the tale. And thus we were into the show.
It is easy to listen to this show and miss that it is so well
written or that the plot devices are so genuinely clever. Much
credit has to be given to Edwin Jerome who plays Blackstone he
had an excellent voice and talks in a contained patter that is
the mark of an experienced Magician. This show was 15 minutes
long and under less adept writing and directing might have
been contrite. The shows always involved mystical objects like
"whispering Buddhas" or "The Coin Of Cleopatra" we were
hooked, it had everything magic, mystery and a sense of
danger. In many shows Blackstones life was in danger but in
the end Blackstone would explain that there never was any real
danger as he was never where the villian thought he was. Rhoda
the assistant provided the "what do we do now Blackstone" that
kept us informed. Blackstone would explain just enough of what
he was going to do to build the tension, at the climax of the
show all would be stunned and Blackstone would calmly explain
what happened. And as an added bonus for the kids he would
come back at the end of each show and explain a simple trick
that we the folks at home could perform with ease. I have
tried some of the tricks some work as advertised others baffle
me.
The show ran from 1948 to 1950 of the many shows broadcast 53
shows exist I have all of these shows and I have played them
many, many times. I especially like the funky magical organ
introduction to the show. Very well done.
Blackstone The Magic Detective
Blackstone: Edwin Jerome
Rhoda: Fran Carlon
Announcer: Don Hancock, Alan Kent
Writers: Walter Gibson, Nancy Webb
Director:
Producer:
Format: 15 minute complete story per episode
Broadcast Dates: 1948-50
Exisiting Shows: 53