All these episodes have been digitally restored and remastered. Each episode has had the major clicks, pops, and distortions removed while preserving the vintage sound.
- Murder on Stage
Rebuffed by Rhoda and angry at Blackstone, stage assistant Steve tries to murder Blackstone and Rhoda. Can the Magic Detective escape his water tank in time to keep Steve from strangling Rhoda!
Don challenges Blackstone to name a card before Don chooses instead of after...Blackstone does and then teaches the audience how to as well! Originally broadcast 12/26/1948
- The Midway Robberies
When Don asks about Blackstone's automata Ajab Junior, he learns about his abilities to play chess and how he once helped Blackstone and Rhoda solve a crime. Can this amazing figure actually play chess?
The classic broken and restored match using a handkerchief is then taught to end the episode. Originally broadcast 01/02/1949
- The Frozen Lady
Don's interest in escapes and vanishes leads Blackstone to tell the story of a competition between magicians and of Genghis the fake swami. When he freezes a young woman named Emma in a block of ice, he tries to extort her mother into bringing her spirit back. Of course, he did not count on Blackstone's intervention!
Blackstone then picks two selected cards from a pack that has been mixed in a hat. Originally broadcast 01/09/1949
- The Hooded Rider
After Blackstone helps the police clean up a gambling ring, he starts to receive threatening letters. What will happen when the head mobster, Big Ben Westminster, turns up in the audience?
After Don decides performing Blackstone's Hooded Rider trick is not right for him, Blackstone teaches us a much safer trick to do at home with a handkerchief. Originally broadcast 01/16/1949
- The Phantom Intermezzo
Don has been reading, much to Rhoda's amusement, a book about ghosts and asks Blackstone if he has ever seen one. This leads to a story about how Blackstone revealed the sinister plot of yet another phony medium.
Blackstone then teaches you a very simple way to select a certain billet from a hat without looking! Originally broadcast 01/23/1949
- The Vanishing Pearls
Anybody can catch fish in water, but this episode begins with Blackstone catching goldfish out of the air. It is a great trick that he once had to use to catch a thief.
Once the story is finished, Blackstone lifts an ice cube out of a glass without touching the ice cube with his fingers. Originally broadcast 01/30/1949
Or buy all 56 episodes:
Blackstone Detective.
Listen along to the thrilling adventures of Blackstone, the Magic Detective. Each week he will solve a variety of mysteries with magic. Along with his main assistant, the beautiful Rhoda Brent (voiced by Fran Carlon) and their radio announcers Alan Kent and Don Hancock (or here and there John, played by Ted Osborne, who may be Rhoda's boyfriend) we get to hear thrilling inside stories about the mementos he has collected when solving fantastic crimes or the magic apparatus Blackstone has used to solve them. Then, Blackstone lets us in on the magic we can do at home and "reveal the guarded secrets of the world's greatest living magician!"
The truth is, of course, that they are all simple little tricks, sometimes little more than barbets. In fact, Blackstone is not even the real Blackstone but veteran radio actor Ed Jerome. Many episodes were written by Walter Gibson, though, with Nancy Webb penning the rest. These are great stories for magicians and anyone who appreciates the exciting, if sometimes a bit sensational, storytelling found in old time radio.
At one time, there were as many as 78 episodes. However, about two dozen have been lost over the years. This represents the most complete collection known to exist, minus the so-called Shark Island Story, which is sometimes represented as an episode from an unknown date. It is actually The Voodoo Treasure.
If you like these kinds of stories you might also be interested in The Blackstone Magic Comics which feature also Blackstone using his magic knowledge to defeat the thieves and other criminals.
