Bewitched Blocks Redux by George Ledo

The most recent beautiful creation by the talented George Ledo, built exclusively for Stevens Magic Emporium, and this one is a real fooler, even for magicians!

This effect was described in Okito’s Quality Magic  as “The Bewitched Blocks,’’ and later in Okito on Magic , as “The New Bewitched Blocks.” In the latter book, Okito attributed the original idea to Adolphe Blind of Geneva, and the revision, as described in the book, to Robert Parrish.

The current version of the Bewitched Blocks addresses some of the issues apparent in the first versions and provides a more naturl handling the props.

The prop was designed in a Victorian, rather than an Oriental, style, to make it more visually suitable to different types of performances nowadays. However, the materials used, and the overall look, also lend themselves to a contemporary setting. There is no need to refer to it as a Victorian piece.

Effect: The conjurer brings forward on a tray, twenty-six wooden blocks, two inches square. On each block are six different letters of the alphabet. The blocks can be thoroughly examined. Bringing forward a writing pad, the conjurer invites someone to write on it any word of eight letters. The conjurer then shows an oblong cabinet (See Fig. 1). This cabinet has eight partitions, and the conjurer puts eight blocks into the cabinet and closes the door. The cabinet is then hung up in the center of the stage by means of the chains at the end. The conjurer asks the person who wrote the word, if he will kindly tell the audience what the word was. The front door of the cabinet is opened and the audience see that the blocks have mysteriously arranged themselves in the right order; they now spell out the word written on the pad.

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