Designer: P.T. Selbit

The Selbit Mystery was a stage within a stage. There was a center drop painted to resemble a proscenium of a theater with the inside cut away. Well behind this proscenium was a backdrop painted to resemble a riverside scene with flamingo-like birds (work of the artist Rene Bull). A wooden cabinet, 30 inches cubed, rested on four bamboo legs which all rested on a base of bamboo, giving the entire illusion a lightweight and fragile appearance. The box was about 4 feet from the stage edge and was well away from the backdrop. One unusual feature is that there were two angled mirrors set at the rear corners to give the audience a view of the rear of the prop during the performance. Cords were arranged so that the four sides of the box could be dropped simultaneously and quickly.

Selbit would commence with a short talk on spiritualism and psychic phenomena. He then demonstrated how to open and close the cabinet with the cord. He showed the cabinet empty and immediately showed it contained a large vase of flowers which an assistant then dispersed among the audience.

Selbit then used “spirit slates” tied together in the cabinet alongside a selected newspaper headline. Opening the slates after a few moments, Selbit revealed a chalked headline on the inner surface of the slates.

Next a rough stone block was placed into the cabinet and a celebrity name was chosen from a list. Noises once again came from inside the cabinet and it was opened to reveal a chiseled likeness of the celebrity.

Selbit next showed the familiar ringing of bells and banging of tambourines within the cabinet and used a bit of comedy when one of his assistants approached the cabinet. Upon reaching the cabinet wall, a hand came through a small door in the side and pushed the assistant flat on his back.

The demonstration concluded with several productions of young ladies inside the cabinet. Selbit then entered the cabinet to show how small it was inside. An assistant closed the doors on him and he appeared in moments in the wings! Going back to the cabinet, he opened it once more to reveal a larger girl inside.

It is important to note that while the full details of the method were never published, it was likely not accomplished in the same manner as the “Million Dollar Mystery” which wasn’t invented for another 20 years. The actual method was likely “discovered” and revealed in PT Selbit: Magical Innovator.

Selbit wrote his own press notes and the notes published in April of 1909 were as follows: “Something new in the world of wonders was privately staged for the first time at the Bedford Theatre (London) on April 5th (1909). it was worked by six people, and was so successful that it would continue to top the bill at that theatre twice nightly up to April 11th. The illusion was ‘The Selbit Mystery.’

While it may have topped the bill at Bedford, it certainly did not do so at later stagings in first class theaters, advertised for September 20th at the London Coliseum with a troupe of performing dogs getting a more prominent billing! Regardless, Sir Edward Moss was sufficiently impressed and offered Selbit a full month at Waverley Carnival in Edinburgh beginning Christmas Day.

The Variety newspaper of London wrote in April of 1909 after Selbit’s Bedford Palace run: “The Selbit Mystery” is more of a travesty on spiritualism than anything else. There is an ordinary magician’s cabinet on four legs that does the work of the spirits. Selbit is a good “kidder” and his talking ought to carry the act through.

Again in the Variety, it mentions in the Nov issue: “The Selbit Mystery,” an illusion which appeared at the Coliseum a few weeks ago, is booked for a run around the De Frece circuit and the Stoll Tour.