Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Discuss the latest news and rumors in the magic world.
Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 20th, 2007, 9:28 am

What was the quality of magic like in the castle notebooks Mr Rosenthal, and how understandable is Cervon's descriptions and hand writing? Thanks.

Harvey Rosenthal
Posts: 104
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Montgomery Village, MD—USA

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Harvey Rosenthal » November 20th, 2007, 6:35 pm

The Cervon descriptions are generally pretty understandable.

Larry Horowitz
Posts: 448
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: L.A.

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Larry Horowitz » November 20th, 2007, 8:47 pm

Bruce told me that he was very meticulous in transcribing the notes as soon as he would get home from the castle.

As believe these notes will be very understandable.

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 21st, 2007, 7:42 am

Great news. L&L has sent an email saying the the Castle Notebooks has been shipped. If I had any willpower I'd put it under the tree and wait till Christmas.

In any event, Christmas will arrive early this year. Happy Holiday Everyone!

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 21st, 2007, 12:06 pm

L&L has sent an email saying the the Castle Notebooks has been shipped
Thanks, neighbor, on the update, though I haven't heard from L&L...looking forward to getting my copy.

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 21st, 2007, 8:02 pm

**Correction**

Sorry George, false alarm. The other two books I ordered were shipped. The website didn't provide details about the shipped order.

Ah, patience, patience.

My apologies to all.

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 22nd, 2007, 1:01 am

My email says they are aiming to ship by dec 10th.

Gordon Bean
Posts: 46
Joined: January 21st, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Niskayuna, NY
Contact:

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Gordon Bean » November 24th, 2007, 6:20 pm

Bruce Cervon is one of the great sleight-of-hand artists of all time, and his record of the Castles golden era has no real rival as an unseen magical treasure trove.

Once when I was working on an original effect, Bruce came down to the Castle library and dropped off a related item of his from the notebooks. Apart from being typically excellent, it was fully and clearly explained, with helpful illustrations.

I think people will be very surprised and excited by the both the strength of material and the level of detail in these books. And certainly Linda Cervon will produce nothing less than the first-class presentation Bruce would have wanted.

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 24th, 2007, 8:30 pm

I tend to agree with Gordon. Bruce always put out a top notch effort and the quality simply escaped the needs or recognition of most magic consumers. I think the notebooks would be of interest to historians and those of the Magic Castle 'school of magic' - i.e. Vernon, Cervon, Jennings etc... the ones that centered themselves in 'the Mecca'. When I watched Bruce one could just tell he had far more 'A' material than he could put into one show.

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 29th, 2007, 10:26 am

First off, Jon, lacuna, what a great word. One of the reasons I like reading what you write is because of the large lexicon that you have, I always know I'm going to learn a new word or two(something that I love to do). Can't wait to read more.

Second, Richard, it may have been touched on above but you said that all of Jennings material is on audio cassette. You made some comment that you could have just transfered the material to a CD and put it out like that. While I appreciate the fact that you have taken your time to write the material correctly and I will be buying a copy, what I would like to say is that if you haven't already considered putting the tapes on CD and making that available to the magic community I think that it would be a great idea. I would love to listen to Jennings describing his own material, I think it might give people like me, those that weren't fortunate enough to have met him, a little more insight into who he really was. Anyways just a thought, I know I'd buy a copy.

Brandon

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » December 10th, 2007, 7:54 pm

I just got an email from L&L saying my copy has shipped.

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » December 10th, 2007, 8:50 pm

Just got #168/500 from UPS and it's a very nicely put together publication. Glad Bruce's handwritten notes are clear to read (all non-cursive clear lettering throughout) and illustration are well done, too. All is nicely indexed...a classic, for sure.

User avatar
Richard Kaufman
Posts: 27056
Joined: July 18th, 2001, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Theodore DeLand
Location: Washington DC
Contact:

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » December 10th, 2007, 9:49 pm

While I might put a few of Larry's verbal descriptions onto a CD or website just so the reader of the books can get a sense of what it was like, Larry's descriptions are difficult to work through.

He often said "left" when he meant "right" and vice versa. He also often relied on the fact that I had listened to many other cassettes of material (as well as sitting with him for many many hours) in my ability to decipher what he was talking about.

I shot about 18 hours of videotape of Larry, and I may use clips of him doing certain sleights when the books are eventually turned into ebooks some years in the future.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

User avatar
Ryan Matney
Posts: 978
Joined: January 18th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Abingdon, Va
Contact:

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Ryan Matney » December 10th, 2007, 11:06 pm

Richard,

I have a copy of the collector's edition of 'Jennings '67' If you do a collectors edition of Mr. Jennings takes it Easy', a cd with Larry describing 2-3 tricks would be a really cool "extra". Or maybe even a short dvd like Todd Karr does with a little footage you shot.

Will we get any sense of Jenning's opinions of tricks and types of magic, and what he thought of other performers in any of the upcoming books?
Get the Dirty Work - Available now at http://www.ryanmatneymagic.com

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » December 11th, 2007, 3:01 am

I completely agree - a DVD of some of the stuff, to go along with the deluxe, or regular edition would be a fantastic bonus. As long as it wasn't over-hyped in the marketing, I'd guess that most people would welcome it.

User avatar
Richard Kaufman
Posts: 27056
Joined: July 18th, 2001, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Theodore DeLand
Location: Washington DC
Contact:

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » December 11th, 2007, 8:00 am

It's always an issue of cost: Todd Karr is including a DVD or CD in deluxe editions of books that cost over $300! The Jennings book will be under $100, despite its massive size.

So, the question is, do I cut out a dozen tricks from the book to save 32 pages (a signature) in order to pay for a CD that is going to duplicate material in the book? Personally, I'd rather have that dozen extra tricks in the book.

But, I'll keep in mind as publication draws closer.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

User avatar
Ryan Matney
Posts: 978
Joined: January 18th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Abingdon, Va
Contact:

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Ryan Matney » December 11th, 2007, 9:23 am

I'd probably rather have the tricks if it came down to that.

But I am planning on buying the deluxe edition of 'Takes it Easy' to match my deluxe 'Jennings 67' so I expect to pay over $100 for it.

Assuming you are going to do another deluxe edition?
Get the Dirty Work - Available now at http://www.ryanmatneymagic.com

User avatar
Richard Kaufman
Posts: 27056
Joined: July 18th, 2001, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Theodore DeLand
Location: Washington DC
Contact:

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » December 11th, 2007, 10:37 am

Jennings gladly signed pages for deluxe editions of all three planned books before he died. So, providing I can get small numbers of slip cases made, there will be deluxe editions. The company who used to make slip cases for me in small lots (50 to 100) long ago stopped doing less than 500. All of mine were actually done by hand, and now companies will only produce large quantities by machine.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » December 11th, 2007, 11:12 am

Slipcases are a nice extra, but for me the book is the thing. Really looking forward to it Richard.

Tom

User avatar
Richard Kaufman
Posts: 27056
Joined: July 18th, 2001, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Theodore DeLand
Location: Washington DC
Contact:

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » December 11th, 2007, 1:52 pm

For me, it's hard to sell an edition as "deluxe" unless there's a slip case.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » December 11th, 2007, 3:23 pm

It's odd that the cover on the new Castle Notebook follows the same design (and price range) as the Deluxe Collector's editions of the Vernon Chronicles, but no slip case was considered for the series. :confused:

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » December 11th, 2007, 3:37 pm

Have you read any of the material in the Castle Notebooks yet Mr Guerra? If you have what's your opinion of it? Has anyone else got their copy yet?

Mike Rozek
Posts: 59
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Whittier, CA

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Mike Rozek » December 11th, 2007, 3:50 pm

I've spent maybe 20 minutes with the copy that arrived yesterday. So far, it's a fascinating read.

The only complaint that I have is that the book was packed, unwrapped, in newspaper. There are several places where the ink from the newspaper transferred to the edges of the book's paper. It's not how I would have packed a $200.00 book for shipment, but I'm happy to have a copy regardless.

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » December 11th, 2007, 4:15 pm

I also noted the same on my book...some of ink from the newspaper also transferred on the edges of the book's paper. It was a little annoying, but can be cleaned off, I guess.

I did read one routine near the end...a Vernon coin and silk effect that was not only an interesting piece of magic, but very thoroughly worked out and explained with variations included. It caught my attention as most of the material is on cards.

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » December 11th, 2007, 4:37 pm

Is there only Vernon tricks in the Castle Notebooks or are there more Magicians?

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » December 14th, 2007, 12:09 pm

Anyone else receive their copy of the Castle Notebooks yet? I'm anxious to hear feedback.

User avatar
David Scollnik
Posts: 287
Joined: January 19th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Calgary

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby David Scollnik » December 14th, 2007, 12:41 pm

Do the Cervon notebooks contain 'just' descriptions of tricks and sleights, or do they also contain reviews of performers / news of the day / gossip / diary-style notes?

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » December 14th, 2007, 1:27 pm

I received mine today so no review yet but at first glance I thought mine came in damaged. The Gold foil image of Bruce on the cover has what looks like a scratch in it but turns out it's supposed to represent his bolo tie.
Looks like a scratch, otherwise the production looks first rate.

Jeff Pierce

User avatar
Richard Kaufman
Posts: 27056
Joined: July 18th, 2001, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Theodore DeLand
Location: Washington DC
Contact:

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » December 14th, 2007, 2:32 pm

To the best of my recollection, it's only tricks.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

Brad Henderson
Posts: 4547
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: austin, tx

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Brad Henderson » December 14th, 2007, 4:49 pm

I agree about the packaging. No reason for a $200 book to have dirty edges. Also, were the original notes on 8.5 x 11 pages? If so, then I am disappointed they were "shrunk" to allow for the header on each page. I would have rather had a larger image and easier readability. If they were reproduced at size, then it is what it is.

I can say there is some good material in here. But it will not be an easy read. The images could have been cleaned up to make them more legible.

Brad

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » December 14th, 2007, 5:19 pm

Re: legibility it sounds like about what I expected.

Wish Richard would quit posting on here and get the Jennings books done.

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » December 14th, 2007, 9:16 pm

Re: the Jennings book. I'd pay extra for all the tricks and the cd. It's worth paying over $100 for the whole shebang.

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » December 16th, 2007, 11:18 am

Has anyone else got their copy yet? Still waiting here in the United Kingdom for mine.

Rick Ruhl
Posts: 686
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Rialto, Ca

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Rick Ruhl » December 17th, 2007, 10:27 am

Got mine today. Seems that Bruce was a very good documentator. I was quite pleased to see detailed descriptions of the effects and references to other effecs by date. Seems he'd go back to eariler notebooks and put references into later notebooks.

Terry
Posts: 1303
Joined: January 18th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Kentucky

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Terry » December 17th, 2007, 3:23 pm

Arrived in KY today.

Can't say much about it as the wife is wrapping it up as a Christmas gift.

With my 1/2 timers, I stand a good chance of remembering what it is. . . . . . .

Rick Ruhl
Posts: 686
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Rialto, Ca

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Rick Ruhl » December 17th, 2007, 8:35 pm

Im curious what everyone's number is. Mine is #296, so I wonder how close to being sold out it is.

Evan Shuster
Posts: 983
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Seattle
Contact:

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Evan Shuster » December 17th, 2007, 8:40 pm

I ordered on November 16th and received book #362.

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » December 18th, 2007, 7:37 am

Mine is #333 (arrived 12/13)

User avatar
Richard Kaufman
Posts: 27056
Joined: July 18th, 2001, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Theodore DeLand
Location: Washington DC
Contact:

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » December 18th, 2007, 8:06 am

I'm not interested in having a boring number callout, so please cease and desist now. If you have something interesting to say about the contents of the book, please proceed.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » December 18th, 2007, 8:34 am

Assuming the orders are being filled in numerical progression (and that may not be the case, though I would have done so, with exceptions for those requesting certain numbers... Jay Marshall always asked for #69, for example), then it seems to be selling quite well.


Return to “Buzz”