Too much good stuff in there! However, one of my favorites that I've already put in to practice is in chapter 36: The Handshake.

"Let's try that again."

Hurrah! This will be great! And I think your odds will be fairly good...

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Official Entrants

yin_howe: Chapter 32~ The Big Secret
Jmolomagic: Chapter 12~ Starting Conversations
Gianluca Hayes: Chapter 50~ Busted
Randy B: Chapter 58~ Remembering Names
smullins: Chapter 43~ Highs and Lows
Nate Green: Chapter 36~ The Handshake

All you need to do to enter is pick up copy of The Approach and write down your favourite chapter! That's it! I'll do a draw from these names and someone will win any one of my products plus a hundred dollars cashola! Fun!

Draw will be held on Dec.15
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And since this contest is about getting a conversation going, I'm going to try and comment a bit on people's selections. Nate, for example, it's crazy how often I do that one! Why do people try and shake hands like that, lol. But I did exactly what I said about a week ago. Everyone laughed and it didn't happen again!

And Randy B, it's funny how much just stopping and taking a second actually helps. We're always in such a rush to get introductions done. Why? I take my time.

Chapter Number: 95

Chapter Title: Busking

There's a line in that chapter that completely resonated with me.

Reminded me a bit of "Habit," a wonderful essay by writer David Mamet, from his book "True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor."

It's like life advice, even more than just for practice & performance.

I haven't finished reading "The Approach" yet but I really enjoyed Chapters 4 & 5 on how to practice and the idea of "Magic Fridays". Implementing that advice has been occupying my mind of late. I think it's great advice for getting comfortable working with the type of clientele I want to ultimately work with. Doing restaurant magic at a family restaurant to practice can be very useful but also has some real limitations in terms of the type of material you can practice and hone.

Couldn't agree more: the Approach is not only applicable for magicians but for any performer (well really its even good for non-performers if you just want to learn a trick or 2 while improving on your presentation and social skills)

Remembering names has always been an issue but thanks to this (as well as Dee's "How to improve your memory in 10 minutes") it makes it much easier to retrieve this information and as we all know as performers we strive to create a connection rather than get reactions (I loved that part of the approach; well said Jamie; put beautifully). Not only is this good for names but its good for all kinds of memory feats - you could even apply those to memorising a deck in 2 minutes (well done on that!) as taking ones time is so important - it helps keep us calm as well. You don't want to rush it.

Hope this starts some conversation.

Draft copy #44 here - Picking a favourite chapter from this book is difficult as I absolutely love this book but I think my favourite chapter has to be 'Conquering Nerves' (chapter 25)...
Thanks again Jamie for being such an inspiration.

Hey!

Draft Copy #43

Favorite chapter - all of them! To name one is difficult, but I would say 7 - Website. It has way more quality info than just about website.

Hiya Jamie!

Draft #89

To many to choose from... one of the many:

Chapter 46 - Saying Goodbye To A Group

"I have to go but just yell at me if you want to see more." -JDG

Chapter 32
Why... It's a secret ;-)

This contest is harder than I thought it would be. I got a draft copy awhile ago and read it through right away. So much good information all throughout this book! I wanted to say chapter 32 - The Big Secret was my favorite. It did make me laugh a bit and made sooo much sense! Since that is kindda what most people are saying, I'll choose chapter 42 - The First Words I say as my entry. In a way it goes hand in hand with chapter 32 (as I guess the rest of the book does as well), but I had to change what I said when I "Approach" people after reading that chapter.

Just received the book today and I read it cover to cover, which is incredible for me I have the attention span of a 4 year old, I bought this book as I have just started to perform to strangers and wanted to get some real world advice and that's exactly what I got and it can apply to so many aspects of magic. this book is also a way of developing a career in magic. as for a favourite chapter I would have to say chapter 4 about practise as its something you don't really get taught in other books and there is an aspect to my practice which I missed out and shall now be including thanks to this book. thank you so much jamie for writing this book its awesome

Official Entrants

yin_howe: Chapter 32~ The Big Secret
Jmolomagic: Chapter 12~ Starting Conversations
Gianluca Hayes: Chapter 50~ Busted
Randy B: Chapter 58~ Remembering Names
smullins: Chapter 43~ Highs and Lows
Nate Green: Chapter 36~ The Handshake
willtupper: Chapter 95~ Busking
robvh: Chapter 5~ Magic Fridays
moshiman: Chapter 25~ Conquering Nerves
TomasSimkus: Chapter 7~ Website
Bobby Puga: Chapter 46~ Saying Goodbye To A Group
Tommytallica: Chapter 32~ The Big Secret
matthewwhitt2: Chapter 32~ The Big Secret
Torquay22: Chapter 4~ How to Practice

All you need to do to enter is pick up copy of The Approach and write down your favourite chapter! That's it! I'll do a draw from these names and someone will win any one of my products plus a hundred dollars cashola! Fun!

Draw will be held on Dec.15
______________________________________________________________________________



I have to say that if "Magic Friday" is the one thing I was remembered for in the magic community- it would be worth it, lol. It was one of my greatest ideas:

1) It gets you impressions.
2) It helps you practice all aspects of magic.
3) It builds a following.

How many of y'all have started doing it? Any stories to share?

~jamie

Jamie, I actually went with chapter 42 - The First Words I Say. I don't know how much which chapter we pick matters, but just incase.

I have been doing magic Friday for last couple of months and it has been so much fun. My co workers and friends get excited and like to remind me that magic Fridays are coming up during the week. It's a great time to practice and get feedback before I even consider putting it in to my working set.

Jmolomagic, what do you do for a living? I'm curious what kind of environments these Magic Fridays are happening in.

I love magic Friday as well lots of fun!

Have started magic Friday over the last couple of weeks mainly performing for pupils in my class... Even if I'm awful I think they prefer it to Maths...

I am a civilian working for the U.S Military. There is a lot of down time to practice and perform for my civilian co workers and the military.

I recognize a lot of things Jamie wrote in his awesome book in myself and my style of performing! I read a lot of theory on magic and this book is something new and refreshing. I really miss Magic Friday, but Jamie succeeded in bundling all the information in one book. Really easy to read and above all very practical.

Most helpful for myself:

#23 Anecdote: what does my contract look like.
Really really helpful to see how an other professional writes his e-mails! Jamie has a great positive and polite style of communication.

TIP for all magicians: #64 Anecdote: what to never borrow.
Great advice! I hear a lot of horror stories from fellow magicians. Guys do yourself a favor and follow Jamie's advice! Please!
I think a lot of new magicians should read this! Totally agree what Jamie wrote in this chapter.

Took this picture from the book with in the background other great theory on magic, do you recognize some?http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=597335373634849&l=f617391a86

Chapter 32-The Big Secret- Truly a game changer, when it comes to approaching groups. So simple, yet so powerful.

Ken