Getting Back on My Soap Box...
Why would you want to move into Minch's material?
Are you going to commit yourself to Mentalism or are you going to half-ass things and mix magic with it?
Most all of Stephan's material is for die-hard mentalists not wannabe novices. While I certainly would never deny anyone the right to choose their material I will always challenge them when it comes to ways of defining and bettering both, themselves and what they exhibit for the public... such is the case at hand and why I'm asking you what your interest is in Minch's material?
Stephan was Old School Mentalism all the way, none of this Mental Magic middle of the road stuff you see so many doing now days, so if you are in a take no prisoners mind set there is some ground work that must be laid first, before you're ready for this and most of Stephans offerings... such as getting proficient at Billets, Muscle Reading, a Memory System, using a Swami and/or Pocket Writing and the Crem de la Crem... Being Able to Read Others...
You will notice that I didn't say "Cold Reading" in that such an idea is filled with holes, far too many to count and secondly, you wouldn't last 5 minutes in a Psychic Fair or working with the true believer using such bunk. That is not saying that you can't find some level of value in certain related material such as Henderson's "The Dance" but at the same time, I'd warn you away from the Ian Rowland book because it filled with theory and supposition penned by an admitted cynic whose never had to actually use his skills as a Reader for the sake of day to day survival... it's akin to having a framing carpenter tell you how to wire a house... The Rowland book is great resource material much later in life, once you know the foundation course.
Getting back to your issue however... spend at least the next 12-18 months learning the basics and I'll go a bit further by saying you need to invest the next 4-5 months actually learning about traditional magic rather than all the stuff that's possible, once you have that solid footing. Study Bobo, the Wilson AND Tarbell courses, Bill Tarr's Now You See it Now You Dont books, etc. GET YOUR FOUNDATION!
I'm assuming you're relatively young, so once you've built that core then you can begin to venture outward into the other fields such as Mentalism. Let me warn you however, this is a very dangerous arena, one that few actually excel in while many THINK they do it.
I might come off as a grumpy old bear but it's only because I want to see people succeed in things, so don't hesitate to ask questions.
