The Improv Tarot

This is still happening. Just sayin’.

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 12:27:02 -0500

This is still happening. Just sayin’.

WANDS When you think of the Wand cards, think of fire. You may...

Sat, 08 Jan 2011 13:24:14 -0500

When you think of the Wand cards, think of fire. You may actually see little images of burning objects on any of the Wand cards. Couple this with images of passion and desire, dynamic force, ambitions, creativity, vitality, self-development, growth, and
perception. The Wands represent forward future-oriented energy that is active and inventive.

Reading the above (taken from here because wikipedia was particularly vague), this is all stuff I love about improv. If you ever saw fwand or Daddy or 1985….

Ace of Wands

The ace of wands Tarot card meaning deals with high volume energies bursting forth in assertive confidence.

If the aces are initiations, here you have starting a show with a big choice and with commitment. And, of course, energy.

Twos of Wands

Most often, the Two of Wands card means courage and daring. It has the message of striking out on a journey or new path.

Doing improv takes bravery. We forget that because so many around us do it. But it is a scary thing. Also, keeping wands in mind, could mean the excitement of starting a new team and/or project.

Three of Wands

The three of wands shows a person standing on a hill gazing far out into the distance. It indicates you in a position of strength as you control what happens around you. This is a card of vision and foresight - looking for greater possibilities. This card asks you to be a visionary - to dream beyond current limitations. The three of wands tells you that now is the time to accept your vision and be confident that you will achieve it. You are being encouraged to move fearlessly into new areas.

Taking leadership and “visionary” role on a new team/project. I have a whole concept about improv in New York about how we have a lot of teachers and coaches but not many people being directors… something I think lacking amongst especially in indie scene. But that is only vaguely related it.

Four of Wands

Celebration, ceremony upon completion. Optimism and joy. Relaxation. Good time to move in new directions, something completed, something initiated. Contented home life. Prosperity. Harvest. A successful conclusion. Personal achievement, material well being. Card of the home. Improvements to property or imminent move. Working with people.

Post-show excitement. Celebration. (Someone should set this card at McManus.)

Five of Wands

Competition. You need to experience what competition really means and requires. Respect your opponent, but stand up for your point of view. Refuse to be a victim. Fight the tendency towards frustration, anger, hate and prejudice.

Exiting competition. A need to prove oneself. Sporting interests could be stimulated. A good time to hold on to negotiations re. business. Exciting competition. The children seek not to destroy, but are competing for the sheer joy of action. They are fighting, but not to hurt each other.

Cagematch, amongst other things.

COINS/PENTACLES Page of Cups Often used to represent a young...

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 09:31:13 -0500

COINS/PENTACLES

Page of Cups

Often used to represent a young person. Can mean a of changing your line of work and/or taking on more responsibility. But primarily, this is the card for students.

That 101/201 student that impresses. Sometimes I see a early level class show and am impressed by a scene that is good even though the “rules.” In fact, it is because they don’t know any better.

Knight of Cups

Someone who is stubborn or hard-working, serious, or set in their ways.

Well, we know this guy in improv, don’t we?

Queen of Cups

Sensual and earthy, she enjoys abundance in many areas of her life. A lover of luxury, she is quick to share her wealth.

A generous player.

King of Cups

A mature man of considerable earthly power, usually depicted as a diplomatic business-man with a lot of practical wisdom. The king of pentacles can be miserly at times. He has a taste for sensual delights and earthly gifts. Here is a man who has a social standing and is big on keeping up with the Joneses. On the downside, he can be a man of phenomenally huge ego, the one whom the querent daren’t cross.

I am going to not expand on the improv aspect here….

COINS/PENTACLES After reading more card descriptions, I think...

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 10:39:51 -0500

COINS/PENTACLES

After reading more card descriptions, I think Coins can reflect the “work” that goes into improv.

Six of Cups

A merchant weighs money in a pair of scales and distributes it to the needy and distressed. Signifies gratification, but also vigilance, for one cannot always gratify all the distressed.

Gift giving? Being a generous but diligent player? (I may be stretching here.)

Seven of Cups

Show your commitment towards yoru work life or dreams, it may seem like charity work to you but it is on the value of receiving emotional and spiritual rewards, like the saying ‘sucess is a journey not a destination’.

Love of improv for improv’s sake. The fact that improv is definitely something that you never perfect but can constantly strive to learn more?

Eight of Cups

Work, employment, commission, craftsmanship, skill in craft and business, perhaps in the preparatory stage. Steady patience with achievement kept in mind.

The work. Classes. Practices. Seeing shows. All to become better.

Nine of Cups

Having the financial independence, having self reliance of personal pursuits, the ability to treat yourself on luxury, being on a stable financial plateau and steady security.

Those times (as rare as they may be) where you know you have reached a special place where scenes just click, where you have a groove and the confidence to make that groove work.

Ten of Cups

It is often associated with family matters, financial matters or a mix of the two. Some sources associate it with affluence or even riches. It may reflect a working environment.

Working and growing with a team/practice group? A particular school and/or theater?

First in a series of a QUICK look at each card (stolen mostly...

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:08:00 -0500

First in a series of a QUICK look at each card (stolen mostly from Wikipedia… which not surprisingly is inconsistent) with possible improv interpretation (which I am doing on the fly here). I am FAR from a Tarot expert. Any people out there who wish to give better interpretation, please do. I would love for this to become a discussion.

COINS/PENTACLES

Coins (or Pentacles) are connected with the classical of Earth, the physical body and possessions or wealth.

Wealth/possessions seems like a stretch for improv. Object/physicality work, perhaps?

Ace of Cups

Aces always indicate beginnings. Here the ace of cups indicates a new beginning of an emotional nature. It can signify the birth of a child, or the beginning of a love situation that affects us deeply. It is generally a card of happiness, and the beginning of many blessings.

Beginnings make me think initiations or even suggestions. An initiation with a strong action? Could also be the initial investment in improv classes. Or first team practice?

Two of Cups

To juggle, to struggle in a positive influence, to balance, to maintain.

Juggling multiple games?

Three of Cups

The mastery of a skill in trade or work; achieving perfection; artistic ability; and dignity through renown rank or power.

This definitely makes me think of classes.

Four of Cups

A lover of material wealth, one who hoards things of value with no prospect of sharing.

Change “material” with “material from opening”… man, we’ve all done sets with THAT guy.

Five of Cups

A grim and hard situation, a quagmire which the subjects won’t soon be out of. You may be ambivalent, trapped in indecision, and feeling left out or shut off, but determined.

You know that feeling five minutes into a show and you find yourself hating everything that is happening? Where all your choices feel devoid of value but you can’t find anything in the set to build of of?

How this thing?

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:58:00 -0500

Here is the process for this project:

1) Email me at improvtarot@gmail.com with their FIVE top choices cards (in order of preference). At first, you are very likely to get your top pick but (hopefully) as time goes on this will be an issue as more cards get snagged up.

If you are unfamiliar with the Tarot, there are plenty of reasouces on the web. As a base, the Rider-Waite deck is the “classic.” (For some reason, that wikipedia page is doesn’t link to VI - The Lovers and VII - The Chariot.) PIck a card that speaks to you or your team, either the image or the meaning or both. I will also be making series of posts about cards during the next couple of weeks.

2) Design whatever you want but the proportions are 4:7. Everything will be cropped to that.

3) You have ONE MONTH to submit your design. After that your card goes back into the list of available cards. If you end up getting you design in before someone bids it, fine.

4) Email it to improvtarot@gmail.com. The better the resolution the better, obviously.

5) And I’ll start posting them here.

It’s that darn simple.

Other random bits:

- This is an IMPROV tarot, so keep that in mind. If you can relate the imagery somehow to improv concepts/whatever, great. But it is also just a semi-random group art project.

- I am tempted to make the Major Arcana less team oriented and more of larger improv concepts or personalities or something. Say Del Close as The Magician?. So if individuals want to do take any on, shout.

- While I am based out of NYC and often thing in an NYC-improv centric way, this is open to ANY team/improviser.

- If you have questions, feel free to send them to the email. Or try asking here.

What this thing?

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 17:15:58 -0500

The main inspiration of this project is Super Punch Tarot. They just outsourced the entire deck the massive amount of artistic talent out in the internet.

I, personally, am not a great artist but I know there is a done of creative talent in the improv community across the globe. So I’m doing the same.

The idea is that TEAMS will place dibs on a card and then make the art for it. I don’t care what (although following the base imagery of the Tarot is the idea here). Painting, collage, collage, MSPaint, photo, whatever can actually be printed. If your team picks the Five of Wands and you want to reenact the card with yard sticks, great. Heck, reenact it with dildos.

The idea is to try to capture the “spirit” of the card and the “spirit” of improv and the “spirit” of your team. Actually, it doesn’t really matter to me what you capture.

This post is the What. The next post will be the How… which will cover the logistics. It you are itching with questions, you can email the project at improvtarot@gmail.com.

(One thing that will need to be done is some super talented artist out there to take on making the back of the card art. Maybe something incorporating a skull or a folding chair or something?)

Why this thing?

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 16:37:00 -0500

This post is just to explain my mindset.

I’ve always been entranced with the imagery from the Tarot. Evocative, iconic, yes, magical. I used to do readings, way back when. I found my deck in an occult shop in a back alley in Edinburgh. Was walking around alone and saw it in a window, tucked into a far corner of the display. As if it called to me. Which is pretty much the ideal way of finding a deck.

I did readings for awhile but stopped because I wasn’t comfortable with people looking for answers from me. Tarot is, for me, a Rorschach test: You see what you need to see. What the books say the cards mean are their as a guide, but it is really the juxtaposition of the images that trigger connections in one’s mind, getting you to think deeper.*

If you are reading this, chances are you know that I also am entranced by improv. One of the things I love is that how off a simple suggestions, ideas and words and actions and images are combined by a group of people into something unique. Characters in juxtaposition. Scenes in juxtaposition. Building (at it’s best) into a whole.

Both Tarot and Improv, I believe, can speak to a “larger” truth.

But all of that is mumbo-jumbo of the Why. Next post I will explain the What.

* Not to slam anyone who believes in a more mystical answer.

Is that better, Hal?

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 16:45:38 -0500

Is that better, Hal?

This is going to be attempted. Stay tuned for details.

Fri, 31 Dec 2010 16:58:59 -0500

This is going to be attempted.

Stay tuned for details.