Tarot as Improv

I just watched Alex Karpovsky’s wonderful new documentary, Trust Us, This is All Made Up. The movie follows TJ Jagodowski and David Pasquesi, two masters of improvisational comedy, as they prepare for and perform a two-man improv show.

My associations with improv come from the improv teams I saw at college. Usually, the performers would have the audience yell out a location, a relationship, etc., and then would work with that info to create a scene from scratch. What Dave and TJ do doesn’t involve the audience in that way.

The two guys come on stage together, greet the audience (as themselves, not in character), and then one sits and one stands. They make eye contact in silence for a few moments. A quiet electric current seems to connect them to each other, to the audience, and to whatever is going to happen next.

Then, one of them offers a conversational gambit, such as, “Oh man, that was rough — you feelin’ OK?” And from there, they develop a 50-minute-long, multi-character play. None of it is premeditated or prewritten; if you see them three nights in a row, you will see three entirely different shows.

Karpovsky makes the excellent choice to show an entire 50-minute TJ & Dave performance. It’s exciting to watch their dexterity onstage. One of them will make a throwaway remark that the other takes up again 20 minutes later. They create characters, and then switch who is playing whom. It all feels organic and alive.

For me, the movie is as touching as it’s funny. These guys obviously love each other, and that’s what gives them the mutual trust that’s needed to do this kind of work. They also feel that they’re tapping into something bigger than themselves. TJ comments that, in their minds, they’re temporary participants in an ongoing story — one that started before they got there, and will continue after the curtain comes down.

Tarot has many similar elements to improv, though it’s less of a performance and more of a conversation. But as with TJ & Dave’s shows, it’s not about memorization. It’s about being able to listen to your partner (in my case, my client), react to their cues, trust each other, and see what story emerges. And it’s about tapping into a larger narrative, one that’s often hidden behind the daily plot of our lives.

I saw this “Trust Us...” screening via the Independent Film Festival of Boston, which shows movies all year long in addition to their stellar springtime festival itself. As producer Adam Roffman explained, b-side, the distributor, is trying some innovative ways to get “Trust Us...” out there. For example, until the official DVD release in February, anyone can obtain a free copy of the movie and can host their own screening. Creative!

Roffman also pointed out a Netflix trick I’d been unaware of: Netflix orders copies of movies based on how many people have the film in their queue. So, if you’re a Netflix junkie like me, I encourage you to put Trust Us, This is All Made Up in your Saved Queue. That way, Netflix will order more copies, which will support the filmmakers and help get the movie out there!

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