Jay Leno read the tarot on Thursday, April 29th’s Tonight Show (thanks to Paul Nagy for the heads-up) in which the literal level of the cards (no matter how absurd) come to life right before our eyes. Leno says he learned to read tarot from his two Italian grandmothers. He’s using the Morgan-Greer Tarot deck (the artist is Bill Greer – no relation to me).
The Jay Leno show for April 29th, 2010 is no longer available on-line—although the tarot scene was incredibly well-done and laughingly irreverent. If anyone finds it please let me know. A stuntman clip from the scene is available but doesn’t include any of the tarot material.
Mary K. Greer has made tarot her life work. Check here for reports of goings-on in the world of tarot and cartomancy, articles on the history and practice of tarot, and materials on other cartomancy decks. Sorry, I no longer write reviews. Contact me
Mary K. Greer's Tarot Blog 
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April 30, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Koneta
My husband and I just watched the clip and we thought it was pretty funny. But, I wonder what the general public thought. The folks who look down their noses and poo poo at the art that is Tarot. Jay may have not meant any disrespect, (or maybe he did) he was probably just looking for a laugh. This would be a perfect opportunity for a Tarot expert (you) to go on the show and show him the error of his ways. Just a thought. 🙂 Thanks for sharing this!
April 30, 2010 at 9:03 pm
mysacredjourney
Very funny…taking the cards literally. Although we Tarot folks know that is was off and potentially disrespectful, that is the nature of Leno’s profession, making fun and being irreverent. Ultimately, I think he was making fun of folks who take Tarot, the Bible, him-Leno, literally. It certainly helps us not take ourselves too seriously.
I loved the art of it…the time they took to create his special reading room, the Waite images on the walls, the Morgan-Greer images coming to life. It was a well developed short film. Overall, it brings more awareness to Tarot without completely demonizing it.
“Zena – The Warrior Princess” offered my favorite TV portrayal of Tarot wisdom in “The Bitter Suite” episode, season three.
Mary, thanks for keeping us informed about Tarot in the Media…thanks Paul for your contribution.
Cheers, Katrina
May 2, 2010 at 11:11 am
mkg
Katrina & Koneta – I agree with the dual response of both enjoyable humor done well and disrespect for something we hold dear. Still, I found Leno’s piece to fall within the range of the kind of humor we can easily poke at ourselves. I’m sure everyone at some point has laughed at readings that we tried to make deeply symbolic, only to discover that they were simply the most literal descriptions of something going on in our lives.
I remember staying overnight at the home of some friends. The man got the RWS 10 of Pentacles in a reading, and we considered it long and hard before finally realizing that it literally showed him, his wife, their young son and their two large dogs. They were renting a very old country house that had been a stage coach way-station, while he worked on a project that he always described as something he hoped would finally make his now-dead father proud of him.
May 2, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Beth (Igraine)
I thought this was hysterically funny! LOVED IT and thanks for posting Mary. I don’t think it was disrespectful at all. It’s a joke! AND his prediction came TRUE!
May 6, 2010 at 10:44 am
Theresa
This was really funny! It’s good to not take ourselves too seriously. 🙂 Thanks for posting – I don’t watch Leno so I would have never seen this otherwise.
May 7, 2010 at 12:09 am
Mike Hernandez
I just watched it and I thought it was hoot! Man, I’d like to have a Tarot reading room like Jay’s!
Jay is an equal-opportunity comic who pokes fun at *everybody* and *everything* – religion, politics and politicos, the right, the left, the media, corporations, unions, other comics, himself, etc., etc. I thought he did it good-naturedly and in reasonably good taste – I don’t see any problem at all.
Now, if he ever gets to Seattle and I get to read for him, I’ll use the same three cards he used in the video – that’ll surprise him!
May 8, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Joan Pantesco
You share the absolute best Tarot stuff from multiple venues, Mary! Loved the Ninja Hermit. Thanks so much.
June 4, 2010 at 10:35 pm
Lena H.
Could somebody send me a link or post a link to the Tonight Show segment (I think it was April 27?) where Jay Leno uses Tarot? My email is Light2utoo at aol dot com. Would be much appreciated.
I don’t know of anywhere else on the internet where Tarot in the media is archived. Kudos to Mary Greer for doing it.
July 8, 2010 at 2:22 am
kotsengkuba
Jay Leno’s Tarot Card reading video is no longer searches through that link.
July 15, 2010 at 10:40 am
Paul Nagy
I checked to see if there is a way to and the only tarot link is to the Tarot Stuntman.
This is where the hermit act the ninja
here it is
http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/video/tarot_stuntman/1224139
while it lasts.