Talia Tucker’s Murder Mystery Celebrates Two Year Anniversary this Sunday

“Everyone has a role… everyone has a motive… one victim… one killer… do you have the wit to solve the mystery, or will you die trying?”

Looking for a night of suspense, scandals, and secrets? Look no further than Talia Tucker’s Murder Mystery!

Denver-based drag artist Talia Tucker L’Whor has been dazzling and entertaining audiences for years, from performing at Hamburger Marys to Meow Wolf, Talia is an artist who truly knows how to captivate her audience. For the past two years, Talia has enthralled audience members with her Murder Mystery Event which will soon be celebrating its Two Year anniversary this Sunday at Middleman Bar at 7 p.m.

Over the course of the two-hour event, patrons asked to come in costume, complete with background stories and personal secrets, are able to indulge themselves in a different reality, sometimes time period, and truly let their wild sides out, all while connecting with others, and building a sense of community.

Starting off, how did the Talia Murder Mystery shows get started?

During the pandemic, I was in a small little house, we were all quarantined together, and so for fun, I threw a murder mystery to keep us sane and entertained. It was really fun, really really successful, and after that event, I went to Middleman when things were opening up post-pandemic in 2021, and I proposed this idea to Middleman, and they got back to me and said, “Absolutely let’s do it,; let’s run it.” So since then, I have been traveling around to different Venus, most prominently in Middleman, and that’s how long it’s been going on. It’s just such a joy to have something that has the edge of drag with the joy of theater. It’s everything in my past brought to head.

How would you describe this event to someone who hasn’t heard of it? 

The murder mystery event is like the joy of my career; it’s where entertainment meets acting! The show’s quality is fed by the quality of the patrons coming to it, so the patrons are bringing the entertainment; they’re bringing the joy, and what they do is they embody a character that aligns with their personality and basically act as that character for the entire event, and I get the joy of just guiding people through the joy and the adventure 

So Talia, how does it all work?

So today, I am going through my list of people who have bought tickets, and I am going to send them a character. We do a theme that I acquire the rights for, and this event is going to be the 1920’s murder mystery, and it’s going to be so much fun! One of the focuses we have is in character assigning, that people can choose the gender of the character that they would like to be, whether that is male, female, or nonbinary. I think it provides a space for misfits to simply be misfits, for fools to be fools and have fun, just leaning into the joy of embodying a character and engaging with other people.

I send them that character so they know what to dress as, what props to bring, and when they come to the event what they can expect is that they’re going to get a little sheet that is going to talk to them about what their character does throughout the entire event and what they should be saying and secrets they should be keeping. It’s really about the patrons having the joy of embodying that character and then taking the time to take the time to dig into each other’s secrets, and I get the role of just stirring the pot. We talk shit and throw shade. It’s a high preparation event, so when I come up, the prep is already done. I just have fun.

Talking about the prep, how much time goes into arranging it all?

About 10 hours minimum depending on the plot line. I have to create all of the characters sheets; I have to print them out and laminate them, put them in individual envelopes, make sure they are completely organized for all the patrons and have all the evidence come out because it is a murder mystery; someone will die, spoilers ahead. So when someone dies, there is evidence about what manner of death they had: Were there fingerprints? Does a fiber on their body align with some of the fibers on other people’s bodies? People can then go through that list and then also the list of secrets that they find out throughout the event to determine who the murderer might be.

What have been the noticeable differences between now and when you first started running the Murder Mystery shows two years ago?

 I think the event is really, like any sort of new business, like a trial and error of like ‘this works this doesn’t work,’ and figuring out what venues are an amazing fit, what price point for tickets are an amazing fit. In terms of the people attending, I’ve seen a pretty steady consistent crowd. I have a group of my divas, my dudes, and my dolls that come out all the time to my murder mysteries because we know we can all just be fools together, and joy of normalizing releasing social inhibitions for two hours is something really exceptional, but in terms of major differences over the last two years, I think I have developed the structure of the show in a way that is very successful, in the way that it doesn’t need a performance from me, it should be highlighting the audience members and making sure they are the ones bringing the entertainment.

What has been the most exciting element about having one of your events celebrate its two-year anniversary?

I think it’s so cool to do anything for a year, even more so in the field of entertainment. I think it is really difficult to be able to sustain a crowd, to sustain a following for a year, the fact that we have reached two years is something that fills me with extraordinary pride. It’s something that makes me feel like I’ve created a space where people can come and act a little crazy and just love each other and love the world around them. 

What does the future hold for Talia’s murder mystery?

A year ago, I wrote my own murder mystery, and we created it dinner theater-style which was so fantastic. I would love to bring something like that back again to put a new spin on creativity and to be able to push the bounds of what this event looks like and how I can engage multiple people. I’m just going on a larger scale and tugging along. What’s different is, I have new plot lines; I’ve got new characters and new engagements. we’re back at Middleman, and we’re mixing it up! It’s going to be great!

Those interested in attending Talia’s Murder Mystery can purchase tickets for Saturday’s 7 p.m. show at Middleman here. 

The next Murder Mystery show hosted by Talia will take place on February 13 at Hell or High Water. Those interested can look for updates and announcements on Talia’s Instagram, Facebook, and website. 

Images courtesy of Talia’s Murder Mystery