In a large, bare space made mostly of concrete and steel, filled with barrels and distillery equipment, IU graduate Josh Johnson stood before a crowd of about 20 people, wearing a 1920s-inspired white button-up with suspenders. He began to describe a scene to his audience.
It is 1925 in Paris, and you have been invited to an elegant soiree at a Parisian Cabaret, Johnson said.
Beautiful burlesque dancers tease the audience while big bands play and sirens sing. Bright bulbs illuminate the shadows as dancers twirl and twist up a grand staircase.
Crowded around café tables, American ex-patriots philosophize with European revolutionaries. It is a hotbed of the intellectual elite, cultural trend-setters and fancy socialites.
“The problem is, one of you is a murderer,” Johnson said.
Johnson was leading a murder mystery party Thursday through his business, Mid by Midwest Murder Mysteries. The event was hosted at a local distillery, Cardinal Spirits. The name, Mid by Midwest, is a play on Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest.”
Each party is an interactive game where players assume the identity of a custom character and work as a part of a team to solve the crime and win prizes. No one reads from a script. It’s more like a cocktail party, Johnson said.
“It’s like live action ‘Clue,’ and you get to dress up and drink,” said Bloomington resident Mandy Izzo, who has attended two of Johnson’s murder mystery parties. “It’s actually really fun. You don’t know what to expect.”
While the murder mystery event Thursday was only open to ages 21 and older, people of all age groups can participate in some of their other events, said Stephanie Johnson, Josh Johnson’s wife. Players’ ages have ranged from 14 to 86, she said.
Players can also dress up for the theme. Some of them are very dedicated, she said. Many women wore flapper dresses. Along with his 1920s costume, one of the players drew a mustache on himself with a sharpie.
Josh Johnson said he and his wife invented their murder mystery party concept by playing games at home with their friends.
Josh Johnson, who started writing the murder mysteries in May 2014, said he then moved to incorporating them as a creative solution for local businesses looking to host a wider variety of events.
“For example, if they were looking to bring out a particular demographic at a particular day or time, we just sort of thought what would work for that ... and how we could work together as a community with those businesses,” he said.
The Cardinal Spirits location has also helped the Mid by Midwest events become what they are, he said.
“The environment adds to the feeling of the murder mystery,” Josh Johnson said. “The drinks are great too, hopefully like what the characters would have actually drank.”
When most people think of murder mysteries, plays and scripts come to mind, he said. He believes what sets Mid by Midwest Murder Mysteries apart is players are not just reading a script, but get to act out the character.
“We want to engage people with all interests,” Stephanie Johnson said. “Some people are super into the game part, like deductive reasoning, and finding out who the murderer is. Then you have people coming, dressing up and playing this character, so they’re much more into the theater aspect.”
Mid by Midwest Murder Mysteries has something for everyone and the interactive nature is what makes it, Josh Johnson said.
“You’re really a part of it,” he said. “It’s this community scenario where everyone is into this. You get to work together on a team to solve this crime. You become this character. What you do, what questions you ask can all change the outcome.”
