Crime SceneLiveThe live true-crime experience
A real closed murder case. A retired LAPD homicide detective. One room.
Now playing in Santa Monica — Oct 2 & Nov 6 — 7 & 9 PM
Booking venues, hotels and private events nationwide.
Watch it first.
Official trailer · 2026
The trailer is playing on Vimeo.
Watch on VimeoThe case is real. So is the man who opens it. Not a play · No actors · Nothing jumps out at you · Not a haunted house
DonTabak
Retired LAPD Homicide Detective
He opens one real, closed murder case in front of the room and hands you what the investigators had.
Evidence. Witness statements. The timeline. Then he wants to hear what you think.
Don Tabak · in the media
Twenty-four years of homicide. Then the cameras came.
The networks call him when a case needs someone who has actually stood in the room. This is some of where you've seen and heard him.
Podcast · The First Degree
The First Degree
Don sits down with The First Degree — one of the biggest true-crime podcasts going — on working homicide in Los Angeles.
Listen →
Podcast · The Outlier
Crime Scenes Gone Wrong
An insider's review of police blunders — the mistakes that break cases, and the ones that don't.
Listen →
Podcast · Gangland Wire
From Homicide to Hollywood
Don's road from LAPD homicide to consulting on screen — and how Crime Scene Live came out of it.
Listen →
Podcast · True Crime News
Ghost Hunter Becomes the Hunted
With Ana Garcia, on the plot against Ghost Adventures star Aaron Goodwin — how the case was built.
Listen →
Documentary
What Happened to Baby Jessica
The 1986 abduction of Jessica Gutierrez, and the arrest that finally came 35 years later. Don is the retired LAPD investigator at the center of it.
Watch →
Television · Investigation Discovery
Real Detective — “Silence”
A full episode built around one of Don's cases: a detective hardened by years of Los Angeles homicides, until a victim's mother changes how he sees the work.
About the episode →
Interview
Behind the Scenes of Homicide & High-Profile Crimes
A long-form sit-down with Barb Allen on how big cases are actually worked, and what the public never sees.
Watch →
Now playing · Santa Monica
Crime Scene Live
The show all of this leads to. A real closed case, opened in front of the room. Now playing in Santa Monica; booking venues and private events nationwide.
Tickets →
Then he walks you through it.
The scene. The people. The night it happened. About an hour and a half, start to finish — and the room is asking questions the whole way.
Wherever you're sitting, you get a say.
Your theories. Your questions. Your ideas.
In real time.
Guided by Don, as the case unfolds
Then he tells you what actually happened.
This isn't a script. It's a homicide file, a detective who worked cases like it for a living, and a room full of people trying to see what he saw.
Now playing · Illusion Magic Lounge · Santa Monica
First FridaysTwo shows a night
Doors open one hour before · About 1.5 hours · For mature audiences · Bring 3 friends, the 4th is free — pick the 4-Pack at checkout · Refunds up to 7 days before the show, through Eventbrite · Tickets open right here, no redirect
All dates & ticket types
Illusion Magic LoungeSanta Monica
Where Crime Scene Live is playing now. An epic room right off the Third Street Promenade, with great food and drinks, run by the former President of the Magic Castle.
- DoorsOne hour before showtime
- RuntimeAbout an hour and a half
- Food & drinkGreat food and drinks at the venue — come early
- AudienceFor mature audiences
- Also playedLoews Hollywood · Huntington Beach · next city TBA
- Get on the listNew cities, new drops, first dibs on tickets — join
- Bring the show to your cityVenues, hotels & private events — book it
True Crime.
Live and in person.