Susan Sarandon will visit Milwaukee’s very own Susan Sarandon ping-pong club
The city’s “premier ping-pong club” SPiN Milwaukee opened in the Third Ward over the weekend, placing yet another brick in a burgeoning, nationwide, table-tennis-themed nightspot empire being built by 63-year-old actress/entrepreneur Susan Sarandon. A self-described “mix of sport, design, and entertainment,” SPiN already has franchises in New York and Los Angeles, and there are plans to set up shop in Austin and Dubai.
The A.V. Club paid a quick visit to SPiN last night to drink up the action over $5 pints of Sprecher-brewed SPiN Signature Micro. The crowd was scarce; it was a Monday night, after all. But it’s going to take a lot of people to make this place feel packed: The 16,500-square-foot facility has a stadium-like main room with a large bar with about a dozen ping-pong tables and corresponding bleacher sections, as well as a cozier side-lounge outfitted with pub tables, earth-toned mod furniture, and chocolate-brown hardwood floors. It was kind of like hanging out in a rich guy’s house—a very large, very empty rich guy’s house.
One thing SPiN does not lack is hubris. Just in case a cavernous social club designed for young, trendy professionals to play a game commonly associated with wood-paneled rec rooms, the Chinese, and Forrest Gump doesn’t sell itself, the people behind SPiN have also been shopping around a reality show about the company and—we’re just spitballin’ here—the rumored romance between the recently separated Sarandon and co-investor Jonathan Bricklin.
Presumably, a SPiN/Sarandon reality show would end up filming in Milwaukee at some point. SPiN Milwaukee marketing director Jill Wellskopf tells The A.V. Club that Sarandon will for sure be in town for a private grand opening event on Sept. 25 that will also have Mayor Tom Barrett and other local dignitaries and media on the guest list. Sarandon may also be back in October or November to film her reality show, should a network pick it up. In the meantime, SPiN is open and ready to serve you; just don’t let any errant ping-pong balls land in your beer.
