The fact that she spent the evening rooting for kids playing Ping-Pong wasn’t the only thing we loved about Susan Sarandon at the Vanity Fair–hosted opening party for SPiN New York last night. It was also that she spent the evening sipping out of a tall, slender glass of tequila. “The liquor kicked in about ten days ago, and tonight’s our first food thing,” Sarandon said of the table-tennis lounge, which opened weeks ago to the members of the Ping-Pong society she’s been a part of for years now. Last night the party was full of young and lovely people, including Sarandon’s children and celebrities like Chris Benz, Alan Cumming, Scott Adsit, and Sebastian Stan, drinking and playing Ping-Pong. Scanning the club, Sarandon pointed out that her favorite feature was a wide window into the 23rd Street 6 Station (leftover from when the underground lounge was a Woolworth’s). “What I’d like to do one time is have, like, mime Ping-Pong on the other side,” she said. “I love the feeling of having so many people that really play here, and I don’t want them to feel that they’re getting pushed out by some trendy bar scene,” she added, scanning the crowd. “Even if there are celebrities here, I would hope that they’d be able to play and not be bothered. There is a private room, but I would prefer not to be in the private room.” Also not hiding in the private room was Judah Friedlander, who showed off his handmade paddle to us. A former competitive player, the 30 Rock star wrapped the handle himself, and glued on the rubber faces, smooth side out. It’s called inverting,” he told us. “Rubber, paddles, glue it’s very raw and sexual.”
