What's On...Milwaukee? Mahjong

It's been a while since we've caught up with our Milwaukee writer Molly Snyder. Hey, I'm excited to hear from her. So Molly recently wrote an article about the Mahjong mayhem. And also we need to get a Halloween costume reveal as you do every year. But first, I feel like Mahjong has been picking up so much, Molly. Yeah, it's Milwaukee Mahjong Mania. It's exactly what's happening. There's a couple of clubs that popped up recently, and there's a new lounge, actually a Mahjong lounge also in Milwaukee that just opened November 1st. All right, so is it Mahjong or is it Mahjong? Is there an accent on one of the two, or does it float Mahjong? Is that correct as well? Yeah, I mean, I kind of say it fast because I'm not really sure myself. That's real. I guess, what is the fascination with the game? I mean, what is it, right? Well, it's a tile-based game. It's an ancient Chinese tile-based game. And, you know, you see all the little tiles there. They are. And basically, you're building hands, three different... three different clusters of tiles and there's a number of rules of course but it's really not that hard once you learn you know the rules the thing to keep in mind though is that there's 40 at least 40 different iterations of the game so you have to know which one you're playing uh hong kong style i'm told is the most popular most common there's also taiwanese there's american um there's so there's once you figure out which Game you're playing, um, then it's just practice. Okay. Interesting. Wait, this is kind of give birth, given birth to like a social club, like a social club for this, Molly. Like there are people who meet up at different restaurants, bars to like play this. Yes, yes, there's two clubs. There's Milwaukee Mahjong, and that you can find on Instagram, and they meet at all different, they go to a lot of local restaurants, but cafes, libraries meet up. Also, there's a You Can Do It social club, and they meet up at Von Trier weekly on the east side. Also, Classic Slice Pizza in Bayview come very often. And you can do that. There's also a new lounge that opened, as I mentioned earlier. That's at Bayshore. And that's Four Winds Lounge. And that's a good, if you want to just stop in there, they sell everything. They have classes, workshops, both the clubs, both of the clubs I mentioned and the lounge. They're very beginner friendly. You don't have to know how to play to go to attend any of these events. You don't have to know anything about it. I hear that it's also good for like kids when it comes to strategy. But this is also like a game of luck mixed with skill. Right, right. That's a really good point. One of the things that inspired me to give it a whirl was that a woman I was interviewing said that her five-year-old son plays. Now, not for long periods of time because he's five, but I thought, okay, I can do this. Yeah. Yesterday, I was at Milliger's in Racine, and seemingly every week or two weeks, they have We have a huge, huge turn Turnout for their Mahjong, which it seemingly started about a year ago or so and started ramping up. I mean, is this is this sweeping the nation or is this just like a Wisconsin Midwest thing? No, it's happening all over the nation. We're seeing this as we saw so many things post-pandemic. People want community. People want to do analog things, don't want to have as much screen time, want to interact with people. So games in general have been very popular. Games, you know, non-video games have been very popular in general. And it's really nice to see because it's just people wanting to interact with other people and for real in real life. I imagine it's open to all age groups as well. Like, I think that's what the cool thing about it is. You just kind of meet strangers, become friends, and then maybe even better competitors when you see them at whatever event you go to at whatever restaurant. Right, exactly. And I mean, it's multi-generational. Those are the words that I kept hearing as I was interviewing people. And that is so true. I mean, you'll have someone in their 80s playing with someone who's in their 20s. It's very cool. And it connects a lot of different types of people that you wouldn't maybe normally come in contact with. You know, I feel like there's probably people that are watching right now screaming at us, saying, I can't believe you guys have never tried this. You're so late to the party. But I hear people also like it for a different way. Some say there's, like, it's a metaphorical game. Some folks like the sound of it. They say it's good ASMR. Like, they like the game for different reasons. It's a relaxing game for some as well. It is very relaxing for people. Once you learn the game, you know, it's like any game. They become second nature. And it really is a relaxing game as well as it keeps your mind sharp. Is it like you are, you know, using your mind in a couple of good. No, no, no. I didn't mean to cut you off. I know there's a bit of a delay here. No, you finish your sentence. Oh, that's OK. No problem. Um, no, it's, um, some older people I spoke to, they liked it because it keeps their mind sharp, you know, and that's, um, something that we could all use, you know, more. Yeah. Is it kind of like as strategic as a game of chess and as stressful as chess or not really? It's been compared to Gin Rummy and Canasta, if you know either of those games. Yeah. And again, I think the stress only comes in when you're learning it. Okay. It's not a stressful thing at all. People are... They seem really having a lot of fun when I went to a meetup. Okay, well, obviously we can check out your article on I'mMilwaukee.com, but I mean, look, the real reason you're here is because you do it up during Halloween, and there's a reveal, right? There is a reveal. I've seen the pictures, but we've got to finally share them. I'm Yes, I do a Milwaukee costume every year, and this year I... starting I chose the GOAT, the MKE GOAT, Solomon Juneau, the first mayor of Milwaukee. He's also one of the founding fathers of Milwaukee, to along with Walker and Kilborn. speak Hey, Molly. Uh-huh, uh-huh. now. So I, you know, one of the things I also like is doing very unsexy Halloween costumes. I think it's like just what it's funny to me. What I love about your costumes are there are a few things that are less. There is a delay. Sorry. They're so Milwaukee centric, all of your costumes. And it's like an ode to the past in different ways. Exactly. Exactly. I love Milwaukee history. And my partner set them up in all this old-timey, you know, sepia tones and, you know, with the black and white. There's Solomon Juneau realizing that there's a street named after him. He's very excited about it. Wait a minute. Molly, you low-key look like Solomon. And, like, the black and white photo we just saw, one of them, like, well done. Well done. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It was a lot of fun to do. And, you know, walking around downtown looking like that, you know, and I didn't do it on Halloween. I had the pictures taken earlier. So, you know, I had to just sort of. Get my confidence on and be like, okay, I'm Solomon Juno for the afternoon, and people are all looking at you weird, but oh well. Well, good for you, though. That's great. I don't know if people know this, but you've done Milverine, dressed up as that Milwaukee icon, I guess. Mm-mm-mm. Laverne from Laverne and Shirley, Liberace. Oh, that was a good one. The snake button at Milwaukee Public Museum. So I guess how far in advance are we planning for 27? Do you already have it cooking upstairs? Yes, yes. I start the day after Halloween. Wow. I'm planning for the next year. Oh, wow. Okay. And I've already ordered something. No kidding. Molly, it's been so good to see you. I'm glad you had an awesome Halloween. I think you've inspired a lot of us to go try to play some Mahjong. Yeah. So thank you so much. We'll see you next time. Awesome. Bye, Molly. Thank you. She's always a treat to have. She's fun. Yeah, she is. All right. We're going to continue having more fun on the other side of the break. See you later here at Milwaukee. You're going to dress up this year, guys.