There's A Place In Melbourne Where You Can Literally Pay To Break Stuff

You can smash stuff real good.

In the back streets of Melbourne's Brunswick, there's a place where you can actually pay to smash stuff with a baseball bat. It's quite suitably called The Break Room.

instagram.com

The pop-up has been opened for three weeks now, and is located at the back of Kines cafe.

The break room concept was bought to Australia by Ed Hunter, who was looking for a way to deal with the stress of his software advertising job.

instagram.com

"I wanted to break my own cycle of coping with stress the typical ways: eating my feelings, commiserating over drinks with colleagues, and the odd massage session. I wanted something different which I could look forward to and be excited about doing," says Ed.

Naturally, I had to try it. Immediately.

Pip Jarvis

This is me with a Barbie-pink baseball bat, looking kind of terrified.

According to Ed, the room is not about violence, but about harnessing our "destructive tendencies" in a controlled, fun way.

Pip Jarvis

"Stress is a very real health issue for most of us, and while I'm definitely not a psychologist, I can attest to the healing powers a good session in the break room can provide," he says. After a few awkward swings and misses, I learned that stacking the mugs was the way to go, and I immediately understood what Ed was talking about.

Once I got into the ~swing of things~, it was loads of noisy fun.

Pip Jarvis

The wine glasses definitely had the most satisfying smashing sound.

And as you can tell here, I remained calm, cool and collected the entire time.

Pip Jarvis

Though I was thankful that wearing jeans and closed-in shoes is required, and that I picked the welder's mask as my face protection of choice; the other option being a mean motorcycle helmet.

After being introduced to a selection of coffee cups, wine glasses, plates, and a very ugly wine carafe, it was over for this virgin vandal. I left the break room with nothing but a pile of debris, and some potential heart palpitations.

Instagram: @thebreakroom

What a time though.

Tickets for The Break Room start at $50. Find out more here.