We were also given two very fetching retro towelling wristbands into the bargain, the significance of which would soon become apparent. The YOI practises a form of table tennis you may have played on a foreign camping holiday in your youth.
The first player serves, then moves round to allow the next player in the queue to receive the return, and so on. When a player fails to return the ball correctly, they lose a "life" and one of their two wristbands.
In between games, the DJs spun everything from Stevie Wonder to The Stooges to LCD Soundsystem. Every so often, pockets of dancing broke out, and partygoers - an equal mix of boys and girls - shook their booties as well as their bats.
Before every game started (about every 15 minutes), the Fanfare from Rocky blasted out of the speakers and all eyes moved to the table rather than each other, as the latest round of combat commenced.
Despite being about as seasoned a table tennis player as Jade Goody is a cryptic crossword solver, after a few hits I found myself growing in confidence. I was eventually defeated when I lurched forward for a shot, only to find the ball coming at me into the corner I'd just come from. I was totally wrongfooted. Damn.
A 26-year-old filmmaker called Georgia won my game. "It's the first time I've played since I was 10," she admitted. So, beaten by a girl, then - and a total beginner, to boot.
But the only way anyone was going look a fool was if they took their defeat with anything less than a smile and a shrug of the shoulders. No McEnroe-style tantrums here.
Surprisingly, it seems table tennis is an effective social lubricant. I couldn't help noticing Georgia's male competitors queuing up to give her a congratulatory hug.
Maybe there's something strangely flirtatious in hitting a small plastic ball across a table at someone, because after Dave had been knocked out by a sharp-serving girl with a shock of blonde hair, he used a discussion of her backhand technique to spend a good half an hour chatting her up.
When the club wrapped up proceedings at 11pm, Dave and I joined a gang of our erstwhile ping-pong opponents and headed off to nearby Old Street for post-match drinks.
I'll definitely be back though, and most of the people I met said the same. It's quite simply a top night out. I think they may have created a monster, with tiny balls.
The next Young Offenders' Institution night is on Friday, 29 February at The Flea-Pit, 49 Columbia Road, Bethnal Green. For more information, check out theyoi.co.uk
