Ode to the Buck's Night

"The Hangover" was one of Hollywood's great surprises of 2009; a low budget film with no 'big names', yet still managed to rake in over $467 million! A simple tale, but one that was very effectively executed. I have no shame in saying that it is now one of my personal favourite flicks of all time.

And of course the best part of the movie is that it's propagating a myth I believe is slowly dying - if not already on death's door. Now I've only been to three Buck's Nights so I'm definitely no expert on the subject, but their antics certainly haven't been in the same league as "The Hangover" (much to the bride-to-be's relief). Don't get me wrong, I've loved all three. They've been great days. The heart is still there; the cheekiness, the typical Australian larrkin still shines through, but they've changed.

We will still dress them up like Guantanamo Bay prisoners with "Prisoner For Life" written on the back, we will still steal their mobile phones so there is absolutely NO contact with their fiances, but I think gone are the days where the groom is admitted to the hospital for alcohol poisoning, where the vows are exchanged in the emergency room and the wedding night is spent in the ICU trying to piece together a defence against 'indecent exposure' charges.

Two of the three buck's nights I've attended have had female friends present, inevitably inhibiting certain activities. And perhaps this is a reflection of our change in philosophy. The threat of castration may have gained momentum since Lorena Bobbit reached notoriety, but really I think Buck's Nights are now more a good excuse to have a catchup and piss-up with mates than it is 'his final night of bachelorhood so let's get him absolutely slaughtered and chain him to a public toilet'. The toasts are no longer "here's to your last night of freedom", but "good luck matey, you're a braver man than me."

Now I'm not claiming that wild and crazy things don't happen at Buck's Nights - but for every stripper we hire, I have no doubt a hen somewhere will be playing host to the 'Chippendales' - so really we ain't that bad.... or that different.

So ladies, next time you hear a man claim he's off to help celebrate a mate's last night of bachelorhood, relax, it's ONLY a Buck's Night.

Thoughts gentlemen?