Jokes, Tributes, and Spontaneous Air Guitar Competitions Pushing Bingo’s Popularity

In the past few years or so, the game bingo has undergone a pop culture makeover. No longer it is reserved for your grandma and her wrinkly friends. Nowadays, you can find twentysomethings playing the game right alongside the older set. Most of the younger bingo players aren’t doing it ironically either. The controversy surrounding National Bingo Night notwithstanding, bingo has become a very popular pastime in Australia. Musical bingo, in particular, has steadily built a cult following. It’s even gotten to the point where it’s being advertised not just as a game but an experience.

That’s what Bogan Bingo is doing. Wholeheartedly embracing the bogan image, Bogan Bingo is “half game, half party” with judicious helpings of jokes, tributes and spontaneous air guitar competitions. This particular brand of bingo has a bingo caller shouting out the numbers while a DJ plays songs from the 80s and 90s that rhyme with those numbers. It’s far from your typical FoxyBingo night but judging by the fact that Bogan Bingo has been going strong for eight years, the formula seems to be working well.

A number of Australian outfits are also getting into the bingo craze. For example, in preparation for this year’s Splendour in the Grass festival, online mag The Music released a printable bingo card that features typical festival sights such as Instagrammers and fence jumpers on the run from security. While the card was released for Splendour, most of the things on it can be reused for any other festival with a little creative tweaking.

As you can see in the examples mentioned above, perhaps the best thing about bingo is that it can be tailored to suit pretty much anything. Whether you’re into movies, TV shows, or music, all you need is a card and a bit of creativity and you can make your own bingo game.

Image source: Bogan Bingo