This has been a Jackass century

I don't know these people, and clearly most of them are irredeemable dickheads who would be absolute pains in the ass in real life, but I did feel genuinely sad when the last Jackass film wrapped up.

They always say it's the last one, but it seems like they really mean it this time, especially with the greatest hits aspect.

If it is the end, it really is the end of an era, because Jackass has been a constant presence in my life for the 21st century. I still think their films are funny, charming and occasionally really clever. And if it's ever taught me anything, it's that if you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough.

It came in as the end of another era - Jackass was one of the last video tape phenomenons I remember. There really wasn't any of the internet video options we have today, so unless it was broadcast on television, the only way you could see the earliest Jackass films were on video, which could only be found down at the weird local skate/head store, or through a mate who copied it from another mate who got it from the ninth version of hell, judging by the quality of the final product I saw.

I still remember the one piece of footage that sold me on Jackass forever - it was the one where Danger Ehren dressed up as a football player, intercepted peoples' fast food orders and ran off with them. Which was mean and cruel and really, really funny, but the best part about it was the spiking of the food on the ground in front of the victim. Just so dumb and silly, and full of life and joy and celebration.

And it's this joy that has made it endlessly watchable. They have exquisite comic timing (nothing is better than the giant high five in the third film), some truly radical ideas (the bungee jump with Wee Man and Preston that actually pays off) and a fearlessness that it actually admirable (everything else). There is real pleasure in the laughter of the people watching their mates do terrible things to their scrotum, only beaten by the endlessly wonderful 'why do I have to be Steve-O' whine.

But it's the joy of the thing, the kick of doing something that makes your best friends fall on the floor laughing. The hugs and concern at the end of something properly painful, and the sheer glory of loving life and living it as hard as you can.

And we've grown old with them over the years, and each film has had its own vibe - I think there is a weirdly obvious order of quality in the movies and it's 3, 1, 4, 5, 2 - and we all feel those aches and pains, and didn't need to crash a giant shopping trolley to get them

And all the things that happen when you grow old, fall out with friends, or just lose touch, or there is genuine loss - RIP Ryan. All that partying is having a definite impact, and the hair is a lot greyer, even as Chris Pontius remains forever ageless, so maybe it really is time to call it a night.