if (/^([\w.-]+((,\s?)|(\s&\s)|(\sand\s)|$))+/) {
	print "Got a match - $1\n";
	}
else {
	print "Thursday night on the town - bad idea.\n";
	}

##</code><code>##

  /^([\w.-]+((,\s?)|(\s&\s)|(\sand\s)|$?)$)+/