Review: THE HORNE SECTION’S HIT LIST, London Palladium - Tour

When Alex Horne steps centre stage at the Palladium with his five-piece band, The Horne Section, he immediately sets the tone. Standing in front of a giant illuminated sign which reads “Hit Show” with a curtain covering the unseen first letter, he announces that many great artistes have stood there before and then lists Jane MacDonald, Russell Grant and Rolf Harris. What some of the great entertainers on the Palladium’s Wall of Fame such as Bruce Forsyth, Cilla Black, Tom Jones and Sammy Davis Jr would have made of this, we will never know. But by comparison, at least the title does not over sell the show.

If you enjoy Taskmaster on TV but have never seen The Horne Section TV show or listened to the podcast, it certainly takes some adjusting to tune into their unique comedy and musical style. Its not helped by a dreadful sound mix, which means we can’t hear all of the words of their original songs over the music and therefore, fail to catch their attempts at humour.

He introduces the band using some amusing musical clues that reflect his love of puns that litter the show. We meet ‘We Don’t Need No Ed-(ucation)’ Sheldrake on piano , Ben-(‘Jamming’) Reynolds on drums, ‘I Will (Always Love You)’ Collier on bass, ‘(Return of the) Mark’ Brown on sax and guitar, and the main singer ‘Jo(-lene)’ Auckland on banjo. They are his mates and share his sense of humour. It would be good to hear them actually play a few jazz tunes too in their entirety!

It’s hard to describe the show that follows as there is nothing quite like it; a mix of improv (though some of that is probably scripted), audience banter and silly pantomime business. It’s like Showstoppers meets the Wurzels or for those old enough, the Barron Knights. If we describe some of the elements of the show, rather than spoilers, it might help you decide whether you are tuned into their brand of madcap comedy in a way that we perhaps weren’t.

There was some “Connect 4” nonsense trying to find four things in common with different members of the audience, an improv song on the piano while miming to be a barber (that did feel genuinely made up in the moment), a song featuring two horse’s heads and such horsey puns as in the Beatles song “Hay chewed” (think about it) and a remark that it was an “E-quine-ing shame” , a Q & A session with the front row in which members of the audience failed to ask interesting questions, and a clever ‘YMCA’ spoof that was the highlight of the evening.

In the second act, we had a version of the three cups and a ball trick using houmous, a celebration of the Midhurst dialling code of 01730, an amusing stage version of a Taskmaster task with two members of the audience, a song about garden peas which seemed to be set up just to include the pun about testing the “Pea-Ness”, a dance with two members of the audience to show how the band make up after a row, and an audience callback quiz of puns based on actors and capital of Brazil or drinks with Rio DiCaprio and Danny DeVimto being the winners. If any of that made you smile, then this show is for you.

Indeed, judging by the appreciative audience at the huge Palladium and the sold-out notices at many of the upcoming large venues, The Horne Section does have a big following. Horne does suggest that the show “is not financially viable” without subsidy from the Taskmaster but at £30 to £35 a ticket and crowds of a 1000 plus, he must be on to a winner. For those of us who grew up watching Spike Milligan and Kenny Everett on TV, his comedy is in the same madcap vein, spontaneous, quirky, occasionally rude and self-deprecating. They were masters of the style but even they had sketches and ideas that did not work. In this show, some of it felt like a huge in-joke amongst the band members that we were not fully party to. The Horne Section could be so much better with a better sound mix, tighter direction and a sharper focus on the elements that work.

But for the podcast’s fans, it was clearly just another good, silly, fun night out, free from the worries of the news or political comment and for that, we should be grateful.

*** Three stars

Reviewed by: Nick Wayne

The Horne Section have tour dates through November 2025, with further info here.