Horne Section @ Leeds’s City Varieties

There is something particularly unique about the Horne Section. Not only are the band fantastic musicians—they’re also really, really funny. By putting their musical skills to one side and focusing on making the show hilarious, the band create something quite special. The connection between them and the dry sense of humour that’s exchanged invites the audience to be part of the lovely relationship.

Alex Horne leads the band with wit, light-hearted banter and great confidence. He interacts with the audience fearlessly, handling heckles or less-than-perfect answers incredibly well and the audience instantly warms to him. The band play a number of fun songs, as well as short snippets that are used as almost one-liners to entertain the crowd. It’s really difficult to explain the style of humour and just how funny and clever the show is—all I can say is you really must catch the Horne Section if you can!

I noticed a distinct lack of swearing throughout the show, which was a lovely and refreshing change from the relentless use of the ‘f’ word so often used by comedians as a way of getting a cheap laugh. Alex Horne instead responds cleverly with hilarious facial expressions and genius concepts, ideas and jokes. The show is incredibly clever – blending good music, audience interaction and stand-up into one hilarious mix. I can’t imagine anyone not finding this show brilliant. The music choices the band uses and the subject matters are accessible to everyone, and I imagine probably everyone in the audience left with a huge smile on their face as I did.

It’s rare that I would say I’d go and watch the exact same comedy show twice but I’d rush to see Alex Horne and the Horne Section again if I could.

Catch them on tour. Check out the website for all the details.