The Horne Section. A Christmas show. You can see the logic. They’re a jolly bunch, Alex Horne is forever pulling goodies out of his metaphorical sack on family TV favourite Taskmaster – and they released a Christmas album three festive seasons ago. A smattering of its tracks are revived here, in what is otherwise not an especially tinselly confection – and may indeed be more of a preview of what the musical comedy six-piece plans when it takes to the road proper from March this coming year.
The festive content comprises some punning carols, which hit their punchline then stop, a version of Little Donkey that’s hostile to the titular pack animal – and two original Christmas singles. The latter are diverting enough, but Horne’s limitations as a singer, which he is the first to admit, make them a harder sell than the wham-bam musical jokes elsewhere. Of those there are a few peachy examples tonight, like the one that turns on a 30-year-old advertising slogan for domestic bleach.
