60-Second stand-up: Alex Horne

The best part is the bit that’s unplanned. In The Horne Section it’s half rehearsed and half unrehearsed and I really enjoy the spontaneous bit.

Everyone, I suppose—everything and everyone I’ve ever seen. When I was growing up it was Ken Dodd, and then Harry Hill and Bill Bailey carried on that trend of being more than just a person talking. They showed me that you can do an all-singing, all-dancing show that’s silly, family-friendly, and still grown up.

I was doing a gig in a club called Up The Creek in Greenwich, when I was pretty inexperienced—it wasn’t going very well and people were chatting.

I asked them to, “give me a minute” and 200 people all started counting from one to sixty in unison. Then at the end of the minute I left the stage, it was a long heckle.

It isn’t mine, but when I was a kid I liked having a joke in my pocket that I could tell people: “My gran was very ill so she covered herself in butter.Unfortunately, after that, she went downhill very quickly.”

When a place has its own character it can be so funny. I don’t think there’s one particular place in the country but the more isolated the better, for me.

One joke that never goes down well—which I like—is, “My grandmother was recently beaten to death by my Grandad. Not with a stick… he died first.”

Taskmaster Series 8 airs May 8 at 9pm on Dave. The comedy band, The Horne Section are on a 36-date tour throughout the UK in 2019. Get tickets at thehornesection.com