Taskmaster host Alex Horne has taken on a magnificently unhinged challenge for Stand Up To Cancer this year, which has even featured a special appearance from Mr Blobby.
With the help of his band The Horne Section, the 47-year-old is attempting to perform a song for 24 hours straight, having kicked off around 10pm on Thursday at Battersea Power Station in London.
At the time of publication, the gang have been belting out one song, Ace’s How Long (Has This Been Going On) for hours straight and the whole thing is being live-streamed on Channel 4’s YouTube channel.
Set up a bit like a carnival stage, a sign in front of them bills the simple mission: ‘One song. 24 hours long.’
Dubbed the How-Long-Athon, Horne has been on the microphone looping the lyrics for hours now. It’s a song of sparse variety. Does it sound increasingly manic each time he questions ‘How long has this been going on’? Not no.
He’s been joined by his comedy band members Joe Auckland, Mark Brown, Will Collier, Ben Reynolds and Ed Sheldrake, who were rotating instruments as the night wore on.
The eagle-eyed viewers might even be able to spot a dedicated set-list on a music stand in the set, which has the Spartan tally: 1. How Long. So they’re not going to be mixing it up before the 24 hours have passed.
And it’s a veritable buffet of musicians, with keys, bass, drums, guitar, as well as a rotating set of brass instruments and a banjo to boot. Plus Horne on vocals, of course.
How the 24-hour stream has unfolded so far
When they got going, Horne looked at his watch and joked: ‘I think we’ve broken the back of it now.’
To keep things interesting – and maybe to keep the gang awake – they’ve been treated to an array of guests on stage. Through the night, Beverley Knight grabbed a microphone to do a duet with Horne, with later appearances from Jamelia and Kojey Radical, among others.
The highlight was Mr Blobby bursting through a door at the back of the stage at 1am. The pink polka-dotted blobman grabbed the microphone and a pink polka-dotted guitar for a chaotic stint that also saw bandmember Reynolds don a Henry the Hoover on his head. It’s a case of you need to see it to believe it for this one.
Mr Blobby, who confirmed it is first name Mr, last name Blobby, pulled a party popper to celebrate the band being one eighth through the challenge, which Horne said made it feel ‘manageable’.
How to donate to Alex Horne’s How-Long-Athon
You can support Alex Horne’s efforts to raise money for Stand Up To Cancer online here.
Alternatively, those over 16 can donate via a UK mobile phone only: To give £40, £30, £20 or £10 text FORTY, THIRTY, TWENTY or TEN to 70404.
This is a UK standard rate message, so you should have the bill payer’s permission.
Your entire donation will go to Cancer Research UK in support of the Stand Up To Cancer campaign.
The band went on to experiment with some genre twists on How Long through the night and Horne even let himself have a little sit on a stool.
The morning so far has seen visits from singer Ricky Wilson as well as comedians Stevie Martin in pyjamas and Sara Pascoe toting a trumpet she didn’t know how to play. The latest star to stroll on before publication was Dara Ó Briain.
Go check out the livestream today to see what they’re up to next – and whether Horne starts to lose his voice along the way.
How fans reacted to the epic singing marathon
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the chaos and special celebrity guests have been a perfect combination for Horne’s existing Taskmaster fanbase.
There’s been a steady audience commenting on the live stream, many of whom have noted the earworm nature of the song. We defy you not to be humming it from now onwards.
@kashinfuu even said they had watched the stream for a couple of hours on Thursday night and then woke up singing How Long.
Other fans have congratulated Horne and the gang on the challenge for a good cause, with several urging him to keep at it for the final hours into this evening.
‘This is beyond wholesome and just a little bit mad,’ wrote @andrewlamont3053 as @rosieatkins9935 described the Mr Blobby stint as ‘absolute carnage’.
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