By Pete Hughes.

"THICK and creamy, that's how I like my milk," my brother and I sang quietly to each other as we crept up to the Oxford Playhouse.

Probably many others like us chanted the same mantra as they wove in cliques towards the theatre that night, like pilgrims in some weird cult.

In the darkened auditorium we huddled in nervous anticipation: what strange hijinx had we let ourselves in for?

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A man walked on stage and picked up a bass guitar, and a disembodied voice started giving him strange instruction.

Other musicians crept into the light and took up position, all following the directions.

Finally The Voice revealed that he was stood behind us all in the dark, and he commanded: "I want four men to come and carry me to the stage."

With no further discussion, four men rose like zombies from the darkness, hoiked him onto their shoulders and carried him down.

As they went, the Leader Alex Horne (for it was he) started chanting along to the music from the stage: "Thick and creamy, that's how I like my milk."

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As with so many cultish comedians these days who build up a fanbase through podcasts, understanding the milk song requires being a devotee who revels in spotting references to previous episodes.

Other jokes, meanwhile, defy explanation, like when trumpeter Joe Auckland comes on stage with a Henry Hoover on his head and starts singing a song about someone catching him scratching his arse in the street.

Like all great comedy, the Horne Section's genius lies in being very clever and very stupid at the same time.

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It's just that, if you don't pay quite close attention for quite a long time, it can look like they're only doing the very stupid part.

In fact, if I told you that later on he got two audience members on stage to lick a series of toilet roll holders to see which one had Marmite smeared on it, you might think that it sounded like the stupidest thing you'd ever heard, so I won't tell you any more - you'll just have to take my word for it that it's all very clever stuff - really.