FEATURED ARTIST: Alex Horne

Posted on 22 April 2016

ward winning comedian Alex Horne has established a reputation among critics, comics and audiences as a thoughtful and original stand-up comedian and writer.

Alex is the creator and host of comedy music show The Horne Section. Together, Alex and his five piece band create a heady mix of stand-up comedy, cabaret performances, outlandish musical talent and special guests. They began as a live show and were quickly commissioned for BBC Radio 4 series Alex Horne Presents: The Horne Section, which has now run for three series. The band has also accompanied Alex as guest host on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (Channel 4) and were the only band ever to hostNever Mind The Buzzcocks (BBC2). In 2014, they returned to the Edinburgh Fringe for their fifth consecutive year with new show The Horne Section: Milk The Tenderness.

Taskmaster, a new series devised by and starring Alex, has been commissioned by UKTV’s Dave channel. The six hour-long episodes will star Greg Davies in the role of The Taskmaster, who will set tasks to a group of well-known comedians and ultimately decide who wins. Alex will be playing his right-hand-man, coaxing the comedians to show how comic, creative and seriously competitive they are. Taskmaster started out as a live show, also devised by Alex, which ran at the Edinburgh Festival in 2010 and 2011. It is due to air in Spring 2015.

Alex is the host of iTunes chart topping and Chortle Award Nominated podcast Alex Horne Breaks the News (Dave). The show takes a look at the week’s big (and small) news topics mixed in with a smattering of statistical analysis, musical numbers and ad hoc features, and is now in its third series.

To date, he has taken nine solo shows to the Edinburgh Fringe including 2014’s Monsieur Butterfly, which earned him a Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination for ‘Best Comedy Show’. He has also released two books based on his critically acclaimed Edinburgh shows; Birdwatching watching in 2009 and Wordwatching in 2010.

Numerous TV appearances include two series as co-host of We Need Answers (BBC4),The Matt Lucas Awards (BBC1), Dara O’Briain’s School of Hard Sums (Dave), Dave’s One Night Stand (Dave), Celebrity Mastermind(BBC1) and The Games That Time Forgot, a documentary written and presented by Alex for BBC Four.

In addition to Alex Horne Presents: The Horne Section, radio credits include The Unbelievable Truth, Heresy,Wordaholics (BBC Radio 4) and The Guessing Game(BBC Radio Scotland), among many others.

Alex is available for bookings as a solo performer or alongside his band (and special guests) as The Horne Section.