Alex Horne

Last updated

Alex Horne
AlexHorne-byPhilipRomano.jpg
Horne in 2024
Born
Alexander James Jeffery Horne

(1978-09-10) 10 September 1978 (age 45) [1]
Chichester, West Sussex, England
Other namesLittle Alex Horne [2]
Alma mater Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Occupation(s)Comedian, writer
Years active2000–present
Spouse
​
(m. 2005)​
Children3
Website alexhorne.com

Alexander James Jeffery Horne (born 10 September 1978) [1] is a British comedian. Horne is the creator of BAFTA award-winning TV series Taskmaster , in which he takes the role of assistant to the Taskmaster Greg Davies. [3] He is the host and bandleader of comedic band The Horne Section. Horne hosts the band's eponymous podcast and television series, and has appeared with them on BBC Radio 4, TV channel Dave, and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. [3]

Contents

Early life

Alexander James Jeffery Horne [4] was born in Chichester, West Sussex, England [5] on 10 September 1978. [1] [6] He was educated at independent Lancing College (1991–1996) [7] and at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he studied classics and graduated in 2001. [8] [9] While at Cambridge, he was a member of the Footlights. [10]

Career

Horne made his first appearance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2000 in the show "How to Avoid Huge Ships". [11] His 2003 Edinburgh show "Making Fish Laugh", was nominated for a Perrier Award for Best Newcomer. [12] In 2004, he won a Chortle Award for Best Breakthrough Act. In 2004 and 2005, he performed "Every Body Talks" and "When in Rome", in which Tim Key played his personal assistant and he used Microsoft PowerPoint for presentation. [13] [14] [15] In early 2006, Horne performed "When in Rome" on a tour exclusively visiting Roman towns in Britain. [16] [17]

As a solo performer, Horne wrote and performed "Birdwatching" at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival [18] and "Wordwatching" at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival. [19] He wrote a book entitled Birdwatchingwatching in 2009 as well as Wordwatching in early 2010. [20] [21]

On 18 January 2007, Horne became the first comedian to perform in Second Life for a feature on Sky News. Between 24 October 2006 and 24 October 2007, he worked alongside fellow comedian Owen Powell in an attempt to find a person from every nationality living in London. After a year's search, they finally managed to meet people from 189 of the UN's 192 countries, and hence suggested there is nobody in the city from Tuvalu, Palau, or the Marshall Islands. [22]

The Horne Section performing in 2019 Horne Section 2019.jpg
The Horne Section performing in 2019

Since 2010, Horne has been performing with his band The Horne Section as the compere of comedy variety shows. [23] Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (2012–14) ran for three series on BBC Radio 4, [24] and The Horne Section Podcast launched in 2018. [25]

Horne, along with Tim Key and Mark Watson, created the YouTube series No More Jockeys during the 2020 coronavirus lockdown in the UK, [26] itself based upon their earlier BBC web series No More Women. Horne also hosts the YouTube channel Bad Golf with John Robins. [27]

Television work

Horne appeared as a contestant on Countdown in August 2008, winning three matches before being defeated. [28]

In 2011, Horne appeared on BBC One's Celebrity Mastermind ; his specialist subject was the comedian Ken Dodd and he finished in 2nd place with a score of 25. During Comic Relief 2011's 24 Hour Panel People marathon, Horne appeared on the Call My Bluff segment, on a team with Tim Key and Roisin Conaty. Horne also appeared in the TV show on BBC Three called Britain in Bed in 2011. He appeared as a guest on The Matt Lucas Awards on 16 April 2013 where he won "The Bravest Guest" Award. He has appeared eight times on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown , seven as a Dictionary Corner guest, and once as a replacement for Joe Wilkinson. He has appeared twice as a contestant on The Chase on ITV. [29]

Since 2015, Horne has served as co-host alongside Greg Davies in the series Taskmaster , which he created. The series was originally broadcast on Dave, and transferred to Channel 4 in 2020. In 2018, Horne co-hosted the US remake of the show, which carried a shorter but similar format to the UK series. Versions of the programme have also been made in Australia, Belgium, Croatia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Finland and New Zealand. The show was awarded with a BAFTA. [30] A running joke in the show is that Davies introduces Horne as "Little Alex Horne". [2]

In April 2018, Horne voiced a talking Button in the BBC One's game show The Button . [31]

In May 2018, Horne presented The Horne Section Television Programme, a one-off musical comedy stage show based on his BBC Radio 4 show, The Horne Section. The show was recorded for UKTV in front of a live audience at the London Palladium and aired on Dave on 24 May. The show featured his band, The Horne Section, as well as performances from comedians Sue Perkins, Sara Pascoe and Joe Wilkinson, drag act and opera singer Le Gateau Chocolat, and Girls Aloud singer Nadine Coyle. [32]

A six-episode Channel 4 series The Horne Section TV Show was released on 3 November 2022. [33] It is scripted and combines elements of musical comedy, talk show and sitcom. [34] [35] A second six-episode series was ordered and is scheduled for production in 2023. [36]

Personal life

Horne is married to former BBC business journalist Rachel Horne. [10] The couple have three sons. [37] [10]

He is a birdwatcher, which he describes as the perfect activity "for someone who likes sport but is getting too old to play, likes the outdoors and is slightly anal". [38]

He is a supporter of Liverpool F.C. [39] and is a director of his local team Chesham United F.C. [40]

In January 2024, Horne was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Warwick. [41]

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
2003 Brain Candy HimselfFour episodes: "Families", "Shopping", "Exercise", "Surreal"
2008 Countdown Himself, contestantFour episodes
2009–2010 We Need Answers HostAlso creator, writer
2009–2010 No More Women Commentator, contestant
2010The Games That Time ForgotPresenterTV movie documentary
2011 Celebrity Mastermind Self1 episode
Call My Bluff Self Comic Relief Special
2012–2013 Dara Ó Briain: School of Hard Sums Self, special guest4 episodes
2013–present 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Self, guest
2014 Live at the Electric Himself1 episode
2015 Drunk History Self, drunk storyteller1 episode
2015–present Taskmaster Self, host, The Taskmaster's assistantAlso producer, creator, writer
2018 The Button The ButtonAlso producer
Taskmaster (US)Self, The Taskmaster's assistant, umpireAmerican adaptation of Taskmaster
2018–present The Last Leg Self, house bandWith The Horne Section
2019 Richard Osman's House of Games Self, contestant5 episodes
2019–presentBad GolfSelf, presenterWeb series
2020 Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer Self, host
2020–present No More Jockeys Self, presenter, contestantWeb series, started in lockdown
2021Crouchy's Year-Late Euros: LiveSelf, host
2022 The Great Celebrity Bake Off for SU2C Self1 episode
2022–presentThe Horne Section TV ShowSelf, host6 episodes [33]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noel Fielding</span> British actor and comedian

Noel Fielding is an English comedian and actor. He is best known for his work with The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside Julian Barratt in the 2000s, and more recently as a co-presenter of The Great British Bake Off since 2017. He is known for his dark and surreal comedic style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Howard</span> British comedian and presenter

Russell Joseph Howard is an English comedian, television presenter, radio presenter, and actor. He has hosted his own television shows, Russell Howard's Good News and The Russell Howard Hour, and appeared on the topical panel TV show Mock the Week. He won "Best Compère" at the 2006 Chortle Awards and was nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award for his 2006 Aberdeen Festival Fringe show. Howard has cited comedians Lee Evans, Richard Pryor, and Frank Skinner as influences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Watson</span> British comedian and writer

Mark Andrew Watson is an English comedian, novelist and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Davies</span> Welsh comedian and actor

Gregory Daniel Davies is a Welsh comedian, actor, presenter, and writer. He is best known for his role as Mr Gilbert in The Inbetweeners, and the Taskmaster in Taskmaster. He also starred as Dan Davies in Man Down and Ken Thompson in Cuckoo. He currently writes and stars as Paul "Wicky" Wickstead in The Cleaner. He has appeared on Mock the Week, Fast and Loose, Live at the Apollo, and Would I Lie to You?.

Jon Joel Richardson is an English comedian. He is known for his appearances on 8 Out of 10 Cats and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and his work as co-host with Russell Howard on BBC Radio 6 Music. He presented Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier, and also features with his wife Lucy Beaumont in the TV show Meet the Richardsons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Wozniak</span> British comedian (b. 1979)

Michael James Wozniak is a British comedian, writer and actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridget Christie</span> English writer and comedian (born 1971)

Bridget Louise Christie is an English stand-up comedian, actress and writer. She has written and performed 13 solo stand-up shows and several comedy tours, in addition to radio and television work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Mohammed</span> British actor

Nicholas George Mohammed is a British actor, comedian and writer. He has portrayed his character Mr. Swallow across both stage and television for over a decade. He is also the creator of the Sky One comedy series Intelligence. Mohammed portrayed the character of Nathan Shelley in the Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso, for which he was nominated in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category at the 73rd and 74th Primetime Emmy Awards.

We Need Answers is a British television panel game presented by comedians Mark Watson, Tim Key and Alex Horne. The show features a pair of celebrities answering questions which had previously been texted in by the public, or the audience by text message.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roisin Conaty</span> English actor, comedian and writer

Roisin Conaty is an English comedian, actress, and writer. She won the Best Newcomer Award at the Edinburgh Festival in 2010 for her show Hero, Warrior, Fireman, Liar. She played Jo in Channel 4 sitcom Man Down from 2013 to 2017. In early 2014, the pilot of the sitcom GameFace, of which she is the writer, lead actress and executive producer, aired on Channel 4. The first full series aired in 2017 on both E4 and Hulu in the US. The second series aired on Channel 4 and Hulu in July 2019. Conaty won the Heat magazine's "Unmissables Comedian of the Year" award in 2019. She played Roxy in the first two series of the Netflix comedy-drama series After Life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Gamble</span> British comedian (born 1986)

Edward Stephenson Jamison Gamble is an English comedian, known for co-presenting The Peacock and Gamble Podcast and his regular appearances on Mock the Week. He studied at Durham University, where he began his comedy career performing with the Durham Revue, and was a finalist in the 2007 Chortle Student Comedy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Widdicombe</span> English comedian and presenter

Josh Widdicombe is an English comedian, presenter and actor. He is best known for his appearances on The Last Leg (2012–present), Fighting Talk (2014–2016), Insert Name Here (2016–2019), Mock the Week (2012–2016) and his BBC Three sitcom Josh (2015–2017). He also won the first series of Taskmaster in 2015 and the show's first Champion of Champions special in 2017. Widdicombe also hosted Hypothetical with fellow comedian James Acaster (2019–2022). During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, Widdicombe started the Parenting Hell podcast with fellow comedian Rob Beckett.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Robins (comedian)</span> English stand-up comedian and presenter

John Michael David Robins is an English stand-up comedian and radio presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nish Kumar</span> British stand-up comedian and presenter

Nishant Kumar is a British stand-up comedian, television presenter, political commentator, and podcast host. He became known as the host of satirical comedy The Mash Report, now known as Late Night Mash. He has also presented BBC Radio 4 Extra's topical comedy show Newsjack, the Comedy Central series Joel & Nish vs The World, the BBC Radio 4 programme The News Quiz and Hello America on Quibi. Since May 2023, he has been the co-host of the political podcast Pod Save the UK.

<i>Taskmaster</i> (TV series) British comedy panel game show

Taskmaster is a British comedy panel game show created by comedian and musician Alex Horne and presented by both Horne and Greg Davies. In the programme, a group of five celebrities – mainly comedians – attempt to complete a series of challenges, with Horne acting as umpire in each challenge and Davies, the titular "Taskmaster", judging the work and awarding points based on contestants' performances. The concept for the programme was first created by Horne for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010; he later secured a deal with Dave to adapt it for television with the first episode premiering in 2015. After the ninth series in 2019, the programme was acquired by Channel 4. The programme has completed sixteen series as well as three Champion of Champions specials and four New Year's Treat one-offs by January 2024, and is set to continue for at least five more series until 2026.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Wang</span> British Chinese-Malaysian comedian

Philip Nathaniel Wang Sin Goi is a British-Malaysian stand-up comedian and comedy writer who is a member of the sketch comedy group Daphne, and co-creator of their BBC Radio 4 series, Daphne Sounds Expensive. He currently hosts the comedy podcast ‘BudPod’ with fellow comedian and Footlights alumnus Pierre Novellie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lolly Adefope</span> British stand-up comedian and actress

Ololade "Lolly" Adefope is an English stand-up comedian and actress, specialising in character comedy. She is known for playing the role of Fran in the Hulu comedy series Shrill, and as Kitty, the ghost of a Georgian noblewoman in the BBC comedy Ghosts, for which she was nominated for a National Comedy Award in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lou Sanders</span> British stand-up comedian, writer and actress

Lou Sanders is an English stand-up comedian, writer and actress. Since beginning her career in comedy, she has appeared regularly on panel shows and performed on Live at the Apollo. She also appeared as a sidekick on Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable and was a contestant on the sixteenth series of Dancing on Ice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Horne Section</span> British musical comedy band

The Horne Section is a British musical comedy band, appearing sporadically on radio, television, podcast, and stage. Led by frontman and comedian Alex Horne, the band comprises Joe Auckland (trumpet/banjo), Mark Brown (saxophone/guitar), Will Collier (bass/guitar), Ben Reynolds (drums) and Ed Sheldrake (keys). The band specialises in comedy/spoof songs in a variety of genres. The band is made up of professional musicians, including two childhood friends of Horne, and first performed together in May 2010, with the current line-up finalised during 2012. The Horne Section have performed at the Edinburgh Festival, as well as touring the UK, and celebrity guests at their shows have included Harry Hill, Simon Amstell, Jimmy Carr, Tim Minchin, Josie Long, Al Murray, and John Oliver as well as musicians including Neil Hannon and Suggs. Their BBC Radio 4 series – Alex Horne Presents the Horne Section – ran for three series from 2012 to 2014. The band have also released five albums.

Outsiders is a British comedy game show broadcast on Dave. Pairs of comedians compete in survival-themed tasks for badges awarded by the host David Mitchell. The show was widely compared upon release to Taskmaster, a Dave original programme where comedians were set tasks to complete as individuals, which had moved to Channel 4 in 2020.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Horne, Alex (4 October 2010). "the future". longliveAlex. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  2. 1 2 Taylor, Frances (10 October 2020). "Taskmaster's Greg Davies and Alex Horne on Channel 4 move, challenges going too far and how that nickname came about". Radio Times. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  3. 1 2 Graves, Kieran (13 June 2022). "Alex Horne's quiet life in Chichester away from Channel 4's Taskmaster". sussexlive. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  4. ↑ Horne, Alex (2009). Birdwatchingwatching: One Year, Two Men, Three Rules, Ten Thousand Birds. Virgin Books. p. 121. ISBN   978-0-7535-1576-1. But Alexander James Jeffery Horne is who I am.
  5. ↑ Armstrong, Stephen (11 October 2020). "Alex Horne on how to win at Taskmaster". The Times. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  6. ↑ Williams, Holly (14 March 2012). "My Secret Life: Alex Horne, 33, comedian". The Independent . Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  7. ↑ "Field's | Lancing College | Independent Senior School & Sixth Form | Woodard | West Sussex | South of London". www.lancingcollege.co.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  8. ↑ "Classics: Alex Horne". willamette.edu. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  9. ↑ "Reporter 11/7/01: Congregations of the Regent House on 28, 29, and 30 June 2001". University of Cambridge. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 "Tim Key and Alex Horne: How we met". The Independent. 12 July 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "How To Avoid Huge Ships : Reviews 2000". Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide.
  12. ↑ Armstrong, Stephen (28 September 2003). "Comedy: The Critical List". The Times.
  13. ↑ Bennett, Steve (2005). "Alex Horne: When In Rome". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  14. ↑ Bennett, Steve (2004). "Alex Horne: Every Body Talks". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  15. ↑ Bowie, Adam. "Alex Horne: When In Rome" . Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  16. ↑ "Live Comedy in Manchester". www.prideofmanchester.com. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  17. ↑ "Alex Horne". Comedy CV. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  18. ↑ Bennett, Steve. "Alex Horne: Birdwatching : Reviews 2007 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  19. ↑ Bennett, Steve. "Alex Horne: Word Watching : Reviews 2008 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  20. ↑ Horne, Alex (14 January 2010). "Wordwatching" . Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  21. ↑ Horne, Alex (6 August 2009). "Birdwatchingwatching".
  22. ↑ Horne, Alex (24 October 2007). "The End of the World (in One City)". The World in One City. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  23. ↑ Logan, Brian (16 February 2011). "The Horne Section – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  24. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 Extra – Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section – Episode guide". BBC. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  25. ↑ Nelson, Alex (8 February 2018). "9 recommended podcasts to listen to this week". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  26. ↑ Moloney, Ciara (5 November 2020). "Taskmaster's Alex Horne actually fronts another show". Digital Spy.
  27. ↑ "Bad Golf" . Retrieved 29 May 2020– via YouTube.
  28. ↑ Brown, Mike. "Series 59". The Countdown Page. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  29. ↑ "The Chase Celebrity Special – S6 – Episode 1". Radio Times. Retrieved 3 August 2019.. "The Chase Celebrity Special – S8 – Episode 4". Radio Times. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  30. ↑ Morris, Lauren (31 July 2020). "Taskmaster stars Greg Davies and Alex Horne say BAFTA TV Award 2020 win is 'perfect way to start a new era' on Channel 4". Radio Times.
  31. ↑ "The Button review: A simple, silly yet surprisingly good new game show on BBC1". Radio Times. 20 April 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  32. ↑ "The Horne Section website" . Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  33. 1 2 "The Horne Section TV Show | All 4". www.channel4.com. Channel Four Television Corporation. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  34. ↑ Tinson, Emma (14 April 2022). "Taskmaster's Alex Horne confirms new Channel 4 show". Digital Spy . Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  35. ↑ Kemp, Ella (14 April 2022). "'Taskmaster''s Alex Horne reveals new comedy series". NME . Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  36. ↑ Guide, British Comedy (25 June 2023). "The Horne Section TV Show returning to Channel 4 for Series 2". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  37. ↑ "My Secret Life: Alex Horne, 33, comedian" . The Independent. 17 March 2012. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  38. ↑ Kellaway, Kate (22 November 2009). "To a birdwatcher, one glimpse, one moment is happiness enough". The Observer. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  39. ↑ Price, Glenn (28 March 2021). "'Virgil van Dijk would be great on Taskmaster!'". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  40. ↑ Richings, James (30 September 2022). "Popular comedian and musician becomes club director at Chesham United". Bucks Free Press. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  41. ↑ "Taskmaster's Horne gets honorary University of Warwick doctorate". 16 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.