Alex Horne

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 (specifically Latin and Greek) and graduated in 2001.^{[8][9][10][11]} While at Cambridge, he was a member of the Footlights,^[12] and he wrote for student newspaper Varsity as a sports journalist and satirist.^[11] Horne went on to complete a graduate degree in broadcast journalism at Goldsmiths, University of London.^[13][14][15]

Horne began his stand-up comedy career at open mic nights in Cambridge and London while he was still a student, and performed in the semi-final of So You Think You're Funny in 1999.^[13] He made his first of many appearances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2000 in the show "How to Avoid Huge Ships".^[16] Early in his career, Horne also worked as a journalist for local newspapers in Sussex,^[15] and as a runner on television sets.^[17]

Horne's 2003 Edinburgh show "Making Fish Laugh", was nominated for a Perrier Award for Best Newcomer.^[18] 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.^[19][20][21] In early 2006, Horne performed "When in Rome" on a tour exclusively visiting Roman towns in Britain.^[22][23]

As a solo performer, Horne wrote and performed "Birdwatching" at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival^[24] and "Wordwatching" at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival.^[25] He wrote a book entitled Birdwatchingwatching in 2009 as well as Wordwatching in early 2010.^[26][27]

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.^[28]

Since 2010, Horne has been performing with his band The Horne Section as the compere of comedy variety shows.^[29] Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (2012–14) ran for three series on BBC Radio 4,^[30] and The Horne Section Podcast launched in 2018.^[31]

Horne, along with Tim Key and Mark Watson, created the YouTube series No More Jockeys during the 2020 coronavirus lockdown in the UK,^[32] itself based upon their earlier BBC web series No More Women. Horne also hosts the YouTube channel Bad Golf with John Robins.^[33]

This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (April 2023)

Horne appeared as a contestant on Countdown in August 2008, winning three matches before being defeated.^[34]

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.^[35]

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 American remake of the show, which carried a shorter but similar format to the British 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.^[36] 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.^[37]

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.^[38]

A six-episode Channel 4 series The Horne Section TV Show was released on 3 November 2022.^[39] It is scripted and combines elements of musical comedy, talk show and sitcom.^[40][41] A second six-episode series was ordered and is scheduled for production in 2023.^[42]

Horne is married to former BBC business journalist Rachel Horne,^[12] whom he met at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.^[14] The couple have three sons.^[43][12]

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".^[44] He is a supporter of Liverpool F.C.^[45] and is a director of his local team Chesham United F.C.^[46]

In January 2024, Horne was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Warwick.^[47]

• Birdwatchingwatching. Virgin Books. 2009. ISBN 9780753515761.
• Wordwatching. Virgin Books. 2010. ISBN 9781905264612.
• Taskmaster: 200 Extraordinary Tasks for Ordinary People. BBC Books. 2018. ISBN 978-1785943584.
• Bring Me the Head of the Taskmaster: 101 Next-Level Tasks (And Clues) To Lead You To Victory. Penguin Random House. 2021. ISBN 978-1-529-14843-5.
• An Absolute Casserole: Ten Years of Taskmaster. Quercus. November 2024. ISBN 9781529441529. OCLC 1438664716.