Alex Horne

The top ten comedy shows in May

Previews of Eddie Pepitone, Richard Herring, The Lumberjacks, Robert Newman, Eddie Izzard, Jack Dee, Nina Conti, Brian Gittins and The Horne Section.

Review: Alex Horne presents The Horne Section

The show probably won't change the face of the universe, but there's really no harm in getting yourself a bit of Horne on Sunday evenings.

The Horne Section: Made in a Hovel

Just six weeks after we met in the Hovel and our thoughts, scribbles and pleas have somehow become six half hour episodes that we're all incredibly proud of.

Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section Edinburgh Special (Radio 4, 7.15pm) might bring some smiles at last to this now-dreaded comedy slot, introduced by Radio 4 controller Gwyneth Williams with the best of intentions: to cheer us up at the end of the weekend. Alas, that's harder to do than say as anyone who has sat with gritted teeth through the rants of Sue Perkins or the travails of Rory Bremner can attest. Alex Horne's 6.30pm week-night series was at least tuneful.

Alex Horne, comedian: Edinburgh festival Q&A

Comedian Alex Horne tells Andrew Dickson about improvisation, Tellytubbies and the terrible dangers of Beyoncé dances.

The Horne Section are Live at the Grand!

The Sun interviews The Horne Section and Alex Horne about their new Fringe show.

Interview: Alex Horne

An interview with Alex Horne, a man who likes a challenge.

Alex Horne on high-concept comedy

The comedian talks about his latest show, "Seven Years in the Bathroom".

Hosted by Clive Anderson, The Guessing Game is a brand new panel game on BBC Radio Scotland. Among those featured alongside Anderson were the show's (annoying) house band Gus and Fin plus One, and this week's contestants: Rory Bremner, Tom Allen and Alex Horne.

As the title implies, the object of the game is to guess the answers to difficult questions. The usual scoring system is two points if you get the answer right and one point for an amusing or good guess. Questions included: "What is the difference between Justin Bieber and banana?" and "Who gave away their music rights from beyond the grave?"

There were some amusing asides from one or two of the panellists, mainly Horne, but other than that there wasn't much going for it. The problem for me is that this format has been done before, and much better, by shows that are already on. QI on TV and The Unbelievable Truth on radio handle the subjects of trivia and unusual information in a much funnier manner.

Perhaps the issue's the scoring system. With QI and The Unbelievable Truth, you often end up with negative scores. In The Guessing Game this doesn't happen. Let's hope that the show will improve as the series goes along...