Alex Horne: Wordwatching

Alex Horne is a man of many projects. His latest, which he explores in this entertaining and stimulating show, concerns neologisms: that is words, meanings, usages or phrases recently introduced to the English language. Horne is trying to introduce some of his own, but it’s not easy. To reach a point where the nice people at Oxford or Chambers can put it in a dictionary, a neologism has to undergo a thorough apprenticeship. It has to be used many times, by many different people and in many different media, before it is officially anointed.

Fortunately, being an Oxford graduate, a successful comedian and a thoroughly personable chap, Horne is in a better position than most to go about making this happen. He’s reasonably well connected and sometimes gets interviewed by media types, who he finds are only too willing to slip in a few suspect words or phrases into their articles: apparently, editors will seldom notice anything amiss when the odd ‘pratdigger’ or ‘mental safari’ turns up on the page.

This is concept comedy in the vein of Dave Gorman: a gentle, feelgood exploration of one man’s unusual pursuit, which successfully keeps the audience intellectually stimulated as well as amused. Horne adds some surreal multimedia elements to keep things fresh, in which he argues and converses with various screen versions of himself. You won’t leave aching with laughter, but you will be tickled, intrigued and perhaps even inspired to join in – which has got to be well worth your honk.