
Taskmaster creator Alex Horne hosts competition at care home
The 46-year-old comedian visited a care home in Adderbury where he set a series of challenges that saw four residents compete against each other.
The tasks included identifying everything related to pineapples and residents closing their eyes and raising their hand when they thought one minute had passed.
The competitors also had a plate of sweets they had to transfer to another plate with only a straw, with the final task involving residents building the tallest tower using spaghetti and marshmallows.
'I've done Taskmaster with kids in schools, stags and hens in pubs, boys and girls in scout huts, executives in offices and over a hundred comedians on telly over the last 10 years, but this was perhaps the most memorable task session for me,' said Horne.
'The four contestants were as competitive as anyone I've tested before, and they demonstrated different ways of lateral thinking, as well as some creative interpretations of my rules.'
Resident Ruth Johnson, aged 100, said: 'At first I didn't know what was expected of us, and I wondered what we'd need to do with all of that spaghetti.
'Alex was so nice. I thought I had met him before, but I think I just knew him from the television.'
Wojciech Kuczkowski, general manager at Seccombe Court, said: 'The residents love to watch Taskmaster and we wanted to give them a chance to take on the challenges for themselves.
'All four competitors did an amazing job, and it was great to see their competitive spirits come out. I'd like to extend a big thank you to Alex for joining us and hosting our challenge.'
The original version of Taskmaster was created by Horne as a live show for the 2010 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
It first aired on UKTV's Dave in 2015 before moving to Channel 4 in 2019.
The comedy gameshow sees five celebrities compete in a series of bizarre challenges presented to them by the Taskmaster Greg Davies, with Horne as his assistant.

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Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... When Samia Rida began planning her first year performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with her show Kidnap, she found she was unable to make the numbers add up. A recipient of the Keep It Fringe award, which this year handed out £2,500 bursaries to 180 performers, she knows she was in a more privileged position than many. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But she still could not afford to commit to the full, four-week run that has launched many comedians' careers, instead performing for 12 days between July 30 and August 10. 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'Typically, reviews and word of mouth gathered in the first half generate revenue in the second half. 'However, emerging, and independent companies are being priced out of taking that risk; forced to place a higher value on specific portions of a full run - the alleged 'industry week' for example - that then devalues the other portion by inferring that there's no industry around the rest of the time, which is nonsense.' Mr Forster added: 'You're not going to take the risk on an unfinished product unless your certain the show is a belter and set to take advantage of the duration. Conversely, you might have to make cuts to the show to facilitate a full run to the point where it's not worth presenting. 'Either way, the only people who can work within that financial uncertainty are professionals, who get paid to strike the balance between finished and unfinished. 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Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Koren added: 'We've noticed the number of performances we put on flatline, but the number of shows we have each year is increasing, reflecting the fact that more shows are coming, but just doing shorter runs in our available performance slots." A growing number of experienced Fringe comedians who have learned the ropes over years of trips to Edinburgh have turned producer to help out up-and-coming acts new to the industry who cannot afford professional support. Ms Nicholls is one, producing a debut hour from new sketch duo The Mayor and His Daughter, visiting Edinburgh for just a couple of days at the beginning and end of their run. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Meanwhile, comedian Ignacio Lopez, who has appeared on shows including Live at the Apollo, Have I Got News for You and QI, is producing debut full-length performances from Welsh comedians Steffan Alun and Josh Elton alongside his own show. 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Last year, comedian Amy Gledhill won the Edinburgh Fringe comedy award after performing a show only for the second half of August, as did Sam Campbell in 2022. Ignacio Lopez | Show poster Pleasance director Anthony Alderson has warned rising costs are forcing performers to scale back shows, putting the Fringe in danger of becoming a 'one monologue festival'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He told The Scotsman: 'Our entire industry is in danger of losing multiple opportunities for people on and off stage. The shorter runs themselves aren't the problem per se. People have always come for shorter runs for a variety of reasons. 'The issue is that people are now being forced to ditch their production values because of the cost of being in the city so shows are smaller, less technically ambitious and cannot employ as many people as needed to always create a polished product.' He added: 'The Edinburgh Fringe is one of the cornerstones of our theatre industry. Therefore, if the cost of being in the city becomes so high that we start losing jobs in theatre, then our industry as a whole, and our city, is going to lose out.