Alex Horne: Monsieur Butterfly (Edinburgh Fringe)

It turns out that I'm completely different to Alex Horne. I know this because a study of 100 people in his one-off Percentage Game found it to be true.

However, it seems opposites do indeed attract. In his stand-up show Monsieur Butterfly, Horne has done away with the technology that he’s so fond of and gone back to basics; building.

To tell you what he constructs would spoil the surprise but, suffice to say, it’s awesome. It brings back childhood memories of whiling away gloomy evenings and, despite a couple of hiccoughs in the construction, gave me a rush of joy that I haven't felt since Christmas (any Christmas, let's be honest).

Horne has wanted to do this show for more than a decade, and with his infectious excitement, be grateful he finally got round to it.

Using a variety of audience members (including, the night I saw it, Geoff of the Potted… series), he interweaves various items from his and his children's childhoods, including a bath tub, some rice and an errant squirrel to build a Rube Goldberg machine; that is, a device which performs a simple task in an unnecessarily complicated way.

As the moment finally comes, and the metaphorical crank is turned, palpable tension hangs in the air. That the machine falters only adds to the ramshackle fun of the piece. "Is it comedy?" Horne asks at one point. As he takes his bow, complete with butterfly wings, I can only answer, emphatically, yes.

Alex Horne: Monsieur Butterfly runs at Pleasance Courtyard until 24 August

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