404 Ink to publish Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson!

Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson (credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan)

Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson (credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan)

Here’s a bit of news we never expected to share…

We’re delighted (and pinching ourselves) to be publishing Victor and Barry’s Kelvinside Compendium: A Meander Down Memory Close by Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson in July 2024.

The news was exclusively broken by The Bookseller but here’s what we had to say about it!

Their Kelvinside Compendium collects the actors’ reminiscences around characters Victor MacIlvaney and Barry McLeish with classic scripts, interviews, memorabilia and materials from back in the day, also featuring fond memories from celebrity fans and collaborators, including actor David Morrissey (The Walking Dead) and TV presenter Kirsty Wark, and a foreword from former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

The fictional duo began as a college cabaret to entertain final year drama students at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 1982, making their way through venues before their debut at the Fringe. They became stalwarts of Scotland’s comedy scene and beyond via endless shows, stints on STV and the BBC through the latter half of the decade, and a tour in Australia, before parting ways in the mid ’90s.

Cumming and Masson later starred in BBC sitcom The High Life, with Masson subsequently appearing in shows including The Crown and EastEnders, now an Associate Artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company; and Cumming going on to perform on Broadway, in TV’s The Good Wife and, recently, as the host of The Traitors US.

Alan Cumming & Forbes Masson: “Victor and Barry have had such a huge effect on both our lives. What we learned as writers and performers has influenced and stayed with us all through our careers, so looking back and celebrating the incredible experiences and the huge amount of laughs Victor and Barry gave us and our audiences has been a joy and we can’t wait to share it with everyone.”

Bookshops can preorder the Compendium now via usual routes and it will be available on the 404 Ink website in coming months.

So yeah, not bad for our little publishing outfit, huh?!