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404 Ink signs 'inspirational' compendium from actors Cumming and Masson
404 Ink has signed Victor and Barry’s Kelvinside Compendium: A Trip Down Memory Close from actors Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson.
Publisher Laura Jones acquired world rights directly from Cumming and Masson. The book will be published as a "key" title in summer 2024, marking 40 years since Cumming and Masson performed as Victor and Barry at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1984.
Victor and Barry’s Compendium includes Cumming and Masson’s reminiscences about their Victor and Barry characters alongside scripts, interviews, memorabilia and "fond memories" from fans including actor David Morrisey, television presenter Kirsty Wark and a foreword from former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Cumming and Masson first performed as Victor and Barry in a "college cabaret" for final year drama students at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama before making their debut at the Fringe. Since then they have become "stalwarts of Scotland’s comedy scene".
The publisher noted: "While a tome for fans of Victor and Barry, and Cumming and Masson, this compendium is also a moving, inspirational insight into what it takes to cut your teeth in theatre that seasoned actors and budding students will enjoy alike."
Jones commented: "It goes without saying that it’s a privilege to be publishing an equally nostalgic and hilarious reflective on Alan and Forbes’ early career duo who offered a genteel, harmonious parodying of amateur dramatics and Glasgow’s aspirational gentrification in the ’80s before their careers took them to prolific new heights in writing and performance. Quite unlike anything 404 Ink has published before, this Kelvinside Compendium marks and experimental turning point for our list that we hope readers will enjoy as much as we have.”
Cumming and Masson said: "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."
