♪ Live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner ♪

James Curtis is the author of award-winning and definitive biographies of Preston Sturges, Spencer Tracy, W.C. Fields, William Cameron Menzies, and Buster Keaton, among others. His new book Comedy is a Grim Business: The Making of IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD (Emmarac Editions) goes behind the scenes of the making of this comedy classic. Born in Los Angeles, James Curtis and his wife, Kim Geary, are longtime residents of Brea, California.