Comedian Richard Lewis announces he has Parkinson’s and retires from his stand-up career

Richard Lewis has been a stand-up comedian for half a century and has appeared in numerous comedy classics such as Robin Hood: Men in Tights and HBO’s hit show, Curb Your Enthusiasm with Larry David. According to Deadline, Lewis posted a video on social media revealing that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and will be hanging up the gloves on his stand-up career. Lewis has recently wrapped his scenes for the upcoming season of Curb Your Enthusiasm and declares that he plans to continue to act and write when he can despite retiring from stand-up.

The comedian would field the common inquiries from friends and fans on social media by revealing what he’s been through in recent years, “The last three and a half years, I’ve had sort of a rocky time, and people said, ‘I haven’t heard from you, are you still touring?’ Here’s really what happened. Three and half years ago, I was in the middle of a tour, and I finally ended it with a show, and I said, ‘You know I’m at the top of my game. After 50 years almost, I’m going to call it quits.’ And I felt great about that, and then out of the blue, the shit the fan. I had four surgeries back to back to back to back. It was bad luck, but that’s life.”

The surgeries Lewis refers to include work done on his back, his shoulder, a shoulder replacement, and a hip replacement in quick succession. The comedian says he noticed he had been walking “a little stiffly” and shuffling his feet. “I went to a neurologist and they gave me a brain scan and I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and that was about two years ago. But luckily I got it late in life and they say you progress very slowly if at all and I’m on the right meds so I’m cool.”

Lewis ended his video with a reassuring message, “I just wanted to let you know that’s where it’s been at. I’m finished with stand-up. I’m just focusing on writing and acting. I have Parkinson’s disease, but I’m under a doctor’s care, and everything is cool. I love my wife, I love my little puppy dog, and I love all my friends and my fans. And now you know where it’s been at the last three and a half years. God bless you.”