Richard Lewis Has Parkinson’s Disease, Finished With Stand-Up Comedy Career

Greg Evans
·2 min read
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In a candid video posted on social media, comedian Richard Lewis reveals he has Parkinson’s disease and will no longer perform the stand-up comedy shows that have been the cornerstone of his career for 50 years.

Watch the video below.

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Lewis says in the video that he wrapped his performance two weeks ago on this season’s Curb Your Enthusiasm starring his old pal Larry David, and adds that he will continue to write and act when he can. But continued questions from fans and friends about whether he’ll tour again prompted the social media declaration.

“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?'”, Lewis sys. “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,” Lewis says, explaining he had operations on his back, shoulder, a shoulder replacement and a hip replacement in quick succession. “It was bad luck, but that’s life.”

Then, Lewis says, he noticed that he was 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,” he says. “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.”

“I just wanted to let you know that’s where it’s been at,” he says at the end of the video. “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.”

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