Lee Evans announces his retirement from comedy on The Jonathan Ross Show
The popular comedian will perform his final gig in Cardiff later this month
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Your support makes all the difference.Comedian Lee Evans has confirmed that he will be retiring after his current Monsters tour ends.
The 50-year-old funnyman announced his decision on The Jonathan Ross Show (airing on Saturday) and explained that he wants to spend more time with his wife and daughter.
Ross asked how long the “remarkable force of comedy” planned to carry on in his job, prompting Evans to reply: “I am frigging knackered. This is it. Finished. This is the end. I am not doing anything.”
One other reason for Evans’ departure was the death of his manager Addison Creswell from a heart attack last year.
“All I have ever done is work and Addison always used to put his arm around me and say, ‘Don’t worry, I will look after you. It is okay’,” he said. “My dad always said to me, ‘You have got to work’ so I constantly worked and did comedy tours.
“I think I have ignored for far too long my missus, and I want to spend a lot more time with her. I am going to go and see my wife, be home and say ‘I’m yours’.”
Ever the joker, Evans added that his wife will probably be saying “Get out, you are getting on my nerves” within a week, but he is “deadly serious”.
“I have said to her ‘I am really sorry, I am always away’,” he said. “Every single week I have been doing plays. I have had to say to my little Mo, ‘I can’t go to the school play as I have got to do this work.
“But now I can be with little Mo and do the things that we never did when we were kids.”
Despite his home-oriented plans, Evans told The Sun earlier this month that he often gets “very gloomy” when not performing.
“Not on the outside, but at home I do [feel depressed],” he said.
“I get very deep and depressed. Everyone does sometimes, don’t they? I can sit there for ages with my head in my hands. It’s mostly out of being criticised because then I don’t feel worthy and slope off on my own.”
Evans, one of the UK’s highest-selling stand-ups brought in a massive £12.9 million with his 2011 Roadrunner tour. He has also starred in films such as There’s Something About Mary and Mouse Hunt.
Evans’ last ever show (at least for now) will be at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff on Sunday 30 November.
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