Heart Attack

Gallagher to retire after heart attack?

Gallagher, a watermelon-smashing comedy performer who recently suffered a heart attack, is looking to retire after more than 32 years.

the 65-year-old was released from a hospital on Wednesday and joked about his ordeal. the comedian had a heart attack on March 14 before a show at a Texas bar and was in a medically-induced coma until Sunday.

Gallagher, who also suffered a heart attack in 2011 and in 2000, postponed several tour dates and talked about his plans to retire in an interview on WDCM radio in Marion, Ohio on Thursday.

the prop comedian, who smashes watermelons and other objects on stage with a sledgehammer, said his job is like “baby-sitting people who can’t handle alcohol” and added that he may still perform at private events, the Associated Press reported. His spokesperson had no immediate comment about when his last show will take place. according to his website, Gallagher is booked from mid-April.

After suffering a heart attack in 2011, Gallagher told another Marion-based radio station WMRN that he had a stent placed in his heart.

the Southern California-based comedian also discussed his financial problems. In the 2011 interview, he said a 2000 heart attack, which damaged 20 percent of his heart muscle, left him ineligible for private health insurance. It is unclear if he has any today.

Gallagher has spent the past few years touring small clubs across the United States and military bases abroad.

“I make about $5,000 a night,” he told WMRN. “It’s not like what I made when I was at the height of my career, but it’s still a comfortable living.”

Gallagher was at the peak of his fame in the 1980s, when stage comedy in general was more popular and launched the acting careers of people such as Roseanne, Jerry Seinfeld and Bob Saget.

“You can’t be famous forever,” Gallagher told WMRN. Why don’t you call Men at Work and ask why we haven’t gotten a new song from them?”