Comedian Lee Evans has confirmed that he will retire from comedy after the conclusion of his current Monsters tour. The 50-year-old announced the plans during an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show, which airs on Saturday (November 22, 2014).

Lee EvansLee Evans has announced he will be retiring from comedy after the conclusion of his current Monsters tour

Asked by Ross how long his "remarkable force of comedy" would continue, Evans replied: "I am frigging knackered. This is it. Finished. This is the end. I am not doing anything," adding that he wanted to spend more time with his wife and daughter.

Another reason for his departure from the comedy world, Evans said, was the death of his long-time manage Addison Creswell, who died from a heart attack last year.

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"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'."

"I have said to her [his wife] '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."

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Evans revealed that his decision to tour so much over the years rested partly on getting down whilst at home.

"I get very deep and depressed," he said, "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 most successfully British comedians of all time, brought in £12.9 million from his Roadrunner tour in 2011, alone. 

Should he stick by his word, Evans' last ever show will now be at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff on November 30. 

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